Agustí J, Sanz de Siria A, Garcés M
Institute of Paleontology M. Crusafont (D. Barcelona-Unidad Asociada CSIC), E-08201 Sabadell, Spain.
J Hum Evol. 2003 Aug;45(2):145-53. doi: 10.1016/s0047-2484(03)00091-5.
The Vallesian Crisis involved the extinction of most of the hominoids that settled successfully in Europe during the middle and early Late Miocene, including Dryopithecus, Ankarapithecus and Graecopithecus. This event has been dated at 9.6 Ma, predating by more than one million years the spread of the C4 grasses and the retreat of forests over large parts of the globe at 7-8 Ma. The finding of macrofloral remains in the Terrassa section (Vallès-Penedès Basin) sheds new light on the nature of vegetational change associated with the hominoid extinction. This section presents an abundant late Vallesian vertebrate fauna and has been accurately dated at 9.2 - 9 Ma by paleomagnetism. Therefore, it provides the best indication of the kind of vegetation that occupied the area after the Vallesian Crisis. It is suggested that the extinction of the late Miocene Western European hominoids was not related to the spread of grasses, but to a significant increase of a floral association dominated by deciduous trees.
瓦勒西安危机导致了大多数在中新世晚期中期和早期成功定居欧洲的类人猿灭绝，其中包括森林古猿、安卡拉古猿和希腊古猿。这一事件被测定为距今960万年，比C4草本植物的扩张以及700 - 800万年前全球大部分地区森林的退缩早了一百多万年。在特拉萨剖面（瓦勒斯-佩内德斯盆地）发现的大型植物化石遗迹，为与类人猿灭绝相关的植被变化性质提供了新的线索。该剖面有丰富的瓦勒西安晚期脊椎动物群，通过古地磁学已精确测定其年代为920 - 900万年前。因此，它为瓦勒西安危机后该地区的植被类型提供了最佳指示。有人认为，晚中新世西欧类人猿的灭绝与草本植物的扩张无关，而是与以落叶树为主的植物群落显著增加有关。
