Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro

Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES)

Humanities

Degree in Geology (1987) and PhD in Paleontology (1991). I work on Plio-Pleistocene large mammals and participate at different projects in Plio-Pleistocene sites around the World, been the co-leader of the Orce and Incarcal projects (Spain), and the new sites of Oued Sarrat (Tunisia) and Engel Ela-Ramud Basin (Eritrea), but I also participate in the research of Buia (Eritrea), Melka Wakena (Ethiopia), Atbara River (Sudan), 'Ubeidiya, Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, and Bizat Ruhama (Israel), Dmanisi (Georgia), Argentario and Pirro Nord (Italy), Vallonnet (France), and La Boella (Spain).


Research interests

I am a paleontologist working on Quaternary mammals from Europe, Asia and Africa. My main interest is to describe the ecological scenario where our ancestors, the earlier members of the genus Homo, evolving and dispersing from Africa, were able to colonize the middle latitudes of Eurasia and survive in seasonal climates during the Pleistocene times. I have developed an intense research travelling around the world to study the African origin mammals dispersing into Eurasia, and the Eurasian origin mammals dispersing into Africa, in order to describe their systematics, phylogeny, biochronology, paleobiogeography, autoecology, and their potential ecological relationships among them and with hominins. I work on fossil hyenas, sabertoothed tigers, hunting dogs, bears, elephants, hippos, pigs, buffalos, antelopes, deers, giraffes, monkeys and other groups.

Selected publications

– Martínez-Navarro B & Sala R (Eds.) 2016, ‘ORCE: HOMININOS, HIENAS, MAMUTS Y OTRAS BESTIAS’, Depósito Legal: SE 1014-2016, Edita Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Cultura, 329 pág.

– Alba DM, Madurell-Malapeira J, Delson E, Vinuesa V, Susanna I, Patrocinio Espigares M, Ros-Montoya S & Martinez-Navarro B 2016, ‘First record of macaques from the Early Pleistocene of Incarcal (NE Iberian Peninsula)’, Journal Of Human Evolution, 96, 139 – 144.

– Rodriguez-Gomez G, Palmqvist P, Rodriguez J, Mateos A, Martin-Gonzalez JA, Patrocinio Espigares M, Ros-Montoya S & Martinez-Navarro B 2016, ‘On the ecological context of the earliest human settlements in Europe: Resource availability and competition intensity in the carnivore guild of Barranco Leon-D and Fuente Nueva-3 (Orce, Baza Basin, SE Spain)’, Quaternary Science Reviews, 143, 69 – 83.

– Blain HA, Lozano-Fernandez I, Agustí J, Bailon S, Menendez Granda L, Espigares Ortiz MP, Ros-Montoya S, Jimenez Arenas JM, Toro-Moyano I, Martinez-Navarro B & Sala R 2016, ‘Refining upon the climatic background of the Early Pleistocene hominid settlement in western Europe: Barranco Leon and Fuente Nueva-3 (Guadix-Baza Basin, SE Spain)’, Quaternary Science Reviews, 144, 132 – 144.

– Karoui-Yaakoub N, Mtimet MS, Bejaoui S, Amri L, Khalloufi N, Ben Aissa L & Martínez-Navarro B 2016, ‘Middle-to-Late Pleistocene malacofauna from the archeopaleontological site of Oued Sarrat (Tajerouine area, NW Tunisia)’, Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 9: 345.


Selected research activities

During 2016 I have done field work at the Mio-Plio-Pleistocene sites of the Engel Ela-Ramud basin (Eritrea), the Early Pleistocene Acheulian site of Melka Wakena (Ethiopia), the Guadix-Baza basin at the Pliocene site of Baza and the Early Pleistocene paleoanthropological site of Barranco León in Orce (Andalusia), and finally at the Early Pleistocene site of Incarcal in Crespià (Catalonia). In addition, I have done an intense lab work in all the fossil collections coming from these paleontological sites.