Environmental and Earth Sciences

Abstract: Palaeontological sites are integral components of geodiversity, but their finite nature and irreversible information loss through erosion and collecting raise the question of whether general geoheritage assessment methodologies evaluate them adequately. We address this question at Arroyo Valleforero (Lepe, Huelva, Spain), a Mio-Pliocene locality with exceptional body and trace fossil assemblages, which, though nationally inventoried, lacks heritage protection. Alongside a site-specific threat analysis, we applied four methodologies: the Spanish Inventory of Sites of Geological Interest (IELIG), Fossils and Heritage of Alicante (FOPALI), Brilha’s geosite assessment framework and INDICAGEOPAR, an indicator-based system developed for Spanish National Parks. All four methodologies assigned high scientific value (78.8–85.0% of maximum), whereas educational and especially tourism values diverged. FOPALI proved most suitable for scientific value and degradation risk, and Brilha’s framework for potential use. The threat analysis indicated maximum anthropogenic vulnerability, whereas the methodologies returned low to moderate values. INDICAGEOPAR complemented the others by separating pressures, estimating degradation timeframes and linking results to management actions. We propose a staged management framework, from legal protection to geotourism. Site-specific threat analysis should precede assessment forms, and combining complementary methodologies is recommended for palaeontological sites, particularly unprotected ones.

Abstract: Fossil trackways preserve sequential records of locomotion, but long trackways are rarely analysed step by step to test whether movement remained uniform. Here, publicly available georeferenced track overlays from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department were imported into a metre-scaled digital workspace to analyse the Lone Ranger theropod trackway, Dinosaur Valley State Park, Texas. Extending 158 m, with 158 of an estimated 188 footprints preserved, it is the longest theropod trackway documented along the Paluxy River. Stride length varies from 0.71 to 2.60 m, mean stride increases from 1.65 m in the first portion (LR-1) to 1.89 m in the second (LR-2), and heading shifts from southwestward to westward. Although the trackway is nearly straight overall (straightness index 0.957), heading changes by a mean of 6.0° (LR-1) and 5.9° (LR-2) between successive steps. An apparent left–right pace disparity in LR-2 is not significant and is absent from the longer LR-1, which could have detected it. Relative stride (0.50–1.84), based on an Acrocanthosaurus-derived hip height, indicates walking throughout, while stride-based velocity estimates range from 0.96 to 8.38 km/h. The trackway therefore records a stable walking gait whose registered geometry varied step by step. Long trackways can distinguish sustained locomotor patterns from local variation, and archival georeferenced records can serve as reusable datasets for quantitative ichnology.

Abstract: Fossil physeteroids exhibited substantially greater diversity in body size and feeding ecology than their extant relatives, yet body-length estimates for many taxa remain dependent on incomplete skeletons and proportional scaling from a limited number of reference species. This study reassesses body-size estimates in fossil physeteroids using a cranial proportion-based framework centered on bizygomatic width (BZW) and condylobasal length (CBL). The reference body lengths of Zygophyseter varolai and Brygmophyseter shigensis were reevaluated using published vertebral measurements, preserved skeletal length, and scale-bar-based skeletal data, and were conservatively set at approximately 6.5 m and 6.0 m, respectively. These revised reference values were then used to generate updated body-length estimates for a broad sample of extinct physeteroids. Revised estimates indicate that large-bodied physeteroids were relatively uncommon. Among the non-kogiid genera examined, only seven reached or exceeded 6 m in estimated total length, whereas Livyatan and Eophyseter were the only fossil genera estimated to exceed 9.5 m. Macroraptorial physeteroids ranged from approximately 4.0–4.3 m in Acrophyseter spp. to approximately 15–16 m in the giant Livyatan melvillei. The results further suggest that large body size evolved under multiple ecological regimes. Some large-bodied physeteroids were macroraptorial predators, whereas others show adaptations consistent with suction feeding or predation on smaller prey. The temporal distribution of giant forms is therefore more consistent with repeated, independent increases in body size than with a single evolutionary trend toward gigantism. However, incomplete preservation and uncertainty in the body lengths of reference taxa remain important limitations. The framework presented here provides a more consistent basis for reassessing body-size diversity in fossil physeteroids and can be refined as more complete cranial and postcranial material becomes available.

