Bollettino Della Societa Paleontologica Italiana, 2001
A schematic range-chart of the late Pliocene - Pleistocene large mammal genera is presented. The ... more A schematic range-chart of the late Pliocene - Pleistocene large mammal genera is presented. The main faunal events recognizable within this time span are discussed. The first faunal event occurs around the Gauss/Matuyama transition with the beginning of the middle Villafranchian characterized by the arrival of Mammuthus (Archidiskodon) and Equus (the so-called "elephant-Equus event"). The following faunal event occurs at the Plio-Pleistocene transition (the so-called "wolf event"). The latter is marked by a strong contraction in the diversity of the ruminants and by a renewal in the carnivore diversity with the arrival of social carnivores. The low diversity in ruminant assemblage persist until the end of the middle Pleistocene when new arrivals again produce a diversity similar to the final Pliocene one
The untypical ruminants of the Apulia Platform (central and southeastern Italy), originally accom... more The untypical ruminants of the Apulia Platform (central and southeastern Italy), originally accommodated in the genus Hoplitomeryx, have been recently revised. The Scontrone (Abruzzo, central Italy) representatives were included in a new genus, Scontromeryx, with the addition of a new species, Scontromeryx mazzai. In contrast, the Gargano ones were left in Hoplitomeryx, but also in this case with the addition of three new species, Hoplitomeryx devosi, H. macpheei, and H. kriegsmani, described on postcranial remains and based on body mass calculations and using a size class scoring technique. The results of the present study show that Scontromeryx is invalid, that S. mazzai is imperfectly defined, and that H. devosi, H. macpheei, and H. kriegsmani from Gargano are based on dubious body mass calculations and size class scoring
A paleosurface with a concentration of wooden-, bone-, and stone-tools interspersed among an accu... more A paleosurface with a concentration of wooden-, bone-, and stone-tools interspersed among an accumulation of fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, was found at the bottom of a pool, fed by hot springs, that was excavated at Poggetti Vecchi, near Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy). The site is radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene, around 171,000 years BP. Notable is the association of the artifacts with the elephant bones, and in particular the presence of digging sticks made from boxwood (Buxus sp.). Although stone tools show evidence of use mainly on animal tissues, indicating some form of interaction between hominins and animals, the precise use of the sticks is unclear. Here we discuss about the role played by the hominins at the site: paleobiological and taphonomic evidence indicates that the elephants died by a natural cause and were butchered soon after their death. The associated paleontological and archeological evidence from this site provides fresh insights into the behavior of early Neanderthals in Central Italy. The discovery of Poggetti Vecchi shows how opportunistically flexible Neanderthals were in response to environmental contingencies.
Work on thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi in Grosseto, Italy, exposed an up to 3-meter-thick succe... more Work on thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi in Grosseto, Italy, exposed an up to 3-meter-thick succession of seven sedimentary units. Unit 2 in the lower portion of the succession contained vertebrate bones, mostly of the straight-tusked elephant,Palaeoloxodon antiquus, commingled with stone, bone, and wooden tools. Thermal carbonates overlying Unit 2 are radiometrically dated to the latter part of the middle Pleistocene. This time span indicates that early Neanderthals produced the human artifacts from Poggetti Vecchi. The elephant bones belong to seven individuals of different ages. Sedimentary facies analysis and paleoecological evidence suggest a narrow lacustrine-palustrine embayment affected by water-level fluctuations and, at times, by hydrothermal water. Cyclic lake-level variations were predominantly forced by the rapid climatic fluctuations that occurred at Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6–7 transition and throughout the MIS 6. Possibly an abrupt, intense, and protracted cold epi...
