Person:
García Morato, Sara

First Name

Sara

Last Name

García Morato

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/85705

Affiliation

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Faculty / Institute

Ciencias Geológicas

Department

Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología

Identifiers

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 11

Armadillo osteoderms altered by digestion and how taphonomy can help taxonomy
(Palaios, ) Tomassini, Rodrigo L.; Marín Monfort, María Dolores; García Morato, Sara; Montalvo, Claudia I.; Barasoain, Daniel; Zaracho, Elba M.; Chatellenaz, Mario L.; Garrone, Mariana C.; Zurita, Alfredo E.; Fernández Jalvo, Yolanda
Diverse modifications of the original morphological features occur throughout the taphonomic history of osteological remains, which may lead in erroneous interpretations about the formation of an accumulation as well as taxonomic misidentifications. Here, we present a neo-taphonomic study in order to analyze and interpret the modifications generated by digestion on osteoderms of the armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus obtained from scats produced by Puma concolor. Results reveal intense breakage and modifications of the articular and broken edges, dorsal surface, bone tissues, and ornamentation pattern of the osteoderms. This work describes for the first time the modifications caused by digestion in armadillo osteoderms, improving the knowledge of preservation of this type of skeletal element and providing a modern analog that can be used to distinguish archeological and paleontological accumulations formed by predators from those generated by other processes. The recognition that digestion modifies the original ornamentation pattern is particularly significant because ornamentation features are used in nearly all taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of fossil cingulates. We use this new information to re-evaluate osteoderms recovered from carnivore coprolites of the classic Middle Miocene La Venta site (Colombia), which formed the basis for recognizing and characterizing the dasypodid species Nanoastegotherium prostatum. We highlight the importance of knowing with certainty the origin and taphonomic history of remains since, in the particular case of cingulates, taxonomic identification also has important biostratigraphic, paleoecological, paleoenvironmental, and paleobiogeographical implications.
Project number: 226
Digitalización de esqueletos de primates y otros mamíferos para generación de colecciones virtuales: visualización e impresión 3D como recurso de aprendizaje y transferencia de conocimiento
(2023) Ríos Frutos, Luis Francisco; Alaminos Torres, Ana María; García Martínez, Daniel; García Morato, Sara; López Ejeda, Noemí; Padilla Cano, Mariano; Pastor Vázquez, Juan Francisco; Paulos Bravo, Rodrigo; Pedrero Tomé, Roberto; Tellería Jorge, José Luis; Tomás Cardoso, Rafael Pablo; Vergara Carretero, Susana; Ríos Frutos, Luis Francisco
El objetivo principal del proyecto se enmarca en la digitalización de colecciones de historia natural mediante escaneo de superficie 3D e impresión de los modelos. Concretamente, se trata de crear un recurso docente dual de acceso virtual (repositorio online) y material (impresiones), a especímenes de difícil acceso por su localización y valor como son los esqueletos de primates homínidos (chimpancés, gorilas, orangutanes). El material seleccionado, huesos de manos y pies de machos y hembras de cuatro especies actuales de homínidos (humanos, chimpancés, gorilas, orangutanes), se ha escogido por dos razones. Primero, debido a la importancia de estas regiones anatómicas para explicar los procesos evolutivos de adquisición de destreza manual y bipedismo dentro de los homínidos. Segundo, debido a la escasez de esqueletos de estos primates, especímenes valiosos de acceso restringido, limitados a colecciones de museos con fines de investigación.
Small mammal records from Limay river basin (Northwestern Patagonia) in the Anthropocene from a taphonomical and paleoecological perspective
(The Holocene, 2024) Fernández, Fernando J.; Guillermo, Ailín A.; Cordero, José Agustín; Teta, Pablo; García Morato, Sara
The studies of the small mammal fossil and recent assemblages from the Limay river basin (Northwestern Patagonia) have strongly increased during the last decade. Taxonomic, taphonomic, and paleoecological information about small rodents and marsupials recovered from fossil sites offers the opportunity to discuss the periods of change and stability in the conformation of their communities through the Anthropocene. Here, we used two large data matrix of fossil and recent small mammal samples. As starting point, we considered the small mammal record of Epullán Grande cave (LL thereafter), which covers the Early Holocene/Post-hispanic Period, in order to assess the impact of anthropic activities on the small mammal communities during the Anthropocene. The taphonomic analysis performed on the newest samples from LL