The cave-site of Gruta da Furninha is a coastal karstic cavity. In the late 19th century, excavation of the sedimentary infill of the cave allowed the identification of two lithostratigraphic units： a Holocene one do...The cave-site of Gruta da Furninha is a coastal karstic cavity. In the late 19th century, excavation of the sedimentary infill of the cave allowed the identification of two lithostratigraphic units： a Holocene one dominated by sands, containing human bones and a Neolithic industry; and a Late Pleistocene one, containing a diverse set of fossils set and Paleolithic artifacts. This study mainly focuses on taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental data concerning the Pleistocene bird bones that were collected from six layers （at 11 m and 6.7 m asl）. A main result of this study was the discovery of a left humerus fragment, with osteological features of the Alcidae family; from comparison with upper arms of distinct species of this family, it was concluded that this fossil belongs to Penguin impennis. The Pleistocene birds of the Furninha cave were also compared with the avifauna that currently occurs in the region of Peniche peninsula and a climate and environmental interpretation of the Pleistocene fossiliferous set is provided.展开更多
文摘The cave-site of Gruta da Furninha is a coastal karstic cavity. In the late 19th century, excavation of the sedimentary infill of the cave allowed the identification of two lithostratigraphic units： a Holocene one dominated by sands, containing human bones and a Neolithic industry; and a Late Pleistocene one, containing a diverse set of fossils set and Paleolithic artifacts. This study mainly focuses on taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental data concerning the Pleistocene bird bones that were collected from six layers （at 11 m and 6.7 m asl）. A main result of this study was the discovery of a left humerus fragment, with osteological features of the Alcidae family; from comparison with upper arms of distinct species of this family, it was concluded that this fossil belongs to Penguin impennis. The Pleistocene birds of the Furninha cave were also compared with the avifauna that currently occurs in the region of Peniche peninsula and a climate and environmental interpretation of the Pleistocene fossiliferous set is provided.
