Unbelievable! They discuss the 'animal life' found within Atapuerca's glaciers.

In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers from the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC) have unearthed a fossil tooth belonging to a reindeer (Rangifer) at the Gallery site in Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain. This find dates back approximately 243,000 to 300,000 years ago, shedding new light on the biogeographic patterns of glacial fauna and its significance for understanding the adaptability of human populations during the Middle Pleistocene.

Atapuerca, renowned as one of the most significant sites in the world for the study of the earliest humans and their evolution in Europe, continues to be an essential window into our past. The fossil discovery not only helps in dating the levels of the Atapuerca site but also confirms the presence of cold-adapted species like reindeer at these latitudes, indicating that climatic conditions were glacial at the time.

The reindeer's presence at this latitude suggests that extreme cold may have affected the Iberian fauna earlier and more intensely than previously thought. Moreover, some of these species reached as far south as Madrid and Granada, much further south than Atapuerca, demonstrating that glacial fauna extended across the Iberian Peninsula and that, like other southern peninsulas in Europe, it served as a refuge for non-cold-adapted species.

The fossil was found in the GIIIa unit of Gallery, in the same layer as a human cranial fragment and numerous remains of lithic industry, confirming that the species coexisted with primitive humans. This discovery is one of the southernmost reindeer fossils found in Eurasia and is also the oldest record of glacial fauna in the Peninsula.

Ignacio Aguilar Lazagabaster, a researcher at CENIEH, concludes that this work highlights the importance of studying the biogeographic patterns of glacial fauna. MNCN researcher, Jan van der Made, explains that this fossil shows the intensity of the glacial periods that affected the Peninsula's inhabitants during the Pleistocene.

ECOticias.com reports on the importance of the Atapuerca site for understanding the past of humanity and its evolution over millions of years. The research team that discovered the fossils of the glacial fauna in the Atapuerca area is called the Atapuerca Research Team. This discovery emphasizes the importance of studying the biogeographic patterns of glacial fauna to understand the adaptability of human populations during the Middle Pleistocene.