Cerro de los Batallones

2015 field works at Batallones 10 fossil site.

A baculum of Indarctos arctoides found at Batallones-3.

Cerro de los Batallones (Hill of the Battalions) is a hill at Torrejón de Velasco, Madrid, Spain where a number of fossil sites from the Upper Miocene (MN10) have been found. Nine sites have been discovered with predominately vertebrate fossils, invertebrates and plants being less represented. The first deposits were discovered accidentally in July 1991.

Batallones-10 (B-10) is considered to contain the oldest representative of fossils.

Fossils

Nearly the entire proportion of fossils of Batallones-1 were of Carnivorans. The species of sabre-tooth cat known as Promegantereon ogygia and Machairodus aphanistus (the first complete skull) were found at B-1, as was Simocyon a type of red panda. In regards to the saber-tooth cats, Batallones-1 represents an ideal site for recording the percentage of specimens for which breakage of the upper canines occurred. Promegantereon, Machairodus and Paramachairodus are perfect examples of this at Batallones; fossils indicate a high number of canine breaks from where the teeth hit the bones of a struggling victim, indicating these early machairodonts would use their elongated teeth to subdue prey as modern big cats do.

A new species of Hispanomys (Rodentia) was found at various sites. A new species of Micromeryx (deer) was found at B-1 and B-10.

Fauna

Below is a list of notable fossil genera from Cerro de los Batallones.

Artiodactyla

• †Microstonyx
• †Boselaphine antelopes
• †Decennatherium
• †Micromeryx

Carnivora

• †Indarctos
• †Leptofelis
• †Machairodus
• †Magericyon
• †Paramachairodus
• †Promegantereon
• †Protictitherium
• †Simocyon
• †Eomellivora

Perissodactyla

• †Aceratherium
• †Hipparion

Proboscidea

• †Tetralophodon

Rodentia

• †Hispanomys

See also

• List of fossil sites

References

• Domingo, MS; Domingo, L; Sánchez, IM; Alberdi, MT; Azanza, B; Morales, J (January 2011). "New Insights on the Taphonomy of the Exceptional Mammalian Sites of Cerro de los Batallones (Late Miocene, Spain) Based on Rare Earth element Geochemistry". PALAIOS. 26 (1): 55–65. doi:10.2110/palo.2010.p10-047r. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• López-Antoñanzas, R; Peláez-Campomanes, P; Álvarez-Sierra, MA; García-Paredes, I (December 2010). "New species of Hispanomys (Rodentia, Cricetodontinae) from the Upper Miocene of Batallones (Madrid, Spain)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 160 (4): 725–47. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2010.00618.x. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Antón, M; Salesa, MJ; Morales, J; Turner, A (2004). "First known complete skulls of the scimitar-toothed cat Machairodus aphanistus (Felidae, Carnivora) from the Spanish late Miocene site of Batallones-1". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (4): 957–969. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0957:FKCSOT]2.0.CO;2. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Morales, J; Alcalá, L; Álvarez-Sierra, M (June 2004). "Paleontología del sistema de yacimientos de mamíferos miocenos del Cerro de los Batallones, Cuenca de Madrid". Geogaceta (35). Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved January 2012. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Peigné, S; Salesa, MJ; Antón, M; Morales, J (2005). "Ailurid carnivoran mammal Simocyon from the late Miocene of Spain and the systematics of the genus" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 50 (2): 219–238. OCLC 716595914. Retrieved January 2013. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Peigné, S; Salesa, MJ; Antón, M; Morales, J (July 2008). "A New Amphicyonine (Carnivora: Amphicyonidae) from the Upper Miocene of Batallones-1, Madrid, Spain". Palaeontology. 51 (4): 943–65. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00788.x. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Salesa, MJ; Antón, M; Turner, A; Morales, J (March 2006). "Inferred behaviour and ecology of the primitive sabre-toothed cat Paramachairodus ogygia (Felidae, Machairodontinae) from the Late Miocene of Spain". Journal of Zoology. 268 (3): 243–254. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2005.00032.x. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Sánchez, IM; Domingo, MS; Morales, J (2009). "New data on the Moschidae (Mammalia, Ruminantia) from the upper Miocene of Spain (Mn 10–Mn 11)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (2): 567–575. doi:10.1671/039.029.0223. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)