Abstract: The Pirabas Formation preserves an abundant and diverse Miocene marine-to-estuarine fossil record in northern Brazil, but the research value of ex situ material depends on taxonomic and provenance data that can be traced and revised. This study evaluates taxonomic documentation and data quality in the Natural Heritage Collection (Coleção de Patrimônio Natural, CPAN) of the Federal University of Pará, which is housed in a Museology Program rather than a biological, geological, or paleontological unit. Institutional records, the cataloguing workflow, published sources, and an audit of 106 paleontological inventory records dated 2 September 2026 were examined. The scientific-name field was populated in 105 records (99.1%) and the phylum field in 104 (98.1%), whereas collector, collection date, acquisition date, origin, and acquisition mode were absent from all 106 records in the audited spreadsheet. Only 28 entries (26.4%) used genus-level or genus-style nomenclature, 45 (42.5%) contained formal suprageneric taxa, 32 (30.2%) used descriptive, vernacular, or material-based labels, and one record was blank. At least 12 records contained direct contradictions between populated broad taxonomic fields. Identifier review also detected one duplicated current registration code and one duplicated previous number. A seven-stage protocol was operationally applied to representative documentary cases without re-examining or reidentifying specimens. The metadata elements proposed in the protocol were compared with relevant Darwin Core terms to assess their potential for interoperability. The results show that high nominal completion of taxonomic fields does not necessarily indicate taxonomic precision or documentary reliability. Treating uncertainty, provenance gaps, and revision history as explicit data strengthens traceability and future research usability while keeping documentary quality control distinct from specialist taxonomic validation.

Abstract: This study investigates the taphonomic history, site formation processes, and paleontological and archaeofaunal record of Casa de Piedra 1 (CP1) in the Argentine Dry Pampas. The assemblage forms a long-time palimpsest that integrates materials spanning different temporal scales, including reworked Late Cretaceous–Paleocene marine animals and Holocene continental zooarchaeological fauna. The record reflects the combined effects of long-term fluvial reworking, surface exposure, vegetation development, pedogenesis, carbonate precipitation, and anthropogenic activities. These processes degraded skeletal preservation and obscured bone surface modifications, yielding a moderate- to low-resolution palimpsest and indicating that observed alteration frequencies represent minimum estimates. The assemblage preserves recurrent evidence of faunal resource exploitation—primarily Rhea sp. eggshells and large vertebrates—aligning with regional archaeozoological patterns and indicating continuity in hunter-gatherer subsistence during the Holocene. Furthermore, CP1 suggests the long-term persistence of arid, open xerophytic habitats throughout the Holocene within a broader framework of regional paleoenvironmental variability. Overall, CP1 illustrates how complex interactions between recurrent human occupations and multi-scale sedimentary and diagenetic processes shape the archaeological record.

Abstract: The Changdu Basin in eastern Tibet was an important habitat for Jurassic dinosaur faunas, yet reports of dinosaur remains are scarce. Research on the composition of dinosaur assemblages, palaeoenvironments, and palaeobiogeography remains insufficient. This paper reports a dinosaur tracksite from the Middle Jurassic Dabuka Formation in Duolongwa Village, Chaya County, and discusses ichnomorphology, the trackmakers, their gait and speed, and sedimentary facies. Two tracklayers are observed. Theropod tracks from the DLW1 tracklayer are assigned to Eubrontidae ichnogen. et ichnosp. indet. (Morphotype-1). The trackmakers had hip heights of 0.98-1.77 m and body lengths of 2.56-4.67 m and primarily moved at a walking gait. Gasosaurus constructus is the most probable trackmaker. Sauropod tracks from the DLW2 tracklayer are assigned to Brontopodus isp. (Morphotype-2). The trackmakers had an estimated hip height of 2.96 m and a body length of 10.94 m. They were likely juveniles belonging to the Shunosaurus-Mamenchisaurus fauna. Sedimentological analyses indicate that the Duolongwa tracksite was a river point-bar-floodplain depositional system. The discovery of the Duolongwa tracksite demonstrates close links between the Middle Jurassic dinosaur fauna of eastern Tibet and cotemporaneous dinosaur faunas of the Sichuan-Yunnan areas, providing new evidence for faunal exchange among dinosaur assemblages across Southwest China.

