Bienvenido Martínez Navarro

Bienvenido Martínez Navarro

Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social

Humanities

Degree in Geology (1987) and PhD in Paleontology (1991). I work on Quaternary mammals, and participate at different Plio-Pleistocene projects around the World, been the co-leader of the Baza and Incarcal projects in Spain, the Oued Sarrat project in Tunisia, and the Engel Ela-Ramud project in Eritrea. I also participate in the study of the sites of Buia in Eritrea, Melka Wakena in Ethiopia, and Dmanisi in Georgia, and have worked in the past studying the sites of the Atbara River in Sudan, `Ubeidiya, Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, and Bizat Ruhama in Israel, Argentario and Pirro Nord in Italy, Vallonnet in France, and Cueva Victoria in 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 and mastodonts, hippos, pigs, buffaloes, antelopes, deers, giraffes, camels, monkeys and other groups.

Selected publications

- Rodríguez Gómez G, Martín González JA, Espigares MP, Bermúdez de Castro JM, Martínez Navarro B, Arsuaga JL, Palmqvist P, 2024, "From meat availability to hominin and carnivore biomass: A paleosynecological approach to reconstructing predator-prey biomass ratios in the Pleistocene" Quaternary Science Reviews 328, 108474
- Palmqvist P, Campaña I, Granados A, Martínez-Navarro B, Pérez-Ramos A, Rodríguez-Gómez G, Guerra-Merchán A, Ros-Montoya S, Rodríguez-Ruiz MD, García-Aguilar JM, Hernández V & Espigares MP 2024, 'The late Early Pleistocene site of Fuente Nueva-3 (Guadix-Baza Depression, SE Spain): a hyena latrine developed on a quicksand trap for megaherbivores?', Journal of iberian geology.
- García-Aguilar JM, Campaña I, Martínez-Navarro B, Guerra-Merchán A, Rodríguez-Ruiz MD, Rodríguez-Gómez G, Granados A, León-Reina L, Espigares MP, Ros-Montoya S & Palmqvist P 2024, 'Plio-Pleistocene hydrothermal events of the Baza Basin (Betic Cordillera, SE Spain) and their paleoecological implications', Journal of iberian geology.
- Rodríguez-Gómez G, Espigares MP, Martínez-Navarro B, Ros-Montoya S, Guerra-Merchán A, Martín-González JA, Campaña I, Pérez-Ramos A, Granados A, García-Aguilar JM, Rodríguez-Ruiz MD & Palmqvist P 2024, 'Carrying Capacity, Available Meat and the Fossil Record of the Orce Sites (Baza Basin, Spain)', Quaternary, 7 - 3 - 37.

Selected research activities

I taught Quaternary Mammal Palaeontology in the Master's Degree in Prehistory and Human Evolution at the URV. I have carried out field and laboratory stays in Melka Wakena (Ethiopia) and in the Baza basin (Spain), where we received the Pedro Suárez Award.