Resumen de Contribution de la paléoherpétofaune (Amphibia & Squamata) à la connaissance de l' evolution du climat et du paysage du Pliocène supérieur au Pléistocène moyen d' Espagne*
Contribution of the palaeoherpetofauna (Amphibia & Squamata to the knowlwdge and climate and landscape evolution from Late Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene of Spain. The present paper is a study of fossil amphibians and squamate reptiles found in 34 Spanish localities, dated from the Upper Pliocene to the Middle Pleistocene. This work permits to supplement the knowledge of the settlements of amphibians and squamate reptiles in Spain during the Quaternary and to define the contribution of these faunas to the reconstitution of the landscape and the climate. During the Late Pliocene, several thermophilous groups of squamates will gradually disappear from the Iberian Peninsula following successive climatic pejorations: the Eastern Vipers and the genus Pseudopus, during the MN16, in Cova Bonica (Barcelona), then the Agamidae, at the end of the MN17 in Almenara- Casablanca-1 (Castellón) and Vallirana (Barcelona). Only the genus Dopasia will persist until the end of the Early Pleistocene (MmQ3) in the South of Spain in Barranco León (Guadix-Baza). At the same time, the observed variations within hygrophilic species suggest a peak of aridity at 2.0 My, and an increase in moisture between 1.3 and 1.0 My in the localities of Barranco León and Fuente Nueva 3 (Guadix-Baza), of Almenara-Casablanca-3 (Castellón) and especially Cal Guardiola (Barcelona) with the presence in the north of Eurosiberian taxa like the common brown frog (Rana temporaria) or the smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) and the withdrawal towards the South of some Mediterranean taxa (Blanus cinereus and Chalcides bedriagai). The stratigraphic sequence of Gran Dolina (Atapuerca, Burgos), thick of 18 m and covering the period going from 1.0 to 0.3 My constitutes a privileged site for the study of climatic and environmental changes. Variations within herpetofauna highlight the alternation of hot-dry periods and colder-wet periods. The evolution of the forest indices within the sequence makes it possible to correlate the fresher phases with a probable more significant development of forest cover. The modern chorologic data of these faunas allow hypothesis for estimating mean annual temperatures and precipitations.