confirms the predatory activity of Tyto furcata on sigmodontines and human consumption on caviomorphs (mostly for the last ca. 1000 years). The analysis of manganese oxide staining suggested higher levels of moisture during the earliest formation of the LL sequence. The taxonomic results indicate a major diversity in the small mammal fossil assemblages to the later periods of LL and other fossil sequences of the Limay basin of the Anthropocene. Conversely, opportunistic sigmodontines (Abrothrix olivacea, Calomys musculinus, Eligmodontia spp. and Oligoryzomys longicaudatus) experienced a growth in the recent samples. Some stenoic and specialist species (Euneomys spp., Lestodelphys halli, Loxodontomys micropus and Reithrodon auritus) were abundant in the temporal units associated with the Anthropocene, but now are in retraction. Additionally, the drop in the diversity of recent assemblages supports a restructuration of small mammal communities from Limay river basin occurred in the 20th century.
Small mammal taphonomy and palaeoecological Holocene interpretations in the Andean piedmont (southern Mendoza province, Argentina)
(Historical Biology, 2022) García Morato, Sara; Marín Monfort, María Dolores; Fernández Jalvo, Yolanda; Neme, Gustavo A.; Fernández, Fernando J.
Salamanca cave (southern Mendoza province) is in the Andean piedmont, a transitional area in which small mammal communities may have been affected by climatic pulses. The site yields three archaeological components covering from the early to the late-Holocene with a mid-Holocene occupational and sedimentological hiatus. Taphonomic analyses of the small mammal assemblages indicate that barn owls (Tyto furcata) were the main accumulation agent, ensuring accurate palaeoecological inferences. Taxonomic composition of the site shows the dominance of Eligmodontia sp. followed by Thylamys pallidior, Phyllotis cf. P. vaccarum-pehuenche and Ctenomys sp., all of them indicative of shrubland and bare ground habitats. Palaeoclimatic inferences indicate a trend to warmer temperatures from the lower to the upper component with a slight increase in humidity in the middle component. This humid pulse is also supported by post-depositional taphonomic processes. The taxonomic structure and abundance of small mammals do not show deep changes amongst the three archaeological components, following the general trend observed in other archaeological sites from the Pampean region, southern Mendoza province and the arid and semi-arid zones of north Patagonia, in which changes in the taxonomic composition of small mammal communities are almost absent since Pleistocene–Holocene transition to late Holocene.
The owl that never left! Taphonomy of Earlier Stone Age small mammal assemblages from Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa)
(Quaternary International, 2021) Marín Monfort, María Dolores; García Morato, Sara; Andrews, Peter; Avery, Margaret; Chazan, Michael; Horwitz, Liora Kolska; Fernández Jalvo, Yolanda
Wonderwerk Cave, in South Africa, is an exceptional site that has yielded a large collection of small mammal fossils in a stratigraphic sequence reaching back ca. 2 million years. Taphonomic studies undertaken to date, show that Tytonidae (likely Tyto alba) was the dominant predator during the Earlier Stone Age. They produced masses of pellets that formed a dense carpet-like surface that covered the cave floor at intervals throughout the sequence. This paper compares the taphonomic signatures of five different Earlier Stone Age small mammal assemblages from Wonderwerk Cave, including assemblages not studied before, as well as a modern pellet assemblage collected from inside the cave. These samples were examined using taphonomic signatures, bone density and spatial distribution which confirm that the main predator in all periods of cave occupation were members of the Family Tytonidae, most likely Barn owls. The Wonderwerk small mammals have enabled us to clarify site formation processes and confirm that there was no transport or mixing of fossils, neither spatially (re-sedimentation) nor chronologically (reworking). This has confirmed the integrity of the stratigraphic sequence in the cave, reinforcing interpretations of palaeoecology, and elucidating intensity of occupation by hominins versus predators, and the behaviour of the predators vis a vis their prey.
Solving a ‘puzzle’. The global 4.2 ka Bond Event at El Mirador cave (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain) and the importance of small mammal taphonomy to the interpretation of past environments and their climatic controls
(The Holocene, 2022) García Morato, Sara; Marín Monfort, María Dolores; Bañuls Cardona, Sandra; Cuenca Bescós, Gloria; Vergès, Josep María; Fernández Jalvo, Yolanda
