TABLE 1. Fauna of the Upper Pleistocene deposit of Is Mesas recognized in this study.
| Taxon | Habitat-Substrate-Biocoenosis | References | Abbreviations | |
| Phylum | Echinodermata | SupraL = Supralittoral | ||
| Class | Echinoidea | L = Littoral | ||
| Order | Camarodonta | IL = Infralittoral | ||
| Family | Parechinidae | ML = Mesolittoral | ||
| Paracentrotus lividus | IL, H (PA), P | 1, 2, 17, references cited herein | CL = Circalittoral | |
| SL = Sublittoral | ||||
| Phylum | Mollusca | IN = Intertidal | ||
| Class | Gastropoda | H = Hard substrates | ||
| Order | ? | S = Soft sediments | ||
| Family | Patellidae | P = Posidonia meadows | ||
| Patella caerulea | IL, H (PA) | 31, 33, 34 | PA = Photophilic algae | |
| Patella rustica | ML, IL, H (PA) | 2, 31, 33, 34 | C = Coralligenous | |
| Order | Lepetellida | SABEL = Sabellaria alveolata reef | ||
| Family | Fissurellidae | SA = Sciaphilic algae | ||
| Diodora gibberula | IL to CL H (PA), P, C | 17, 18, 31, 33, 34 | Rh = Rhodolith beds | |
| Diodora graeca | ||||
| Order | Neogastropoda | Literature list | ||
| Family | Conidae | 1) Mortensen, 1943 | ||
| Conus ermineus | L to SL, H, S | 19, 28 | 2) Pérès and Picard, 1964 | |
| Conus ventricosus | IL to CL, H (beneath boulders, PA), S | 5, 11, 31, 33, 34 | 3) Lipkin and Safriel, 1971 | |
| Family | Columbellidae | 4) Conti and Rossini, 1985 | ||
| Columbella rustica | IL, H (beneath boulders, PA), P | 2, 5, 6, 17, 27, 29, 31, 33, 34 | 5) Taylor, 1987 | |
| Family | Muricidae | 6) Russo et al., 1991 | ||
| Hexaplex trunculus | IN, IL to CL, H (PA), S | 5, 16, 17, 33, 34 | 7) Hall-Spencer, 1998 | |
| Family | Pisaniidae | 8) Peharda et al., 2002 | ||
| Gemophos viverratus | IL, H, S | 12, 28, 30 | 9) Rubio and Rolan, 2002 | |
| Family | Nassariidae | 10) Russo et al., 2002 | ||
| Tritia incrassata | IL, H (PA, SABEL), S, P | 6, 11, 27, 29, 40 | 11) Antoniadou et al., 2005 | |
| Order | Trochida | 12) Rolán, 2005 | ||
| Family | Turbinidae | 13) Sivan et al., 2006 | ||
| Bolma rugosa | IL to CL, H (PA, SA), P, C | 11, 17, 18, 25, 31, 33, 34, 40 | 14) Spadini, 2006 | |
| Family | Trochidae | 15) Trigui El-Menif et al., 2007 | ||
| Jujubinus exasperatus | IL to CL, H (PA), P, C | 4, 6, 11, 17, 18, 22, 25, 27, 31, 33, 34, 38, 40 | 16) Vasconcelos et al., 2007 | |
| Clanculus jussieui | IL to CL, P, C | 9, 14 | 17) Beqiraj et al., 2008 | |
| Clanculus corallinus | IL to CL, H (PA), P, C | 4, 11, 17, 18, 31, 33, 34 | 18) Casellato and Stefanon, 2008 | |
| Phorcus turbinatus | ML, IL, H (PA) | 2, 31, 33, 34 | 19) Rosenberg et al., 2009 | |
| Order | Caenogastropoda ? | 20) Sciberras et al., 2009 | ||
| Family | Cerithiidae | 21) Rufino et al., 2010 | ||
| Cerithium lividulum | IL, H (PA), S | 31, 34 | 22) Albano and Sabelli, 2011 | |
| Cerithium vulgatum | IL to CL, H, S, P | 2, 11, 17, 25, 31, 33, 34 | 23) Gutierrez-Mas, 2011 | |
