Impact of global climate in the diversity patterns of middle Miocene rodents from the Madrid Basin (Spain)

Abstract

Remarkable palaeoclimatic global changes have been recorded worldwide during the middle Miocene. The Miocene Climatic Optimum (~16.3 to ~15 Ma), one of the warmest phases since the Eocene, was followed by the stepwise cooling trend of the Middle Miocene Climate Transition (~15 to ~13.7 Ma). The entry into an Earth "Icehouse" climate state took place at the end of the latter (~13.76 Ma) marked by one of the major cooling steps in middle Miocene climate recorded at a global scale (Mi3b event). The Madrid Basin, which is part of one of the main Cenozoic basins of the Iberian Peninsula, contains a well-represented small-mammal record from the lower middle Miocene to the upper middle Miocene (middle and upper Aragonian, ~15.9 to 12.8 Ma), being an appropriate region to check how these climatic phases influenced the distribution of the mammalian faunas on the center of the Iberian Peninsula. Values of species richness, equitability and heterogeneity of rodents have been calculated for 25 localities of the Madrid Basin and compared to detailed climate isotope records from the marine realm (ODP Site 1146 from the South China Sea and the Mediterranean record of the Ras Il Pellegrin section on the Maltese Islands) and with palaeoprecipitation curves for southwest Europe (Calatayud-Montalbán Basin). The results show that the rodent community during the middle and upper Aragonian in the Madrid Basin was subject to the changing climate conditions imposed in the course of the middle Miocene. The palaeoecological curves witness periods of disturbance of the community during changing climate conditions (marked by important drops in equitability and, in some cases, gradual decreases in heterogeneity and species richness), followed by periods showing a recovery of the community and adaptation to the new climate circumstances (represented by more evenly distributed and diverse assemblages). The effects of the Miocene Climate Optimum and of three Mi-events (Mi2b, Mi3a and Mi3b) have been related to changes in the small-mammal community. Between ~15.8 to 15.3 Ma, the likely extreme environment (high temperature and low precipitation) of part of the Miocene Climate Optimum may have imposed severe constraints on the fauna, resulting in a community with low values of equitability, heterogeneity and a decreasing number of species. The transition of the Miocene Climate Optimum to the Middle Miocene Climate Transition, reflected by the Mi2b event, have also procured a destabilization of the rodent assemblages, as an important drop in equitability is recorded between ~15 to 14.6 Ma. In this interval, the drop in temperature and increase in rainfall derived from the Middle Miocene Climate Transition promote the southwards migration of northern invaders, leading to an increase in species richness in the Madrid Basin. Starting around 14.4 Ma, the onset of a progressive drop in the rodent equitability and heterogeneity, which also coincides with a major stratigraphic discordance in the basin, is related to the first cooling step of the Middle M...

Acta Geologica Polonica

“…8B). This latest MMCO peak is reflected by slight increases in temperature (MAT) and precipitation (MAP) records both globally (Zachos et al 2001), as well as in other European basins (Schneider 1992;Planderová et al 1993;Böhme 2003;Mosbrugger et al 2005;Hernández-Ballarín and Peláez-Campomanes 2017;Holcová et al 2018;Utescher et al 2009Utescher et al , 2021 and the Konin Basin studied here (Słodkowska and Widera 2021;Worobiec et al 2021). In the latter case, the accumulation of the MPLS-1 started at the time of this climatic optimum (~15 Ma) and continued (max.…”

“…During this time interval, the tectonic activity of the Carpathians was also marked by the climax of vertical and lateral displacements, as well as the development of sedimentary basins in the foreland and back-arc areas, alongside volcanic phenomena (Plašienka et al 1997;Fodor et al 1999;Krzywiec 2001;Golonka 2004;Peryt and Piwocki 2004;Schäfer et al 2005;Oszczypko 2006;Andreucci et al 2013;Wysocka et al 2016;Kováč et al 2007Kováč et al , 2017aWidera et al 2008Widera et al , 2019aJarosiński et al 2009;Mach et al 2013;Jankowski and Margielewski 2015;Jankowski and Wysocka 2019;Šujan et al 2020. On the other hand, climatic changes further enhanced by tectonics have been documented in both fauna (Böhme 2003;Hernández-Ballarín and Peláez-Campomanes 2017;Holcová et al 2018) and flora (Schneider 1992;Planderová et al 1993;Utescher et al 2009Doláková et al 2021).…”

Phylogeny, biogeography, and morphological ancestral character reconstruction in the Mediterranean genus Fumana (Cistaceae)

“…5, Procumbens group). This clade began to diversify 9.73 myr ago (95%: 4.65–16.09), after the occurrence of an important cooling event (middle Miocene Climate Transition ~15 to ~13.7 myr) in large parts of the western Mediterranean Basin (Jimenez‐Moreno et al, 2010; Hernández‐Ballarín & Peláez‐Campomanes, 2017). The extant species of this lineage ( F. baetica , F. fontqueri , F. paphlagonica , and F. procumbens ) currently inhabit moister and fresher environments of high mountains.…”

Periodicity in stromatolitic lamination: A potential record of ENSO, NAO, and SUNSPOT in the Miocene lacustrine record of the Ebro Basin, Spain

“…Likewise, the association of NAO variability and rainfall on the Iberian Peninsula and in northern Africa has been the subject of various studies (Zorita et al, 1992;Rodó et al, 1997;Knippertz et al, 2003). The correlation found between the values of NAO indices and rainfall also applies to some places in the current Ebro Depression (Goodess and Jones, 2002;Muñoz-Díaz and Rodrigo, 2004;Hernández-Ballarín and Peláez-Campomanes, 2017). Present-day lakes are widely affected by climate variables, such as air temperature, wind velocity and precipitation (Margalef, 1983), and observations have demonstrated that many physical and biological lake properties are controlled by these parameters on seasonal to decadal scales (Catalan et al, 2013).…”