THE FOSSIL REGISTER OF THE GENERA TESTUDO, EMYS AND MAUREMYS OF THE QUATERNARY IN CATALONIA

Abstract

In the territory of Catalonia (Iberian Peninsula) three species of tortoise currently live, Hermann’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni), Spanish terrapin (Mauremys leprosa) and European terrapin (Emys orbicularis). From the palaeontological and archaeological excavations initiated in the first half of the 20th century and reaching to today fossil and sub-fossil remains of these three species have occasionally appeared. In this paper the diverse information, including notes and publications and oral information, as well as the review of material deposited in museums, collections, universities and those that have currently appeared in excavations have been grouped. A description of unpublished material has been made and that described has been reviewed, while incentivising research in excavations. This has enabled an inventory of all the material grouping it chronologically and in this manner leading to the conclusion that in the case of Testudo hermanni, the species has been present in Catalonia from the Lower Pleistocene until today. In the case of Emys orbicular, its presence goes back to the end of the Late Pleistocene and in Mauremys leprosa, it appears in the Holocene All together the tortoise remains appearing at 34 sites have been studied.