Abstract: Large-scale efforts to catalog the fossil record and digitize museum collections have driven the recognition of two distinct forms of fossil records: the physical record, consisting of specimens, and the abstracted record, consisting of data derived from those specimens. This framework provides a conceptual basis for distinguishing between specimen-based and data-driven resources for teaching and learning paleontology in formal educational settings. In this position paper, we show that state-of-the-art paleontological research increasingly conceptualizes the so-called abstracted fossil record not merely as digital data or archives (e.g., databases, digital models, and imagery), but primarily as complex representations of the spatiotemporally resolved and high-dimensional geohistorical data. Building on this perspective, we highlight a major gap between modern paleontological research and teaching practices in higher education, where paleontology courses often rely on the specimen-data dichotomy and ignore that abstracted representations of the fossil record, such as network models, encode assumptions about its spatiotemporal structure and dynamics that shape the patterns inferred from fossil data. Because a physical fossil record can give rise to multiple abstracted representations, each capturing different aspects of the underlying data, we introduce the concept of multiple fossil records within a complex network framework. We argue that leveraging network-based tools can bridge paleontological research and teaching practices while fostering systems thinking in the paleontology classroom, consistent with the UNESCO Education 2030 Framework for Action.

Abstract: The prevailing paradigm attributing biotic mass extinctions to Large Igneous Province (LIP)-driven global hyperthermia and oceanic anoxia faces a fundamental sedimentological paradox: coal seams and carbonaceous shales — indicative of cool-temperate climates — are systematically developed in the strata of all five major Phanerozoic extinction events, while typical hot-climate indicators such as red beds and evaporites are conspicuously absent from those same intervals. This contradiction strongly suggests that the climatic backdrop of extinction intervals may be cold rather than hot. To test this possibility, we apply an a priori, falsifiable lithological criterion — the Cold Rule — that is independent of geochemical proxies. Taking coal and carbonaceous shales as cool-temperate indicators and red beds and evaporites as tropical indicators, we systematically compile published stratigraphic successions from key sections of all five mass extinctions, assign lithology to climate zones bed by bed, and examine three independent lines of evidence: climate reverse cycles, the timing of coal measures relative to extinction pulses, and the latitudinal differentiation of extinction. Each mass extinction event records a complete climate reverse cycle from red beds (warm stage) through evaporites (arid-hot stage) and coal and carbonaceous shales (cool-temperate stage) to cold-zone or glacial conditions at the extinction horizon, across all five events. The horizons of coal and carbonaceous shale development consistently predate the main extinction pulse, indicating that they represent the climatic prelude to extinction rather than synchronous products of a hyperthermal–anoxic crisis. Extinction intensity is highest at mid-latitudes, while low-latitude equatorial regions serve as relative biological refugia; extinction timing displays a systematic progression from high latitudes through mid-latitudes to low latitudes. On the basis of this primary sedimentological evidence, we propose the "Cooling-Driven Mass Extinction" hypothesis. Its causal chain operates through two timescales: in the short term, volcanic eruptions and/or bolide impacts trigger abrupt cooling through stratospheric aerosol forcing; in the long term, low temperatures suppress organic matter decomposition and enhance carbon burial efficiency, initiating a positive feedback in which cooling lowers atmospheric CO₂ and drives further cooling, ultimately contracting climate zones until the cold zone invades mid-to-low latitudes and triggers ecosystem collapse. This hypothesis accommodates all five mass extinctions within a single climate-driven framework. Its core predictions — that cool-temperate lithologies must predate the extinction horizon, that extinction timing must display a latitudinal progression from high to low latitudes, and that tropical lithological indicators must be systematically absent at extinction boundaries — have received preliminary empirical support in the data analysis presented here and are directly testable by future high-resolution stratigraphic work.

Abstract: The origin of zongzi — rice and millet wrapped in leaves — has long been debated owing to a millennium-long gap between its legendary association with Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) and the earliest unequivocal evidence, which dates only to the Song Dynasty. Here we present well-dated archaeological evidence of plant bundles (c. 2200 cal. BP) from the Wuwangdun Site, the first well-excavated tomb of King Kaolie of Chu. These plant bundles share the essential characteristics of modern zongzi and overlap both temporally and geographically with the Qu Yuan legend. They consist of Quercus dentata leaves containing rice (Oryza sativa, 43.6%), broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum, 26.1%) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica, 28.5%), secured with cords made from Panicoideae and Chloridoideae plants — a wrapping practice structurally identical to that of modern zongzi. Most seeds were preserved as whole husks, indicating that the bundles were used as funerary offerings rather than for consumption, which aligns with the legend that zongzi were thrown into the river to commemorate Qu Yuan. Notably, Q. dentata leaves are still used to wrap zongzi in regions that once formed the northern border of the Chu Kingdom. Our findings demonstrate that the plant bundles from the Wuwangdun Site most likely represent the prototype of zongzi, bridging the gap between legend and material culture and showing that the tradition of wrapping grains for ritual purposes began in the Chu Kingdom no later than 2200 years ago.