In the second half of the past century two important Tertiary land-vertebrate fossil sites were d... more In the second half of the past century two important Tertiary land-vertebrate fossil sites were discovered in Southern Italy, the first located in Western Gargano near Apricena and the second situated in Abruzzi in the outskirts of Scontrone. The vertebrate fossil assemblages of the two sites, which are characterized by the same remarkable endemic attributes, include small and large land mammals, a lutrine carnivore, testudines, crocodiles and birds of prey. The Scontrone bonebeds have a Tortonian age. The Gargano fossil vertebrates, which are contained in karstic fissure fillings, have been attributed to a time interval spanning from the Tortonian to the Messinian-early Pliocene, but their exact age remains still undefined. The characters of the faunal assemblage of both sites, showing no affinity with West-European or African Neo-gene faunas, suggest a possible provenance from the Balkan region. This paper is aimed at providing information on the migration path followed by the forerunners of the Gargano and Scontrone land mammals when they spread over Apulia. Our results are mostly based on the seismostratigraphic analysis of more than 6000 kilometers of reflection seismic profiles from the Adriatic offshore, tied to several tens of deep wells. The conclusion of this study is that, moving from the Balkan region, the terrestrial vertebrates crossed the present Central Adriatic Sea during the Oligocene (most likely around the early/late Oligocene boundary, i.e. around 29-30 Ma), when a severe sea-level fall exposed a landbridge connecting Dalmatia and Gargano via the Tremiti Islands. The seismostratigraphic investigation clearly indicates that the Dalmatia-Gargano landbridge was set up owing to three favourable circumstances: - the growth of prominent structural highs in the Central Adriatic area, mostly related to salt tectonics, which interrupted the continuity of the middle Liassic basinal domain. Vertical movements peaked between the late Liassic and the early Cretaceous, but the tectonics has continued, though less intense, until the Quaternary; - the occurrence of an important sea-level fall around the end of the early Paleocene, which caused in the whole Central Adriatic area a generalized absence of lower Paleocene deposits, as well as a widespread seaward progradation of upper Paleocene/Eocene shallow-marine carbonates over older deeper-marine deposits. Consequently, a wide shallow-water plateau spread between Gargano and the Dalmatian Islands, separating a Northern Adriatic Basin from a Southern Adriatic Basin; - the occurrence, finally, of a further particularly strong sea-level fall in Oligocene times (likely coincident with the well-known mid-Oligocene global sea-level fall), which caused a generalized exposure of the Central Adriatic area. The results of this study suggest a possible common origin of the giant insectivore Deinogalerix, recovered both at Scontrone and Gargano, and mainland counterparts distributed in the Balkan region during the second half of the Oligocene.
During the latest Messinian, significant mammal events occurred in the northern sectors of the pr... more During the latest Messinian, significant mammal events occurred in the northern sectors of the proto-Mediterranean. Both in western and eastern Europe, taxa of African and Asian origin occupied the southernmost areas of the continent in particular during and immediately before the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC: 6.2-5.3 Ma). The Italian record of Messinian non-endemic mammals was hitherto restricted to very few localities, most of which located in central Italy. This permitted only a partial view of the biogeographical relationships that existed between Italy and other regions of Europe. Two uppermost Messinian, vertebrate fossil-bearing localities were recently discovered in the Tertiary Piedmont Basin (TPB), NW Italy: Moncucco Torinese andVerduno. The deposits correlate stratigraphically with the post-evaporitic phase of the MSC and can therefore be dated to between 5.55 and 5.33 Ma. Both sites have yielded rich and diverse faunas, some of which most significant paleobiogeografically. Some are ubiquitous and are reported from both eastern and western sectors of the Mediterranean. These include the murids Paraethomys meini and Apodemus gudrunae, the rhinocerotid Dihoplus, the hipparionin equid Cremohipparion the antilopine bovid Gazella and the machairodontine felid Amphimachairodus. This suggests that latest Turolian faunal communities were quite uniformly distributed throughout southern Europe. In contrast, other taxa suggest a more complex scenario. At Verduno, remains of Paracarnelus indicate that, during the latest Messinian, large camelids were spread to northernmost Mediterranean areas. This datum has significant biogeographical implications, because camelids were previously known only from uppermost Messinian deposits of Spain and were thus thought to enter Europe from northern Africa. The occurrence of Paracamelus in Piedmont suggests its possible arrival from Asia, and, in fact, the taxon is reported from the lower Pontian of eastern Europe. At Moncucco, the colobine monkey Mesopithecus is associated with the papionin cercopithecine Macaca, of African origin. This datum supports the view that the dispersal of macaques into Europe was linked to the MSC, as previously suggested by the roughly contemporaneous occurrence of the genus Macaca in Spain. The small mammal community includes both eastern European immigrants, such as Occitanomys brailloni and Micromys bendai, and western immigrants, as the cricetine Apocricetus. Relationships between the Piedmont area and central Italy are implied by the oiocerin antelope ?Paraoioceros occidentalis, the canid Eucyon monticinensis and the small murid Centralomys benericettii. The onset of the MSC likely made geographical and climate barriers less effective in limiting faunal exchanges. The ensuing widespread distribution of cosmopolitan species may account for the faunal uniformity observed in the peri-Mediterranean area at the end of the Messinian. Owing to its pivotal location in Europe, NW Italy played a crucial paleobiogeographical role in Europe at the end of the Messinian. In particular, the Piedmont area was at a key-crossroads on the route between eastern and western Mediterranean Europe, as well as towards the Apennine sectors of the rising Italian peninsula.