The regional climatic context in which Chalcolithic (MIR5) and Bronze Age (MIR4) levels from El Mirador cave (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain) are framed is affected by the 4.2 ka cal. BP event, a global event defined as a cooling and aridification phase. Previous works based on palaeoenvironmental inferences indicate conflicting results regarding the possible impact of the event on vegetation and small mammals from MIR5. Pollen record illustrates a possible aridification episode that could match with the 4.2 ka cal. BP event, while the signal of this event is not clearly recorded in the small mammal assemblage, which indicates more humid environmental conditions than pollen record. Taphonomic analyses confirmed that the small mammal assemblages from MIR4 and MIR5 are the result of predation, supporting the involvement of European eagle owls (Bubo bubo) in its formation. This avian raptor shows a marked preference for hunting animals living in the more open and wetter parts of their hunting range. Likewise, spontaneous specialisation on abundant prey species could also be observed under certain environmental conditions. This characteristic behaviour of eagle owls may have provided the contradictory results observed between the small mammal assemblage and palynological evidence. Nonetheless, taphonomic analyses also provided information about climatic conditions and fluctuations along time. The low incidence of manganese coatings and carbonate crusts deposits in small mammal bone remains from MIR5 support the presence of arid conditions during the formation of this level, which agreed with the aridification phase probably related to the 4.2 ka Bond Event inferred by palynological data from MIR5. These results provided a more robust conclusion about the paleoenvironmental contexts during the formation of Chalcolithic and Bronze Age levels at El Mirador cave.
Rodents, rabbits and pellets in a fluvial terrace (PRERESA site, Madrid, Spain)
(Quaternary International, 2018) García Morato, Sara; Sevilla García, María Paloma; Panera Gallego, Joaquín; Rubio Jara, Susana; Sesé, Carmen; Fernández Jalvo, Sesé
The aim of this work is to study from a taphonomic view the small mammals assemblage located on the Pleistocene site known as PRERESA. The small mammal fossiliferous layer is a silt level located at a fluvial terrace. The samples studied included remains from rodents (Minimum Number of Elements: MNE=373) and lagomorphs (MNE=372). During the excavation seasons, a distinct high concentration of small mammals was recovered apart, named as fossil ‘pellet’. We consider this ‘fossil pellet’ to be an aggregation of several pellets and it has been taphonomically analyzed apart and included in this study. The presence of such concentrations/ aggregations is uncommon in this type of open-air sites. This aggregation contains 253 MNE fossil bones. The taphonomic study has considered three main aspects: anatomical representation, fragmentation, and corrosion by digestion. Due to the location of the site on a fluvial system, transport effects and abrasion were analyzed as well. The results obtained show a high representation of cranial elements (especially lagomorphs) as well as a high fragmentation of both cranial and postcranial elements. Digestion observed in this assemblage affects dental remains below 30% in both rodents and lagomorphs, being light and moderate digestion the most frequent degrees, but all samples reach extreme grades of digestion (in molars < 3%). Transport was analyzed using Voorhies groups (1969). All groups were present, even the easiest to transport. Group III (cranial remains) was the best represented. The simultaneous presence of all Voorhies groups suggests a low or null rate of transport. Results could indicate that the small mammal assemblage of PRERESA were produced by a nocturnal raptor, most likely an Eagle owl (Bubo bubo), whose nest or roosting site was installed near the fluvial channel.
Understanding the Impact of Trampling on Rodent Bones
(Quaternary, 2022) Fernández Jalvo, Yolanda; Rueda, Lucía; Julian Fernández, Fernando; García Morato, Sara; Marín Monfort, María Dolores; Montalvo, Claudia I.; Tomassini, Rodrigo; Chazan, Michael; Horwitz, Liora K.; Andrews, Peter
Experiments based on the premise of uniformitarism are an effective tool to establish patterns of taphonomic processes acting either before, or after, burial. One process that has been extensively investigated experimentally is the impact of trampling to large mammal bones. Since trampling marks caused by sedimentary friction strongly mimic cut marks made by humans using stone tools during butchery, distinguishing the origin of such modifications is especially relevant to the study of human evolution. In contrast, damage resulting from trampling on small mammal fossil bones has received less attention, despite the fact that it may solve interesting problems relating to site formation processes. While it has been observed that the impact of compression depends on the type of substrate and dryness of the skeletal elements, the fragility of small mammal bones may imply that they will break as a response to compression. Here, we have undertaken a controlled experiment using material resistance compression equipment to simulate a