Resumen: Although discontinuous because of their karst nature, the Almenara-Casablanca complex records a very
complete small vertebrate succession (amphibians, squamates, insectivores, bats, rodents and lagomorphs),
characterized by the richness of their sites, a richness which cannot
be expected in sites of
fluvio-lacustrine origin. This late Neogene-early Quaternary succession includes the sites of Almenara-
Casablanca M (Miocene-Pliocene boundary), Almenara-Casablanca 4 (late Pliocene), Almenara-Casablanca
1 (earliest Pleistocene) and Almenara-Casablanca 3 (late early Pleistocene). In this way, the
Almenara-Casablanca succession complements the data from other well know terrestrial Pliocene-
Pleistocene sequences in the Iberian Peninsula, most notably that of the Guadix-Baza Basin. The
complementation between the almost continuous Pliocene-Pleistocene sequence of the Guadix-Baza
Basin and the discontinuous but very rich succession from the Almenara-Casablanca complex enables
accurate dating of some of the faunal events that punctuate the Pliocene-early Pleistocene time interval.
Furthermore, the assemblages from the Almenara-Casablanca complex contain the evidence of the
earliest occurrences of several taxa as well as the persistence of other that had already disappeared from
other European regions. Therefore, it provides new evidence for the particular role which the Iberian
Peninsula played during the late Neogene and early Quaternary, acting at certain moments as a bridge for
the entry of African taxa or, alternatively, as a refuge for other European taxa. This paper provides an
updated review of the small vertebrate succession from this complex.
Palabras clave: Almenara-Casablanca Karst; Small Vertebrate; Neogene; Quaternary
