Revisión de tres colecciones históricas de fósiles de vertebrados del Cenozoico de la provincia de León (España)

Abstract

This work aims to document three historical paleontological collections of Cenozoic vertebrate fossils from the Leon province. Specifically, those published by Gómez de Salazar (1850), Gago Rabanal (1910) and Royo y Gómez (1930). After decades of being lost, the first two have been found in two different institutions of the city of León. A provisional intervention on the specimens of these collections has been carried out, including cleaning and consolidation, as well as a preliminary anatomical and taxonomic determination, and a proper cataloguing that contains all the available information. The third collection is housed in the Museo Geominero with replicas in the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid). The review of these specimens has provided data on the occurrence of new or rare taxa and fossil elements of the fossil record of Neogene vertebrates in the province of Leon, and has extended the knowledge of previous palaeontological work in the area of study. These results imply the revaluation and care of material with scientific and historical value, that should be housed in institutions where they can be adequately keeped.