Abstract:

Structures resembling iron-related bacteria (IRB) have been found in the Lower Carboniferous limestones that form a part of the carbonate platform in the Moravo-Silesian Basin that surrounds the Upper Silesian Block, an eastern margin of the Brunovistulicum microcontinent. Microfacial, petrological, and geochemical analyses were used to determine the bacteria-like structures which are present in narrow zones unrelated to bedding. We present here morphology and chemistry of the studied microstructures showing their similarities to IRB from the present-day Sphaerotilus-Leptothrix group, the Galionella group, and the species Mariprofundus ferrooxydans. We suggest that bacterial growth occurred in the originally empty micropores of microfossil skeletons and shells, between bioclasts or in secondary voids formed during the selective dissolution of micrite or smaller sparite crystals. Hydrothermal solutions, associated probably with the post-Variscan magmatism in this area, provided iron compounds for the growth of the IRB.

Abstract: A tarsometatarsus recovered from the Upper Pleistocene levels of the La Esperanza Formation in Olavarría, Argentina, represents the first avian remains reported from this locality. Its morphology and size allow its assignment to Aramides cajaneus (Aves, Gruiformes), a species that still occurs in or near the area. Members of the genus Aramides are terrestrial birds closely associated with wetland environments, providing valuable paleoenvironmental insight into the conditions that prevailed in the region during the Late Pleistocene.

Abstract:

Ichnological research on trace fossils from the volcanic islands of Macaronesia (North Atlantic) is reviewed in light of significant advances over the past two decades. These studies contribute to the interpretation of paleoenvironments and enhance our understanding of the biota preserved in Miocene–Holocene shallow marine and non-marine deposits across the Azores, Cape Verde, Canary, Madeira, and Salvagens archipelagos. Trace fossils provide evidence of organisms not always known from body fossils, or whose potential tracemakers are absent from the extant island fauna. They include sedimentary burrows, borings in hard substrates, and traces of plant–insect interactions. Some ichnotaxa are widespread and common (e.g., Bichordites monastiriensis, Dactyloidites ottoi, Macaronichnus segregatis, Ophiomorpha nodosa, Thalassinoides isp.), whereas others are rare. Several new ichnotaxa have also been described from the islands, including Alaichnus kabuverdiensis (cumulative trace of bivalve siphons), Centrichnus dentatus (attachment trace of verrucid barnacles), Diopatrichnus santamariaensis (polychaete tubes armored with shell debris), Ericichnus bromleyi and E. asgaardi (bioerosion grooves of regular echinoids), and Rebuffoichnus guanche (coleopteran pupation chambers). Despite these advances, ichnological research in Macaronesia remains uneven, with many topics still underexplored and significant gaps in the geographic and inventory record.

Abstract: Cretaceous Gondwanan coelacanths in the Family Mawsoniidae include two genera – Mawsonia and Axelrodichthys – that show a related biogeographic pattern of occurrences in Brazil and Africa. We report here on the presence of Axelrodichthys in Niger based on a partial skull roof and partial extrascapular series from the Aptian ‘Fish Mountain’ site at Ingal (or Ingall) in central western Niger. Assignment of the specimen to Axelrodichthys is based on the presence of a median extrascapular along the posterior margin of the skull roof, an element that is absent in the sister-genus Mawsonia. This record from Niger fits into the broader pattern of the genus vicariantly co-occurring in both northeastern Brazil and northwestern Africa, and then subsequently expanding its range across Africa during the Cretaceous – reaching Niger at an intermediate stage – and then eventually dispersing as far east as Madagascar and as far north as what is now southern Europe by the Late Cretaceous.

