Una puesta fósil de tortuga terrestre en el Pleistoceno de Formentera (Islas Pitiusas, archipiélago Balear)

Abstract

A Pleistocene tortoise fossil nest from Formentera (Pitiüses Islands, Balearic Archipelago)

A fossil clutch from the Pleistocene of Pujol d’es Fum (Formentera, Balearic Islands) is studied. From its structure, egg morphology and eggshell microstructure, belonging to the ootaxon Testudoolithus, it is attributed to a tortoise. According to the present-day testudinids correlation between egg width and caparace length, this tortoise caparace is estimated to be less than 78.9 cm long. Stratigraphical data and palaeoecological evidence indicate a retrodunar environment of Upper Pleistocene age. The tortoise could have been related to another giant form previously found, in Eivissa.