Prehistoric Elephant Footprints Trace Their Movements Through Spain 125,000 Years Ago
Straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) lived with wolves, deer, and weasel-like mammals in the coastal wildernesses of southern Spain during the Last Interglacial.
Researchers writing in Quaternary Science Review have discovered new tracks at the Torre de Cope in the Murcia region of Spain, which they attribute to P. antiquus, an extinct species that once roamed Europe and Western Asia. According to the study’s authors, these are the first fossilized footprints belonging to a vertebrate from the Quaternary period – an era that began 2.6 million years ago and continues to the present day – found in this part of Spain.
This, combined with the tracks of other animals, suggests coastal corridors enabled different species to migrate to and from woodlands and more humid ecosystems near the sea, while dodging Neanderthals who may have been drawn to the region’s ample supply of prey.
“This diversity reflects a mixed forest ecosystem with both carnivores and herbivores, suggesting the proximity of forested areas in the eastern Betic mountains to the coast,” the study’s authors wrote in the study.
(Possibly) the Oldest P. antiquus Tracks in Europe
The tracks at Torre de Cope continue for 9 feet (2.75 meters) and contain individual footprints 15 to 20 inches (40 to 50 centimeters) long – which is roughly as tall as an A3 sheet of paper.
From the footprints, the researchers calculated the age, size, and weight of the straight-tusked elephant responsible for the markings. According to their estimates, this individual would have been over 30 years old, measured 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) from the hip and weighed 2.6 tons.
According to the study’s authors, “these could be the first proboscidean tracks described in the Pleistocene of Europe, and possibly the oldest of P. antiquus.” (Proboscideans are a group of mammals that include elephants and mammoths.)
The fossilized tracks extend the geographical range of the straight-tusked elephant to southeast Spain during the Last Interglacial (115,000 years to 130,000 years ago).
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Mustelids, Equids, Canids and More
The researchers also described several other tracks in nearby Calblanque belonging to an assortment of mammals, from mustelids to equids. This includes one trail that extends 5 feet (1.5 meters) and includes 10 not-quite circular footprints. The placement of these footprints – in pairs – suggests the animal was moving slowly, possibly because it was near a water source, the researchers said.
The animal in question is thought to be a mustelid – a group of carnivorous mammals that include weasels, otters, and wolverines. This individual may have been a stone marten, a species that is frequently found in this part of Spain today but was (until now) absent from the Iberian Peninsula fossil record.
The researchers also describe a single pawprint thought to belong to an adult wolf and several footprints believed to be those of a red deer. The positioning of these marks – specifically, their west-facing orientation – suggests that the animal would have been walking through dunes or scrublands, they say. A fifth set of prints have been attributed to an equid (members of the horse family).
Evidence of Ecological Corridors
The footprints highlight the diversity of mammals that roamed the coastal dunes of southern Spain during the Late Interglacial – a region that may have served as an ecological corridor allowing for seasonal migrations between different habitats, say researchers, who point to the annual migrations taken by today’s African elephants.
The study’s authors also note a correlation between the routes these animals may have taken with known Neanderthal sites, which could indicate our hominin relatives made use of the abundant supply of flora and fauna the region had to offer.
“These Neanderthal coastal sites were hunting grounds for large mammals such as red deer, horses, aurochs and wild goat, as well as territories for elephant procurement,” the study’s authors wrote.
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