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Islands have long been recognized as distinctive evolutionary arenas leading to morphologically divergent species, such as dwarfs and giants. We assessed how body size evolution in island mammals may have exacerbated their vulnerability, as well as how human arrival has contributed to their past and ongoing extinctions, by integrating data on 1231 extant and 350 extinct species from islands and paleo islands worldwide spanning the past 23 million years. We found that the likelihood of extinction and of endangerment are highest in the most extreme island dwarfs and giants. Extinction risk of insular mammals was compounded by the arrival of modern humans, which accelerated extinction rates more than 10-fold, resulting in an almost complete demise of these iconic marvels of island evolution.

[eng] In this paper we present the study of the coastal caves of a small but interesting littoral sector located south of Portocolom (Felanitx), in an area known as Cala Barbacana. A total of twelve caves have been studied, all of them located on cliffs both at sea level and above it, which also include a series of underwater caves. Formation of these caves is mainly due to phenomena of active marine erosion but combined, in some cases, with genetic episodes of a karstic nature. The analysis of these phenomena raises some interesting questions regarding the relationship between endokarst phenomena, marine erosion and their representations in coastal geomorphology., [cat] El estudio de las cavidades litorales del término de Felanitx, aborda en ésta ocasión un reducido pero interesante sector costero situado al sur de Portocolom, la zona conocida como Cala Barbacana. Se localizan un total de doce cavidades, situadas en acantilados tanto a nivel marino como por encima de éste, complementándose con una serie de cavidades submarinas. Destacan fenómenos de erosión marina activa combinados en algunos casos con episodios genéticos de carácter kárstico. El análisis de dichos fenómenos plantea algunas interesantes cuestiones al respeto de la relación entre fenómenos endokársticos, erosión marina y sus representaciones en la geomorfología litoral.

[CA]: La Tesi Doctoral inclou l’estudi de vertebrats fòssils post-messinians de les Illes Balears fins ara desconeguts. La investigació s’ha centrat principalment en el registre fòssil de vertebrats del Pliocè basal obtingut a Na Burguesa-1 (NB-1) i del jaciment del Pleistocè-Holocè des Pouàs a Eivissa. La troballa de nous tàxons en aquests jaciments ha permès avaluar l’origen paleobiogeogràfic de les faunes post-messinianes de les Illes Balears, explorar les condicions que poden haver influït en el procés de colonització, explorar la possible existència de tàxons relictes pre-messinians i analitzar el procés d'extinció dels llinatges faunístics post-messinians. Els fòssils de NB-1 es van recuperar d’unes bretxes mitjançant un llarg tractament químic. Aquest procediment va permetre detectar 4 espècies diferents d’anurs, unes 13 espècies de rèptils, 6 espècies de mamífers i almenys una dotzena d’espècies d’ocells. Totes aquestes espècies, la majoria pertanyents a llinatges filètics registrats per primera vegada a l’illa de Mallorca, ens ofereixen una visió més precisa de l’estoc inicial que va arribar a les Illes Balears durant la Crisi salina del Messinià (MSC). La Memòria inclou la descripció de Paraethomys balearicus, una nova espècie insular de múrid obtinguda a NB-1, amb dents hipsodontes de mida mitjana. Conserva trets propers als presents a les primeres poblacions de P. meini del Turolià superior, el seu presumpte avantpassat continental. Aquesta relació entre ambdós tàxons dóna un suport addicional a un origen messinià per a l'anomenada fauna de Myotragus. També inclou la caracterització del conjunt paleornitològic obtingut a NB-1, compost per Tyto sp.1, Tyto sp. 2, Otus sp., un Phasianidae, una espècie de Charadriiformes i almenys cinc passeriformes. La depredació per almenys Tyto sp. 1 i Otus sp. hauria pogut formar la tafocenosi de NB-1, que cobreix l’àmplia gamma de mides de preses detectades al dipòsit. D’altra banda, s’ha observat que un nou glírid obti, [EN]: The present report deals with previously unknown post-Messinian fossil vertebrates of the Balearic Islands. The research mainly focused on the basal Pliocene vertebrate fossils recovered at Na Burguesa-1 (NB-1) and at the Pleistocene-Holocene site of Es Pouàs in Eivissa. The discovery of new taxa at both sites has enabled to refine the paleogeographical origin of the post-Messinian faunas of the Balearics, assess the conditions that could have influenced the colonization process, explore the possible existence of pre-Messinian relict taxa and analyze the process of extinction of the faunal lineages. The present report includes the description of Paraethomys balearicus, which preserves traits close to those present in the earliest populations of P. meini from the upper Turolian of the Iberian Peninsula, its assumed mainland ancestor. Also includes the characterization of the paleornithological assemblage found at NB-1, which includes three nocturnal birds of prey (Tyto sp.1, Tyto sp.2 and Otus sp.), a representative of the Phasianidae, a species of Charadriiformes, and at least five Passeriformes. Furthermore, a new glirid discovered in NB-1 seems to be on the origin of the Hypnomys phylogenetic lineage and is related to a Middle-Late Miocene ancestor. And the review of the material obtained at es Pouàs site allowed the detection of a dwarf endemic viper, Vipera latastei ebusitana. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that V. l. ebusitana, most probably derived from a northeast Iberian population of V. latastei. The endemic P. balearicus together with Apocricetus darderi, Alytes aff. muletensis from NB-1 and Debruijnimys sp. from the Pliocene of ses Fontanelles (Eivissa), suggest that the arrival to the island of a continental faunal stock of late Turolian age during the MSC, point out to SE Iberia as the source region of the faunal newcomers. In addition, riparian corridors could have played a role facilitating the arrival of taxa highly dependent on humid habitats.