Bollettino Della Societa Paleontologica Italiana, 2001
A schematic range-chart of the late Pliocene - Pleistocene large mammal genera is presented. The ... more A schematic range-chart of the late Pliocene - Pleistocene large mammal genera is presented. The main faunal events recognizable within this time span are discussed. The first faunal event occurs around the Gauss/Matuyama transition with the beginning of the middle Villafranchian characterized by the arrival of Mammuthus (Archidiskodon) and Equus (the so-called "elephant-Equus event"). The following faunal event occurs at the Plio-Pleistocene transition (the so-called "wolf event"). The latter is marked by a strong contraction in the diversity of the ruminants and by a renewal in the carnivore diversity with the arrival of social carnivores. The low diversity in ruminant assemblage persist until the end of the middle Pleistocene when new arrivals again produce a diversity similar to the final Pliocene one
The untypical ruminants of the Apulia Platform (central and southeastern Italy), originally accom... more The untypical ruminants of the Apulia Platform (central and southeastern Italy), originally accommodated in the genus Hoplitomeryx, have been recently revised. The Scontrone (Abruzzo, central Italy) representatives were included in a new genus, Scontromeryx, with the addition of a new species, Scontromeryx mazzai. In contrast, the Gargano ones were left in Hoplitomeryx, but also in this case with the addition of three new species, Hoplitomeryx devosi, H. macpheei, and H. kriegsmani, described on postcranial remains and based on body mass calculations and using a size class scoring technique. The results of the present study show that Scontromeryx is invalid, that S. mazzai is imperfectly defined, and that H. devosi, H. macpheei, and H. kriegsmani from Gargano are based on dubious body mass calculations and size class scoring
A paleosurface with a concentration of wooden-, bone-, and stone-tools interspersed among an accu... more A paleosurface with a concentration of wooden-, bone-, and stone-tools interspersed among an accumulation of fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, was found at the bottom of a pool, fed by hot springs, that was excavated at Poggetti Vecchi, near Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy). The site is radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene, around 171,000 years BP. Notable is the association of the artifacts with the elephant bones, and in particular the presence of digging sticks made from boxwood (Buxus sp.). Although stone tools show evidence of use mainly on animal tissues, indicating some form of interaction between hominins and animals, the precise use of the sticks is unclear. Here we discuss about the role played by the hominins at the site: paleobiological and taphonomic evidence indicates that the elephants died by a natural cause and were butchered soon after their death. The associated paleontological and archeological evidence from this site provides fresh insights into the behavior of early Neanderthals in Central Italy. The discovery of Poggetti Vecchi shows how opportunistically flexible Neanderthals were in response to environmental contingencies.
Work on thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi in Grosseto, Italy, exposed an up to 3-meter-thick succe... more Work on thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi in Grosseto, Italy, exposed an up to 3-meter-thick succession of seven sedimentary units. Unit 2 in the lower portion of the succession contained vertebrate bones, mostly of the straight-tusked elephant,Palaeoloxodon antiquus, commingled with stone, bone, and wooden tools. Thermal carbonates overlying Unit 2 are radiometrically dated to the latter part of the middle Pleistocene. This time span indicates that early Neanderthals produced the human artifacts from Poggetti Vecchi. The elephant bones belong to seven individuals of different ages. Sedimentary facies analysis and paleoecological evidence suggest a narrow lacustrine-palustrine embayment affected by water-level fluctuations and, at times, by hydrothermal water. Cyclic lake-level variations were predominantly forced by the rapid climatic fluctuations that occurred at Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6–7 transition and throughout the MIS 6. Possibly an abrupt, intense, and protracted cold epi...
