Dinópolis Foundation Resumes Excavations in La Puebla de Valverde
The Dinópolis Foundation has resumed excavations in 2025 at the Pleistocene site of La Puebla de Valverde, located in the municipality of the Gúdar-Javalambre region in Teruel. This paleontological endeavor marks the reactivation of a site that has not received such interventions for over 25 years.
The campaign is yielding satisfactory results, with more than 200 fossils of mammals recovered so far, all approximately two million years old. According to Eduardo Espílez, a researcher at the Dinópolis Foundation, “the conservation of the fossils is excellent,” and they are distributed in different layers forming concentrations, with most bones being complete, interwoven, and parallel to the stratification.
Among the findings, the abundance of remains of Gazella borbónica stands out, a small antelope about 60 centimeters at the withers, with numerous specimens of skulls, jaws, maxillas, and bone cores of long, curved horns. Remains of the horse Equus stenonis have also been excavated, comparable in size to a modern zebra, with an estimated weight between 300 and 500 kilograms, as well as fossils of deer and rhinoceros, including femurs and vertebrae.
The site, declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 2004 in the Paleontological Zone category, has provided more than 20 taxa of mammals and three types of birds since 1963. Noteworthy is the discovery of fossils of the cercopithecoid primate Paradolichopithecus and a remarkable diversity of carnivores including a saber-toothed cat, a giant cheetah, and two large hyenas. La Puebla de Valverde is the European site that has yielded the largest number of remains of Gazella borbónica.
The excavation is part of the actions of the Research Group FOCONTUR E04_23R and has the authorization of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Government of Aragon. The fossils found will be kept at the Aragonese Museum of Paleontology in Teruel. Furthermore, the Foundation has noted that this effort represents a recognition of Emiliano Aguirre, a paleontologist who passed away in 2021 and was involved in excavations and research at this site.