| Bittium latreillii | IL to CL, H (PA, Rh), P, C | 6, 10, 11, 20, 25, 38 | 24) Öztürk, 2011 | |
| Family | Epitoniidae | 25) Albano and Sabelli, 2012 | ||
| Epitonium clathrus | IL to CL, H (PA), S | 31, 34 | 26) Župan et al., 2012 | |
| Family | Triphoridae | 27) Belgacem et al., 2013 | ||
| Triphoridae ind. | 28) Sessa et al., 2013 | |||
| Order | Littorinimorpha | 29) Urra et al., 2013 | ||
| Family | Triviidae | 30) Brunetti and Della Bella, 2014 | ||
| Trivia arctica | IL to CL | 31, 33 | 31) Öztürk et al., 2014 | |
| Family | Littorinidae | 32) Pitacco et al., 2014 | ||
| Melarhaphe neritoides | SupraL to IL, H (PA) | 2, 3, 5, 31, 33, 34 | 33) Alf and Haszprunar, 2015 | |
| Class | Bivalvia | 34) Poursanidis et al., 2016 | ||
| Order | Arcida | 35) Chimienti et al., 2017 | ||
| Family | Arcidae | 36) Kersting et al., 2017 | ||
| Arca noae | IL to CL, H (PA, SABEL, SA), P | 8, 17, 18, 26, 27, 31, 33, 34, 40 | 37) Morton and Puljas, 2017 | |
| Family | Glycymerididae | 38) Donnarumma et al., 2018 | ||
| Glycymeris nummaria | IL to CL, S | 2, 13, 23 | 39) Giacobbe and Renda, 2018 | |
| Family | Noetiidae | 40) Casoli et al., 2019 | ||
| Striarca lactea | IL, H, P, C | 15, 22, 25 | ||
| Order | Cardiida | |||
| Family | Cardiidae | |||
| Acanthocardia tuberculata | IL to CL, S (SFBC), P | 2, 8, 11, 17, 31, 33, 34 | ||
| Order | Carditida | |||
| Family | Carditidae | |||
| Cardita calyculata | ML, IL, H (PA), S, P | 2, 27, 29, 31, 33, 34 | ||
| Order | Venerida | |||
| Family | Veneridae | |||
| Irus irus | ML, IL to CL, H (PA, SABEL), C, S, P | 2, 11, 27, 31, 33, 40 | ||
| Venerupis geographica | IL, P | 29 | ||
| Clausinella fasciata | IL, S | 7, 21, 33 | ||
| Order | Lucinida | |||
| Family | Lucinidae | |||
| Lucinella divaricata | IL to CL, S, P | 11, 21, 35, 38 | ||
| Ctena decussata | IL, P, S | 35, 38, 39 | ||
| Order | Ostreida | |||
| Family | Ostreidae | |||
| Ostrea sp. | ||||
| Order | Mytilida | |||
| Family | Mytilidae | |||
| Mytilaster minimus | ML, IL, H, (PA), C | 2, 18, 31, 33, 34, 37, 40 | ||
| Order | Pectinida | |||
| Family | Anomiidae | |||
| Anomia ephippium | IL, P | 29 | ||
| Class | Scaphopoda | |||
| Order | Dentaliida | |||
| Family | Dentaliidae | |||
| Antalis vulgaris | IL to CL, S, P, C | 2, 17, 24, 25, 31, 33, 34 | ||
| Antalis inaequicosta | IL to CL, H (C), S, P | 17, 24, 31 | ||
| Phylum | Cnidaria | |||
| Class | Anthozoa | |||
| Order | Scleractinia | |||
| Family | Scleractinia incertae sedis | |||
| Cladocora caespitosa | L to shallow SL, H, S, P | 17, 32, 36 | ||
TABLE 2. Occurrence, relative abundance and taphonomy of Paracentrotus lividus remains from Late Pleistocene (Part 1) and recent environments (Part 2 and 3). Fragmentation refers to intraplate fracturing. B = spine fragments retaining the base, T = retaining the tip, S = missing both the base and tip.
