Resumen de Pleistocene small-vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals) studies in serbia (balkan peninsula, se europe)
Serbia is located at the boundary between Balkan Peninsula and Central European plains, and geologically, is favorable for the formation of limestone caves where small vertebrate remains are usually recovered, as well as, sometimes, Neanderthals remains. Based on the available data, the remains from Baranica, Hadži Prodanova, Pešturina, and Smolu ka caves are the most suitable for paleoclimatic reconstructions. An attempt has been made to present AMS dated layers from these sites within the chronological context of the Mousterian-Aurignacian-Gravettian cultural succession; therefore changes in the faunal composition have been recognised in relation with the successive cultural context. Taxonomical habitat indexes and bioclimatic analysis have been applied on small mammals. In addition, hierarchical clustering and correspondence analysis have been applied to herpetofaunal assemblages as a comparative proxy for reconstructing the palaeoclimate and paleoenvironment. MIS 5 (Smolu ka) is reconstructed to have been much warmer than today and small vertebrates in Serbia did not seems to have registered any dramatic climatic oscillations during MIS 3 and early MIS 2. When compared with local present situation, the paleoecological and paleoclimatological reconstructions for these four caves suggest that climate was somewhat colder (presence in the sites of mountain species like Chionomys nivalis) and dryer (mainly because of the presence of Coronella austriaca and Lacerta agilis). The application of taxonomical habitat indexes to the different assemblages suggests that the associated environment was probably more open, however with the presence of forest species (Clethrionomys glareolus and Apodemus ex gr. sylvaticus-flavicollis), but never representing more than 10% of the total assemblage. Even during the MIS 2, results suggest that the Balkans had milder and humid climate compared to Central Europe, with average temperature ranging from 2.2 to 4.5 ºC lower than presently. Overall, there were no important 15 ecological changes during the transition between Mousterian and Aurignacian, i.e. between Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans. This conclusion is generally in line with common opinion that climate change was not a crucial factor in Neanderthal extinction in the Balkan Peninsula; instead it had the effect similar to Iberian and Apennine Peninsulas, where milder climate allowed Neanderthals to find refuge and survive longer than in the rest of the Europe.