Abstract: The rich Eocene larger benthic foraminiferal (LBF) assemblages from the vicinity of Verona are well-known long since. However, they are described in detail only from the Ypresian to Bartonian interval. Here, we present the results of our morphometrically based study of Priabonian LBF. The lowermost part of the succession, just above the uppermost occurrence of giant Nummulites (N. biedai) is outcropping on Monte Cavro and contains Heterostegina reticulata multifida and Nummulites hormoensis as major constituents. These taxa clearly determine the earliest Priabonian SBZ 18C shallow benthic zone. Slightly younger strata could be studied in the three studied exposures on the northern side of Castel San Felice. These beds already represent the early Priabonian SBZ 19A Zone based on the first appearing Spiroclypeus sirottii and on the presence of Heterostegina reticulata mossanensis and Nummulites fabianii (replacing H. r. multifida and N. hormoensis, respectively). The most abundant LBF in these beds are the very diverse and well-preserved orthophragmines represented both by family Discocyclinidae (genus Discocyclina and Nemkovella) and Orbitoclypeidae (genus Orbitoclypeus and Asterocyclina). They determine the OZ 14 orthophragminid zone. The distinction of six species of the genus Discocyclina (especially that of D. euaensis from D. dispansa) is discussed in detail. The exposures around Castel San Felice are considered as key localities for the SBZ 19A and OZ 14 Zones containing their key LBF assemblages. Late Lutetian–Priabonian range charts for LBF and separately also for orthophragminid taxa are updated.

Abstract: The Onil and Ibi sections (Prebetic Zone, Betic Cordillera: Alicante, SE Spain) record a middle Cuisian–early Lutetian (~51–43 Ma) carbonate platform succession, dated using larger benthic foraminifera (LBF) and planktonic foraminifera. Seven field lithofacies (L1 to L7) and five thin-section microfacies (Mf1–Mf5) were identified, indicating inner- to mid-ramp environments (from seagrass meadows to Maërl-LBF dominated) in warm-water and low-latitude conditions. A distinctive feature of these platforms is their dominance by LBF in association with rhodophyceae, contrasting with typical coral reef factories. We propose a novel carbonate production model, "TC-factory", to describe these warm-temperate systems. Integrated field logging, drone imagery, and microfacies data allowed us to define a sequence stratigraphic framework comprising five lower frequence sequences (LFS: ~2 Ma average duration), each of them nesting various number of high frequency sequences (HFS: ~250–1 Ma). The LFSs belong to a higher rank sequence bounded by regional unconformities. The five LFSs only broadly match the upper Ypresian and lower Lutetian cycles in global eustatic curves (~51–43 Ma), indicating that other regional or local controls were important. The number of HFSs fewer than expected also suggesting additional controls as local tectonics, erosion during lowstands, or carbonate production feedbacks.

Abstract: This study presents findings from an ongoing investigation of the recently discovered Rhizolith Petrified Forest of Chania, located at Stavros in the Akrotiri peninsula of Crete, Greece. Unlike most known petrified forests that primarily preserve tree trunks, this site uniquely features an abundance of rhizoliths—fossilized root systems preserved through calcium carbonate mineralization. The rhizoliths exist within aeolianite formations along the coastal front, with diverse morphologies and sizes ranging from small trace-like forms to massive, branched structures exceeding one meter in length. The site also contains in-situ petrified trunks, calcrete formations, and biokarstic dissolution features that further enhance its scientific value. Microscopic examination of rhizolith samples has revealed valuable information about their internal structure, showing clear biogenic characteristics. The exceptional preservation of both below-ground and above-ground plant components provides critical insight into the Quaternary paleoenvironment, including vegetation structure, soil stabilization processes, and paleoclimatic conditions. The alternating layers of aeolianites and paleosols suggest cyclical environmental changes, with periods of active dune formation alternating with more stable conditions allowing soil development and vegetation establishment. This comprehensive study places the Stavros rhizoliths in a global context, comparing them with similar features documented at other sites worldwide, and establishes the site as one of substantial paleoenvironmental and geological importance.