Part 1
| Locality | Is Mesas (Pleistocene) | |||
| State of preservation | N (%) | Fragmentation (%) | Abrasion (%) | Encrustation (%) |
| Test | ||||
| Complete test (no apical system, no spines) | ||||
| More than half test with spines attached | ||||
| More than half test without spines attached | ||||
| Single ambulacral plates | 613 (21.81%) | 475 (77.49) | 508 (82.87) | 6 (0.98) |
| Two ambulacral plates | 91 (3.24) | 75 (82.42) | 75 (82.42) | 1 (1.09) |
| Three to more ambulacral plates | 97 (3.45) | 86 (88.66) | 85 (87.63) | 1 (1.03) |
| Auricles with ambulacral plates | 18 (0.64) | 17 (94.44) | 18 (100) | |
| Single interambulacral plates | 755 (26.87) | 572 (75.76) | 570 (75.49) | 5 (0.66) |
| Two interambulacral plates | 132 (4.70) | 96 (72.73) | 99 (75) | 6 (4.55) |
| Three to more interambulacral plates | 39 (1.39) | 25 (64.10) | 26 (66.66) | 1 (2.56) |
| Ambulacral and Interambulacral plates | 113 (4.02) | 104 (92.04) | 103 (91.15) | 4 (3.54) |
| Indeterminable plates | 684 (24.34) | 684 (100) | 666 (97.37) | 2 (0.29) |
| Total | 2542 (90.46) | 2134 (83.95) | 2150 (84.58) | 26 (1.02) |
| Plates of the apical system | ||||
| Madreporite | 2 (0.07) | 1 (50) | 1 (50) | |
| Genital plates | 15 (0.53) | 1 (6.66) | 9 (60) | |
| Ocular plates | 4 (0.14) | 1 (25) | 1 (25) | |
| Total | 21 (0.74) | 3 (14.29) | 10 (47.62) | |
| Aristotle's lantern elements | ||||
| Hemipyramids | 123 (4.38) | 109 (88.62) | 118 (95.93) | |
| Rotulae | 54 (1.92) | 12 (22.22) | 24 (44.44) | |
| Epiphyses | 18 (0.64) | 10 (55.55) | 14 (77.77) | |
| Compasses | 4 (0.14) | 1 (25) | ||
| Teeth | 48 (1.71) | 47 (97.92) | 32 (66.66) | |
| Total | 247 (8.80) | 178 (72.06) | 189 (76.52) | |
| Total | 2810 (100) | 2315 (82.38) | 2349 (83.59) | 26 (0.93) |
| Spines | ||||
| Complete | 64 (4.47) | 15 (23.44) | 5 (7.81) | |
| Fragments | 1368 (B=461; T=208; S=699) | 1368 | 975 (71.27) | 124 (9.06) |
| Total | 1432 | 1368 (95.53) | 990 (69.13) | 129 (9.01) |
| Sampling method | Bulk sampling and sieving | |||
| Locality | Sa Mesa Longa (Recent) | |||
| State of preservation | N (%) | Fragmentation (%) | Abrasion (%) | Encrustation (%) |
| Test | ||||
| Complete test (no apical system, no spines) | 2 (0.11) | 1 (50%) | 2 (100) | |
| More than half test with spines attached | 1 (0.05) | 1 (100) | ||
| More than half test without spines attached | 2 (0.11) | |||
| Single ambulacral plates | 272 (14.98) | 137 (50.37) | 203 (74.63) | 14 (5.15) |
| Two ambulacral plates | 57 (3.14) | 24 (42.11) | 40 (70.18) | 8 (14.04) |
| Three to more ambulacral plates | 141 (7.76) | 103 (73.05) | 104 (73.76) | 42 (29.79) |
| Auricles with ambulacral plates | 11 (0.60) | 10 (90.91) | 9 (81.82) | |
| Single interambulacral plates | 487 (26.82) | 306 (62.83) | 346 (71.05) | 36 (7.39) |
| Two interambulacral plates | 167 (9.20) | 81 (48.50) | 112 (67.07) | 41 (24.55) |
| Three to more interambulacral plates | 98 (5.40) | 47 (47.96) | 68 (69.39) | 36 (36.73) |
| Ambulacral and Interambulacral plates | 163 (8.98) | 113 (69.33) | 78 (47.85) | 63 (38.65) |
| Indeterminable | 192 (10.57) | 191 (99.48) | 175 (91.15) | 2 (1,04) |
| Total | 1593 (87.72) | 1013 (63.59) | 1136 (71.31) | 244 (15.32) |
| Plates of the apical system | ||||
| Madreporite | 5 (0.27) | 2 (40) | 3 (60) | |
| Genital plates | 7 (0.39) | 2 (28.57) | 2 (28.57) | |
| Ocular plates | 4 (0.22) | 1 (25) | ||
| Total | 16 (0.88) | 4 (25) | 6 (37.5) | |
| Aristotle's lantern elements | ||||
| Hemipyramids | 108 (5.95) | 78 (72.22) | 103 (95.37) | 5 (4.63) |
| Rotulae | 61 (3.36) | 12 (19.67) | 32 (52.46) | |
| Epiphyses | 10 (0.55) | 6 (60) | 7 (70) | |
| Compasses | 3 (0.16) | 1 (33.33) | ||
| Teeth | 25 (1.37) | 21 (84) | 14 (56) | 4 (16) |