In the second half of the past century two important Tertiary land-vertebrate fossil sites were d... more In the second half of the past century two important Tertiary land-vertebrate fossil sites were discovered in Southern Italy, the first located in Western Gargano near Apricena and the second situated in Abruzzi in the outskirts of Scontrone. The vertebrate fossil assemblages of the two sites, which are characterized by the same remarkable endemic attributes, include small and large land mammals, a lutrine carnivore, testudines, crocodiles and birds of prey. The Scontrone bonebeds have a Tortonian age. The Gargano fossil vertebrates, which are contained in karstic fissure fillings, have been attributed to a time interval spanning from the Tortonian to the Messinian-early Pliocene, but their exact age remains still undefined. The characters of the faunal assemblage of both sites, showing no affinity with West-European or African Neo-gene faunas, suggest a possible provenance from the Balkan region. This paper is aimed at providing information on the migration path followed by the forerunners of the Gargano and Scontrone land mammals when they spread over Apulia. Our results are mostly based on the seismostratigraphic analysis of more than 6000 kilometers of reflection seismic profiles from the Adriatic offshore, tied to several tens of deep wells. The conclusion of this study is that, moving from the Balkan region, the terrestrial vertebrates crossed the present Central Adriatic Sea during the Oligocene (most likely around the early/late Oligocene boundary, i.e. around 29-30 Ma), when a severe sea-level fall exposed a landbridge connecting Dalmatia and Gargano via the Tremiti Islands. The seismostratigraphic investigation clearly indicates that the Dalmatia-Gargano landbridge was set up owing to three favourable circumstances: - the growth of prominent structural highs in the Central Adriatic area, mostly related to salt tectonics, which interrupted the continuity of the middle Liassic basinal domain. Vertical movements peaked between the late Liassic and the early Cretaceous, but the tectonics has continued, though less intense, until the Quaternary; - the occurrence of an important sea-level fall around the end of the early Paleocene, which caused in the whole Central Adriatic area a generalized absence of lower Paleocene deposits, as well as a widespread seaward progradation of upper Paleocene/Eocene shallow-marine carbonates over older deeper-marine deposits. Consequently, a wide shallow-water plateau spread between Gargano and the Dalmatian Islands, separating a Northern Adriatic Basin from a Southern Adriatic Basin; - the occurrence, finally, of a further particularly strong sea-level fall in Oligocene times (likely coincident with the well-known mid-Oligocene global sea-level fall), which caused a generalized exposure of the Central Adriatic area. The results of this study suggest a possible common origin of the giant insectivore Deinogalerix, recovered both at Scontrone and Gargano, and mainland counterparts distributed in the Balkan region during the second half of the Oligocene.
During the latest Messinian, significant mammal events occurred in the northern sectors of the pr... more During the latest Messinian, significant mammal events occurred in the northern sectors of the proto-Mediterranean. Both in western and eastern Europe, taxa of African and Asian origin occupied the southernmost areas of the continent in particular during and immediately before the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC: 6.2-5.3 Ma). The Italian record of Messinian non-endemic mammals was hitherto restricted to very few localities, most of which located in central Italy. This permitted only a partial view of the biogeographical relationships that existed between Italy and other regions of Europe. Two uppermost Messinian, vertebrate fossil-bearing localities were recently discovered in the Tertiary Piedmont Basin (TPB), NW Italy: Moncucco Torinese andVerduno. The deposits correlate stratigraphically with the post-evaporitic phase of the MSC and can therefore be dated to between 5.55 and 5.33 Ma. Both sites have yielded rich and diverse faunas, some of which most significant paleobiogeografically. Some are ubiquitous and are reported from both eastern and western sectors of the Mediterranean. These include the murids Paraethomys meini and Apodemus gudrunae, the rhinocerotid Dihoplus, the hipparionin equid Cremohipparion the antilopine bovid Gazella and the machairodontine felid Amphimachairodus. This suggests that latest Turolian faunal communities were quite uniformly distributed throughout southern Europe. In contrast, other taxa suggest a more complex scenario. At Verduno, remains of Paracarnelus indicate that, during the latest Messinian, large camelids were spread to northernmost Mediterranean areas. This datum has significant biogeographical implications, because camelids were previously known only from uppermost Messinian deposits of Spain and were thus thought to enter Europe from northern Africa. The occurrence of Paracamelus in Piedmont suggests its possible arrival from Asia, and, in fact, the taxon is reported from the lower Pontian of eastern Europe. At Moncucco, the colobine monkey Mesopithecus is associated with the papionin cercopithecine Macaca, of African origin. This datum supports the view that the dispersal of macaques into Europe was linked to the MSC, as previously suggested by the roughly contemporaneous occurrence of the genus Macaca in Spain. The small mammal community includes both eastern European immigrants, such as Occitanomys brailloni and Micromys bendai, and western immigrants, as the cricetine Apocricetus. Relationships between the Piedmont area and central Italy are implied by the oiocerin antelope ?Paraoioceros occidentalis, the canid Eucyon monticinensis and the small murid Centralomys benericettii. The onset of the MSC likely made geographical and climate barriers less effective in limiting faunal exchanges. The ensuing widespread distribution of cosmopolitan species may account for the faunal uniformity observed in the peri-Mediterranean area at the end of the Messinian. Owing to its pivotal location in Europe, NW Italy played a crucial paleobiogeographical role in Europe at the end of the Messinian. In particular, the Piedmont area was at a key-crossroads on the route between eastern and western Mediterranean Europe, as well as towards the Apennine sectors of the rising Italian peninsula.
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