New macrofossil evidence of Pinus nigra Arnold on the Northern Iberian Meseta during the Holocene

This study describes new macroremains of Pinus nigra found in a marsh deposit and two travertines. These fossils enhance our understanding of the past distribution of microthermal pines in Spain. Seventeen sub-fossil trunks and 88 pinecone remains and casts discovered at Tubilla del Lago (Province of Burgos, Spain), Tubilla del Agua (Province of Burgos, Spain) and Fuentetoba (Province of Soria, Spain) were identified by comparative morphological studies (with the aid of microtomy for the wood specimens). The ages of these macroremains were obtained by 14C analysis. The results demonstrate the Quaternary presence of P. nigra at each of the collection localities. In conjunction with other paleobotanical evidence, these data show that this species was more widely distributed over the Northern Meseta in the past, suggesting that its local disappearance at the end of the Holocene.