Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro

Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social

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 Baza and Incarcal projects (Spain), and the Oued Sarrat  (Tunisia) and Engel Ela-Ramud Basin (Eritrea) projects, but I participate too 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), and Vallonnet (France).


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

- Ros-Montoya S, Martínez-Navarro B, Espigares MP, Guerra-Merchán A, García-Aguilar JM, Piñero P, Rodríguez-Rueda A, Agustí J, Oms O & Palmqvist P 2017. A new Ruscinian site in Europe: Baza-1 (Baza basin, Andalusia, Spain). Comptes Rendus Palevol, 16, 746–761.

- Amri L, Bartolini Lucenti S, Mtimet MS, Karoui-Yaakoub N, Ros-Montoya S, Espigares MP, Boughdiri M, Bel Haj Ali N & Martinez-Navarro B 2017, 'Canis othmanii sp nov (Carnivora, Canidae) from the early Middle Pleistocene site of Wadi Sarrat (Tunisia)', Comptes Rendus Palevol, 16, 7, 774 - 782.

- Medin T, Martínez-Navarro B, Rivals F, Madurell-Malapeira J, Ros-Montoya S, Espigares MP, Figueirido B, Rook L & Palmqvist P 2017.  'Late Villafranchian Ursus etruscus and other large carnivorans from the Orce sites (Guadix-Baza basin, Andalusia, southern Spain): Taxonomy, biochronology, paleobiology, and ecogeographical context', Quaternary International, 431, 20-41.

- Lanata JL, Lozano S & Martínez-Navarro B 2017, 'Pleistocene human dispersals: climate, ecology and social behavior', Quaternary International. 431, 1-2. Also Eds. of the vol. 431.  

- Chichkoyan KV, Figueirido B, Belinchon M, Lanata JL, Moigne A-M & Martinez-Navarro B 2017, 'Direct evidence of megamammal-carnivore interaction decoded from bone marks in historical fossil collections from the Pampean region', Peerj, 5, e3117.

- Rodríguez-Gómez G, Palmqvist P, Ros-Montoya S, Espigares MP & Martínez-Navarro B 2017, 'Resource availability and competition intensity in the carnivore guild of the Early Pleistocene site of Venta Micena  (Orce, Baza Basin, SE Spain)', Quaternary Science Reviews 164, 154-167.

Selected research activities

During year 2017 I have conducted field research at the Engel Ela-Ramud basin (Eritrea), the Oued Sarrat basin (Tunisia), and the Baza basin (southern Spain). I have done lab work too at the National Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi, studing the fossil collecion from the Early Pleistocene site of Dmanisi.