Fig 1.
Location of the Buena Pinta Cave.
(A) Map of the Iberian Peninsula, the dark rectangle marks the area enlarged in Fig 1B. (B) Digital terrain model of the area surrounding the site, with indication of the situation of Buena Pinta Cave.
Fig 2.
Stratigraphy and datings of the Buena Pinta Cave.
(A) Picture of the current area of excavations at the external chamber of the cave and at the entry to the gallery. (B) Stratigraphy of the external chamber of the cave, with indication of the provenance of the samples of sediment dated by thermoluminiscence, and resulting datings (Dating and Radiochemistry Laboratory, Autonomous University of Madrid). The silhouette of a pika indicates the layer where the mandible of O. cf. pusilla was identified.
Fig 3.
Fragment of a mandible from Ochotona cf. pusilla from Layer 3 of the Buena Pinta Cave.
(A) Buccal view. (B) Lingual view. (C) SEM image of the teeth in occlusal view. (D) Sketch of the tooth enamel pattern.
Fig 4.
Comparison of the occlusal morphology of lower cheek-teeth of Leporidae, Ochotonidae, and Prolagidae.
Leporidae (A) are represented by Oryctolagus cuniculus (redrawn from [87]), Ochotonidae (B) are represented by Ochotona sp. (redrawn from [88]), and Prolagidae (C) are represented by Prolagus sp. (redrawn from [25]). Red circles indicate dentine bridges connecting anterior and posterior lobes in Leporidae; green arrows indicate the presence of one or two lobes in m3 of Leporidae and Ochotonidae respectively; the blue arrow indicates the presence of three lobes in m2 of Prolagidae.
Fig 5.
Comparison of the measurements of the jaw of O. cf. pusilla from Buena Pinta Cave with other recent and fossil samples of O. pusilla.
(A) Coronar length of p4-m3. (B) Mandible height at m2. (C) Mandible width at m2. (D) Mandible width at p4. Data from the recent and fossil samples come from [12]. All the measurements are in millimetres.
Table 1.
Measurements of the lower teeth (p4 to m3) of O. polonica (Zamkowa Dolna Cave, Poland; Early Pleistocene [31]), O. dehmi (Schernfeld, Germany; Early Pleistocene [32]), O. pusilla (Mamutowa Cave, Poland; Late Pleistocene [29]) and O. cf. pusilla from Buena Pinta Cave.
(tr: trigonid; tl: talonid).
Fig 6.
Map of Europe showing the southernmost and westernmost Late Pleistocene sites with remains of Ochotona.
Sites are listed as in Table 2. Source of the satellite image: http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/ (public domain).
Table 2.
List of southernmost and westernmost Late Pleistocene sites in Europe with remains of Ochotona.
Sites are listed according to their longitude, from east to west.
Fig 7.
Changes of sea level (RSL) values in the Mediterranean, and Atlantic forest development in southern France and north of the Iberian Peninsula during the last 135 ka.
(A) RSL at Gibraltar; (B) Fluctuations of Atlantic forest development in southwestern France based on pollen record from deep-sea core MD04-2845 (136–30 ka), at 45°N, 05°W; (C) Fluctuations of Atlantic forest development in the nortwest of the Iberian Peninsula based on the pollen record from deep-sea cores MD99-2331 (131–14 ka) and MD03-2697 (14–0 ka) at 42°N, 09°W. Fig 7A reprinted from [50], with permission from Elsevier. Fig 7B and 7C reprinted from [51] with permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd.