Primeres dades sobre la presència de copròlits d'ectoparàsits de ratapinyades a la Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (Llucmajor, Mallorca)
[eng] While photo-documenting mineral microcrystals in Cova des Pas de Vallgornera, uniform micro-morphologies, cylindrical in shape, were discovered. Their dimensions range up to 528 microns in length and 171 microns in diameter. Located on top of rock boulders surfaces that conta...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2024 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de las Islas Baleares |
| Repositorio: | Biblioteca Digital de les Illes Balears |
| OAI Identifier: | papersSocietatEspeleologica:PapersSEB_2024v007p175 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://ibdigital.uib.es/greenstone/sites/oai-site/collect/papersSocietatEspeleologica/index/assoc/PapersSE/B_2024v0/07p175.dir/PapersSEB_2024v007p175.pdf http://ibdigital.uib.es/greenstone/library/collection/papersSocietatEspeleologica/document/PapersSEB_2024v007p175 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Speleology |
| Sumario: | [eng] While photo-documenting mineral microcrystals in Cova des Pas de Vallgornera, uniform micro-morphologies, cylindrical in shape, were discovered. Their dimensions range up to 528 microns in length and 171 microns in diameter. Located on top of rock boulders surfaces that contain phosphates and clay-related minerals, their internal structure shows an aggregate of calcite particles, occasionally covered by a thin recrystallized layer of calcite. Their morphological characteristics suggest that they correspond to coprolites of bat ectoparasites; these bloodsucking flies would have infested the bat colony established in the cave in the Lower Pleistocene, prior to the entrances collapse sealing the cave. Identical morphologies have been observed in Cova de sa Guitarreta, that currently hosts an important bat colony. Apart from the similar dimensional characteristics of these cylindrical forms, they are composed of organic detritus among which the presence of cells remains is remarkable, which could correspond to red blood cells. These facts have allowed us to interpret the cylinders from Cova des Pas de Vallgornera as coprolites left by ectoparasites of bats inhabiting that cave during the Lower Pleistocene. |
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