preliminary experiment, previously devised by one of us, on human trampling of owl pellets. Our results demonstrate that different patterns of breakage can be distinguished under wet and dry conditions in mandibles, skulls and long bones that deform or break in a consistent way. Further, small compact bones almost always remain intact, resisting breakage under compression. The pattern obtained here was applied to a Pleistocene small mammal fossil assemblage from Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa). This collection showed unusually extensive breakage and skeletal element representation that could not be entirely explained by excavation procedures or digestion by the predator. We propose that trampling was a significant factor in small mammal bone destruction at Wonderwerk Cave, partly the product of trampling caused by the raptor that introduced the microfauna into the cave, as well as by hominins and other terrestrial animals that entered the cave and trampled pellets covering the cave floor.
Hyena as a predator of small mammals? Taphonomic analysis from the site of Bois Roche, France
(Paleobiology, 2018) Williams, Jim; Andrews, Peter; García Morato, Sara; Villa, Paola
Feeding behaviors may differ between past and current predators due to differences in the environments inhabited by these species at different times. We provide an example of this behavioral variability in spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), for which our analysis of a late Pleistocene micromammal assemblage indicates that hyenas preyed upon small rodents, a feeding habit that is rarely observed today among hyenas. The Bois Roche cave site is situated at the edge of a low bluff overlooking the floodplain of a small stream in Cherves-Richemont (Charente, France). The deposits are dated by electron spin resonance (ESR) to about 69.7 ± 4.1 Ka. Excavations at the site recovered fossil bones and teeth of large and small mammals, together with hyena coprolites. Water screening of the sediments produced large accumulations of rodent remains with low taxonomic diversity. Small mammal bones were recovered from hyena coprolites as well. Descriptions of small mammal bone modification, both from the sediments and coprolites, are reported here. The analysis yielded a distinct taphonomic pattern representative of large carnivores (over 30 kg), which differs from any other modern or fossil predator-accumulated microfaunal assemblage taphonomically analyzed to date. To our knowledge, previous studies of hyena diet have not recorded high concentrations of a single-rodent prey species. We conclude that the low species diversity of this small mammal assemblage most likely relates to a local abundance of the prey species due to an outbreak in the rodent population, rather than from specialist predator behavior and hunting technique.
Project number: Proyecto Innova Docencia 43
Geodivulgar: Geología y Sociedad
(2020) García Frank, Alejandra; Alonso Zarza, Ana María; Canales Fernández, María Luisa; González Acebrón, Laura; Martínez Gutiérrez, Gemma; Muñoz García, María Belén; Rodríguez García, Sergio; Gómez Heras, Miguel; Calonge García, Mª Amelia; Paiva Henriques, Mª Helena; Coronado Vila, Ismael; Fraguas Herráez, Ángela; Cózar Maldonado, Pedro; Alonso García, Rocío; Alonso Recio, Carlos; Díaz Megías, Isabel; Navarro Terrón, Esther; Rico Arjona, Rocío; Acedo Peñato, Abel; Benites Cañote, Alexandra Lucytani; Berrocal Casero, Mélani; Cambronero García-Miguel, Irene; Conde Carrión, Teresa; Ozkaya de Juanas, Senay Amalia; Domínguez Valdés, Elena; Gamarra González, Jesús; García Cobeña, Josué; Hernández Paredes, Ruth; Herranz García, Sergio; Hontecillas Tamayo, Daniel; Ma, Haiqian; Martín Perea, David Manuel; Mateos Carralafuente, José Ricardo; Ortiz Lucena, Antonio; Salazar Ramírez, Roselis Waikiria; Sánchez Fontela, Noelia; Sanz Pérez, Danae; Sierra Ramírez, Nuria; García Morato, Sara; Díez García, Irene Pilar; Martín Aguilar, Lourdes; Carvajal de Lago, Alba María; Corbalán García, Judit; Chiri Pérez, Oliver; Oliete Puertas, Elena; Gonzalo Parra, Lorena; Iglesias Álvarez, Núria; Mediato Arribas, José Francisco; del Moral González, Begoña; López Martín, Mª del Valle; Pérez Garrido, Carlos; Pérez Martín del Campo, Daniel; Rodríguez García de Castro, Isabel; Rodrigo Sanz, Ana; Sarmiento Chiesa, Graciela Noemí; Ureta Gil, María Soledad; Armendáriz Sanz, Andrés; Cervilla Muros, Miguel Ángel; González Blázquez, Javier; Montesinos del Valle, Mercedes; Portales Núñez, Killian; Prieto Saiz, Irene; Salas Herrera, Javier; Vitón García, Íñigo; Gamallo Paz, Isabel; Fesharaki, Omid; Chicote Alvira, Gabriel
Con el lema “Geología para todos” el proyecto Geodivulgar: Geología y Sociedad apuesta por la divulgación de la Geología a todo tipo de público, incidiendo en la importancia de realizar simultáneamente una acción de integración social entre estudiantes y profesores de centros universitarios, de enseñanza infantil, primaria, de educación especial y un acercamiento con público con diversidad funcional.