Abstract: The Cretaceous oceanic red beds (CORBs) and their implications for “oceanic oxic events” have been widely studied by geologists globally. In southern Tibet, CORBs are extensively distributed within the Upper Cretaceous strata of the northern Tethyan Himalaya (NTH). A well-exposed, CORB-bearing, mixed carbonate-shale sequence is found in the Zhangguo section of Rilang Township, Gyangze County. The Chuangde Formation in this section is characterized by well-preserved CORBs, which include reddish shale, limestone, marlstone, and interbedded siltstone. These CORBs are stratigraphically overlain by the Jiabula/Gyabula Formation (predominantly shale) and underlain by the Zongzhuo Formation (“mélange”). However, the precise age, depositional environments, and regional/global correlations of these CORBs, as well as their implications for synchronous versus diachronous oceanic oxic events, remain to be fully understood. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of foraminiferal biostratigraphy and microfacies is conducted for the CORB-bearing Chuangde Formation and the upper Jiabula (Gyabula) Formation in the Zhangguo section. Five planktic foraminiferal biozones including Dicarinella asymetrica, Globotruncanita elevata, Contusotruncana plummerae, Radotruncana calcarata, and Globotruncanella havanensis are identified through detailed biostratigraphic analysis, confirming a Campanian age for the Chuangde Formation and its CORBs. These findings are broadly correlated with typical Upper Cretaceous CORBs in pelagic-hemipelagic settings across the NTH in southern Tibet. Nine microfacies and four facies associations are identified within the Upper Cretaceous strata of Gyangze and adjacent areas through field and petrographic analyses. Notably, it is indicated that planktic foraminiferal packstone/grainstone CORBs were deposited in outer shelf to upper slope environments, while radiolarian chert CORBs are inferred to have formed in deep-water, basinal settings below the carbonate compensation depth (CCD).

Abstract: Divergent mid-Silurian (late Wenlock) and latest Silurian-earliest Devonian (Pridoli-Lochkovian) ages have been proposed for the strata bearing the millipede Pneumodesmus newmani, the first recorded undoubtedly air-breathing land animal, marking a significant event in the evolution of the first land biota. The late Wenlock age is based on physically correlating a non-marine section dated with spores and detrital zircon dates, across a fault, with a distinctly different section bearing the millipede. The Pridoli-Lochkovian ages is based on vertebrate fossils and detrital zircon dates from this latter section. A review of available lithostratigraphic, petrological, and biostratigraphic data, plus detrital zircon dating of the basal Old Red Sandstone around Stonehaven, show that the two dated sections have strata that are of different depositional environments, sources and ages and that the totality of the evidence firmly dates the millipede-bearing strata as Pridoli-Lochkovian.

Abstract: To assess the validity of Globorotalia (Turborotalia) oceanica Cushman and Bermudez, 1949 in the Holocene four samples from the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, currently referred to Truncorotalia crassaformis, are analysed with procrustes transformed data for their integrity as representatives of local populations. While axial shape is weakly globose, it is highly variable and is related terminal growth of specimens and the depth at which samples were taken. The outline profile of late-formed chambers commonly forms a smooth curve, but mal-formed terminal chambers are often compressed at the periphery. There is only incipient formation of a keel at the periphery. The shape of the holotype falls centrally in the joint scatter of the four samples. The relation of these Holocene samples to Truncorotalia crassaformis is evaluated from a comparison of Holocene tropical Atlantic samples with one from the warm subtropical Southwest Pacific. The conical axial profile of the latter specimens, usually with a keel at the compressed periphery, resembles the neotype of Truncorotalia crassaformis. They are strongly discriminated from the Holocene tropical Atlantic samples of Truncorotalia oceanica which is judged to be a valid morphospecies in the modern tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The close similarity of the axial profile of late-formed chambers of early Pliocene specimens with modern counterparts is demonstrated.

Abstract: In the Betic-Rif Cordilleras, recent works have evidenced the existence of well-developed Eocene (Ypresian-Bartonian) carbonate platforms rich in Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF). Contrarily to other sectors of the western Tethys, as the Pyrenean domain in the North Iberian Margin where these platforms started in the early Ypresian (Ilerdian), in the Betic-Rif chains the recorded Eocene platforms started in the late Ypresian (Cuisian) after a widespread gap of sedimentation covering Ilerdian time span. In this work the Aspe-Terreros Prebetic section (External Betic Zone) has been studied. An Eocene succession with gravity flow deposits consisting in terrigenous and bioclastic turbidites, as well as olistostromes with olistoliths, was detected. In one of these turbidites we have dated the middle Ilerdian based on LBF representing a vestige of a missing Illerdian carbonate platform. The microfacies of these turbidites and olistoliths rich in LBF have been described and documented in detail. The gap in the sedimentary record and absence of Ilerdian platforms in the Betic-Rif Cordillera have been related to the so called Eo-Alpine tectonics (Cretaceous to Paleogene) together with sea-level variations which developed contemporaneously to the establishment of shallow marine realms in the margins of the western Tethys due to the Eocene climatic warming.