| Total | 207 (11.39) | 117 (56.52) | 157 (75.85) | 9 (4.35) |
| Total | 1816 | 1134 (62.44) | 1299 (71.53) | 253 (13.93) |
| Spines | ||||
| Complete | 63 (4.17) | 11 (17.46) | 2 (3.17) | |
| Fragments | 1447 (B=769; T=119; S=559) | 1447 | 1170 (80.86) | 82 (5.66) |
| Total | 1510 | 1447 (95.83) | 1181 (78.21) | 84 (5.56) |
| Sampling method | Surface collecting | |||
| Locality | Sa Mesa Longa (Recent) | |||
| State of preservation | N (%) | Fragmentation (%) | Abrasion (%) | Encrustation (%) |
| Test | ||||
| Complete test (no apical system, no spines) | ||||
| More than half test with spines attached | ||||
| More than half test without spines attached | ||||
| Single ambulacral plates | 603 (23.05) | 457 (75.79) | 585 (97.01) | 6 (0.99) |
| Two ambulacral plates | 38 (1.45) | 30 (78.95) | 35 (92.11) | |
| Three to more ambulacral plates | 17 (0.65) | 16 (94.12) | 16 (94.12) | 1 (5.88) |
| Auricles with ambulacral plates | 3 (0.11) | 3 (100) | 3 (100) | |
| Single interambulacral plates | 526 (20.11) | 386 (73.38) | 506 (96.18) | 13 (2.47) |
| Two interambulacral plates | 30 (1.15) | 23 (76.67) | 29 (96.67) | 4 (13.33) |
| Three to more interambulacral plates | 15 (0.57) | 10 (66.67) | 13 (86.67) | |
| Ambulacral and Interambulacral plates | 11 (0.42) | 9 (81.82) | 11 (100) | |
| Indeterminable plates | 1250 (47.79) | 1250 (100) | 1250 (100) | |
| Total | 2493 (95.30) | 2184 (87.61) | 2448 (98.19) | 24 (0.96) |
| Plates of the apical system | ||||
| Madreporite | 2 (0.07) | 1 (50) | 2 (100) | |
| Genital plates | 14 (0.54) | 6 (42.86) | 12 (85.71) | |
| Ocular plates | 4 (0.15) | 4 (100) | ||
| Total | 20 (0.76) | 7 (35) | 18 (90) | |
| Aristotle's lantern elements | ||||
| Hemipyramids | 53 (2.03) | 53 (100) | 53 (100) | |
| Rotulae | 17 (0.65) | 3 (17.65) | 12 (70.59) | |
| Epiphyses | 10 (0.38) | 7 (70) | 9 (90) | |
| Compasses | 3 (0.11) | 3 (100) | 1 (33.33) | |
| Teeth | 20 (0.77) | 20 (100) | 20 (100) | |
| Total | 103 (3.94) | 86 (83.49) | 95 (92.23) | |
| Total | 2616 | 2277 (87.04) | 2561 (97.90) | 24 (0.91) |
| Spines | ||||
| Complete | 48 (3.02) | 26 (54.17) | ||
| Fragments | 1542 (B=508; T=76; S=958) | 1542 | 1456 (94.42) | 16 (1.03) |
| Total | 1590 | 1542 (96.98) | 1482 (93.21) | 16 (1.01) |
| Sampling method | Bulk sampling and sieving | |||
TABLE 3. Relative abundance of test elements of Paracentrotus lividus with respect to element abundance in a recent specimen 45.02 mm in diameter. E = number of elements. EA = Expected element abundance (E/Total). OA = Observed element abundance (E/Total).
| Test elements | Is Mesas | Sa Mesa Longa | Sa Mesa Longa | ||||||||
| E | EA | E | OA | OA/EA % | E | OA | OA/EA % | E | OA | OA/EA% | |
| Ambulacral plates | 251 | 0.515 | 613 | 0.374 | 72.621 | 272 | 0.277 | 53.786 | 603 | 0.482 | 93.592 |
| Interambulacral plates | 191 | 0.392 | 755 | 0.461 | 117.602 | 487 | 0.496 | 126.530 | 526 | 0.420 | 107.142 |
| Madreporite | 1 | 0.002 | 2 | 0.001 | 50 | 5 | 0.005 | 250 | 2 | 0.001 | 50 |
| Genital plates | 4 | 0.008 | 15 | 0.009 | 112.5 | 7 | 0.007 | 87.5 | 14 | 0.011 | 137.5 |
| Ocular plates | 5 | 0.010 | 4 | 0.002 | 20 | 4 | 0.004 | 40 | 4 | 0.003 | 30 |
| Hemipyramids | 10 | 0.020 | 123 | 0.075 | 375 | 108 | 0.109 | 545 | 53 | 0.042 | 210 |
| Rotulae | 5 | 0.010 | 54 | 0.033 | 330 | 61 | 0.062 | 620 | 17 | 0.013 | 130 |
| Epiphyses | 10 | 0.020 | 18 | 0.011 | 55 | 10 | 0.010 | 50 | 10 | 0.008 | 40 |
| Compasses | 5 | 0.010 | 4 | 0.002 | 20 | 3 | 0.003 | 30 | 3 | 0.002 | 20 |
| Teeth | 5 | 0.010 | 48 | 0.029 | 290 | 25 | 0.025 | 250 | 20 | 0.016 | 160 |
| Total | 487 | 1636 | 982 | 1252 | |||||||
| Sampling method | Bulk sampling and sieving | Surface collecting | Bulk sampling and sieving | ||||||||