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The sequencing, annotation and analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes is an important research tool in phylogeny and evolution. Starting with the primary sequence, genes/features are generally annotated automatically to obtain preliminary annotations in the form of a feature table. Further manual curation in a graphic alignment editor is nevertheless necessary to revise annotations. As such, the automatically generated feature table is invalidated and has to be modified manually before submission to data banks. We developed aln2tbl.py, a python script that recreates a feature table from a manually refined alignment of genes mapped on the mitochondrial genome in fasta format. The feature table is populated with notes and annotations specific to mitochondrial genomes. The table can be used to create a sqn file to be submitted directly to data banks. In summary, our scripts fills one gap in the available toolbox and, combined with other software, allows the automation of the entire process, from primary sequence to annotated genome submission, even if a manual curation step is conducted in a visual sequence editor.

The dormice (Gliridae) are a family of rodents represented by relatively few extant species, though the family was much more species-rich during the Early Miocene. Intergeneric phylogenetic relationships among glirids in some cases remain unresolved, despite extensive molecular and morphological analyses. Uncertainty is greatest with respect to the relationships among fossil taxa and how extinct lineages are related to modern species. The fossil genus Hypnomys from the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean Sea) includes the Late Pleistocene–Holocene species Hypnomys morpheus, which has variously been considered a close relative or subgenus of the extant Eliomys. In the present study, we sequenced ancient mitochondrial DNA from H. morpheus, which suggests a sister relationship with the extant members of Eliomys. In addition, the pairwise sequence variation between Hypnomys and Eliomys is higher than that observed between congeneric glirid species (e.g., many Graphiurus spp.), which allows us to reject the hypothesis that Hypnomys is a subgenus of Eliomys. Our molecular dating analyses suggest that Hypnomys and Eliomys diverged 13.67 million years ago (95% highest posterior density [HPD] = 7.39–20.07). The relatively early split between these genera together with the molar morphology of early representatives of Hypnomys points to a Middle-Late Miocene origin from a continental glirid with a complex molar pattern, such as Vasseuromys or a closely related genus.

The dormice (Gliridae) are a family of rodents represented by relatively few extant species, though the family was much more species-rich during the Early Miocene. Intergeneric phylogenetic relationships among glirids in some cases remain unresolved, despite extensive molecular and morphological analyses. Uncertainty is greatest with respect to the relationships among fossil taxa and how extinct lineages are related to modern species. The fossil genus Hypnomys from the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean Sea) includes the Late Pleistocene-Holocene species Hypnomys morpheus, which has variously been considered a close relative or subgenus of the extant Eliomys. In the present study, we sequenced ancient mitochondrial DNA from H. morpheus, which suggests a sister relationship with the extant members of Eliomys. In addition, the pairwise sequence variation between Hypnomys and Eliomys is higher than that observed between congeneric glirid species (e.g., many Graphiurus spp.), which allows us to reject the hypothesis that Hypnomys is a subgenus of Eliomys. Our molecular dating analyses suggest that Hypnomys and Eliomys diverged 13.67 million years ago (95% highest posterior density [HPD] = 7.39-20.07). The relatively early split between these genera together with the molar morphology of early representatives of Hypnomys points to a Middle-Late Miocene origin from a continental glirid with a complex molar pattern, such as Vasseuromys or a closely related genus.