The vertebrate assemblage of Buenache de la Sierra (Upper Barremian of Serrania de Cuenca, Spain) with insights into its taphonomy and palaeoecology

Three different points from the same level were sampled in the quarry. Microfossils were extracted with a sieving table and pressurized water, yielding more than 2000 fossil specimens. The assemblage is composed of anatomically identifiable elements of charophytes, ostracods, molluscs, fish, albanerpetontids, anurans, lepidosauromorphs, chelonians, a pterosaur?, theropods, crocodyliformes, eggshells and a mammaliaforms?, as well as bone splinters, shell fragments and plant remains. Charophyte utriculi, ostracods, isolated teeth and eggshells are the most abundant elements. The association has yielded Allocaudata remains as well as an unidentified family of Anura (based on a maxilla fragment) and an unidentified family of Neosuchia (based on isolated teeth). The Buenache assemblage shows a sound demy (i.e. fossils found in their original habitat) of an aquatic freshwater ecosystem, as is natural for a wetland ecosystem. The wide variety of microhabitats linked to water availability in wetlands gives rise to a complex faunal assemblage in which four categories of species can be recognized as in extant wetlands: obligate, amphibious, facultative and incidental. Despite the taphonomic differences between Buenache, Uña and Las Hoyas, a common palaeoecological structure is documented.