Dung accumulations, which occur in archaeological and palaeontological sites in caves or under rockshelters, may represent relatively unbiased pollen traps. However, fossil dung deposits are under-represented in the literature of pollen analysis. Carrión (2002b) demonstrated that pollen spectra from biogenic materials of animal origin were the best analogues of local and regional vegetation in the most arid areas of south-eastern Iberia, and still showed the best analytical potential in terms of pollen concentration and taxon diversity. Dung pollen samples are sometimes not influenced by dietary preferences and offer a great potential for palynology, as is shown with bird guano (Horrocks et al. 2008), Procavia and Petromus middens (Scott and Cooremans 1992; Carrión et al. 1999b; Gil-Romera et al. 2007), middens of packrat (Neotoma) and other rodents (Davis and Anderson 1987; Betancourt 2004), cow dung (Carrión et al. 2000b), coprolites of extinct caprids (Alcover et al. 1999), hyena coprolites (Scott 1987; Scott et al. 2003; González-Sampériz et al. 2003b; Yll et al. 2006), bat guano (Carrión et al. 2006b; Leroy and Simms 2006), sheep/goat and human coprolites from old farms (Hunt et al. 2001), and canid coprolites (González-Sampériz 2004a). Among these, hyena coprolites have been the most tested in the Iberian Quaternary (Fernández-Rodríguez et al. 1995; Carrión et al. 2001a; 2007a; González-Sampériz et al. 2003b).
The case studies considered here are pertinent to coprolites of three genera of hyaenids, namely Chasmaporthetes, Pachycrocuta and Crocuta (Table 7). Tens of light whitish coprolites, presumably produced by Chasmaporthetes lunensis, from the Fonelas sites (Guadix-Baza basin, Granada) were palynologically sterile. These coprolites were stuffed in lutites. Likewise, cases of full sterility come from a few Pachycrocuta brevirostris coprolites from the Lower Pleistocene of Cueva Victoria (Murcia), and Venta Micena-Orce (Granada) (Table 7) (Carrión et al. 2004c). Although there were items rich in pollen, a number of the analysed coprolites of Crocuta crocuta from Villacastín and Torrejones (Carrión et al. 2007a), Cueva de las Ventanas (Carrión et al. 2001a), Oliveira in Portugal (Zilhao 2001) and Gorham's Cave in Gibraltar (Carrión et al. 2008), were sterile. All Crocuta coprolite specimens were sterile in Abric Romaní, Barcelona (Allué et al. 1998; Burjachs 2002), while the rockshelter travertine was polliniferous (Burjachs and Julià 1994; 1996). Similarly, there was total sterility in the coprolites of Andalusian Cueva del Grajo and Cueva de Nerja. Potential for work with other hyena species exists because, for instance, Hyaena brunnea (brown hyena) has been identified in south-eastern Spain (Arribas et al. 2004b). Hyaena brunnea coprolites from the southern African sites of Equus Cave (Taung, southern Kalahari) and Oyster Bay (Cape region) were successfully treated for pollen (Scott 1987; Carrión et al. 2000c), although total pollen concentrations in the coprolites were lower than those sometimes observed in Crocuta (Scott et al. 2003).
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