Reappraisal of some species of the giant galericine Deinogalerix (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Erinaceomorpha, Erinaceidae) from the Miocene of south-eastern Italy, with a review of the genus
A revision of the remains of Deinogalerix from the Terre Rosse of Gargano, stored at the Department of Earth Sciences of Florence, improved our knowledge of the genus. The goals of this study are to clear the taxonomic status of the specimens and to tackle several issues connected with the evolutionary relationships of the different species. The sample of dental remains of Deinogalerix freudenthali provides new information, which confirms that this species belongs to the most primitive members of the genus, alongside D. masinii. It is now clear that D. freudenthali is very close to the hypothetical ancestor of all other Gargano species, except D. masinii. Nonetheless, the oldest fissures of…
Evolutionary trends in arvicolids and the endemic murid Mikrotia - New data and a critical overview
Abstract The study of evolutionary rates dates back to the work of Simpson and Haldane in the 1940s. Small mammals, especially Plio-Pleistocene arvicolids (voles and lemmings), are particularly suited for such studies because they have an unusually complete fossil record and exhibit significant evolutionary change through time. In recent decades, arvicolids have been the focus of intensive research devoted to the tempo and mode of evolutionary change and the identification of trends in dental evolution that can be used to correlate and date fossil sites. These studies have raised interesting questions about whether voles and lemmings had unique evolutionary trajectories, or show convergent …
Paleoenvironmental context of the early Neanderthals of Poggetti Vecchi for the late middle Pleistocene of Central Italy
AbstractWork 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 embay…
Some species of the southeastern Italian Miocene giant galericine Deinogalerix (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla) revisited, with review of the genus
• Revision of Deinogalerix remains from the Terre Rosse of Gargano stored at the University of Florence. • The material was assigned mainly to D. freudenthali, D. intermedius and D. minor. • The material improves our knowledge of the small and primitive species D. freudenthali. • The study confirms the validity of the lineages D. minor-D. brevirostris and D. intermedius-D. koenigswaldi.
Poggetti Vecchi (Tuscany, Italy): A late Middle Pleistocene case of human-elephant interaction
Abstract 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 an…
Observations on the postcranial anatomy of Hoplitomeryx (Mammalia, Ruminantia, Hoplitomerycidae) from the Miocene of the Apulia Platform (Italy)
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 de…
The tangled cases of Deinogalerix (Late Miocene endemic erinaceid of Gargano) and Galericini (Eulipotyphla, Erinaceidae): a cladistic perspective.
The Late Miocene giant erinaceid Deinogalerix from Scontrone and Gargano (Italy) is associated with many other vertebrates in deposits of a past island, the “Abruzzo-Apulia Platform”. At Gargano, Deinogalerix is accompanied by the moderately endemized Galericini Apulogalerix. This first extensive cladistic analysis is aimed at defining the relationships of Deinogalerix with characteristic members of the tribe Galericini. The analysis was performed on a matrix of 30 characters and 19 taxa and identified some smaller clades, nested within three major ones. The latter include: (i) a pentatomy of Galerix species, (ii) a polytomy of “transitional” Galerix–Parasorex species and (iii) a large clad…
A new small mammal assemblage from the M013 Terre Rosse fissure filling (Gargano, South-Eastern Italy)
Abstract The taxonomic study of the small mammal assemblage from fissure M013, sampled by a team of the University of Torino during the 2005–2009 excavations in the Dell’Erba Quarry (Apricena, Foggia) is presented. The assemblage includes the Echinosoricinae Apulogalerix cf. pusillus and the Crocidosoricinae ?Lartetium cf. dehmi; the Myomiminae species Stertomys simplex and Stertomys lyrifer; a new genus and species of Cricetodontinae and a single specimen of Hattomys cf. nazarii. Muridae include Mikrotia cf. parva, Mikrotia sp. 1 and a new genus and species of Murinae, phylogenetically related to Mikrotia. The occurrence of the new Murinae, the new Cricetodontinae, the two species of gliri…
Apatodemus degiulii n. gen. et sp. (Rodentia, Muridae), a hitherto undescribed endemite from the Terre Rosse of Gargano (Late Miocene, Southeastern Italy)
The taxonomy of the murid that had been ascribed to the genus Apodemus from the late Miocene insular faunal assemblages of Gargano (Southeastern Italy) is revised. Morphological and odontometric analyses of important new dental characters were undertaken. Our investigations revealed substantial morphological differences from Apodemus. The rodent is therefore assigned to a new genus and species, Apatodemus degiulii. The new species is characterised by a combination of advanced and primitive characters: moderately brachyodont teeth, t7 present in all M1–2s, elongated and distally located t1 in M1, t1 often twinned in M1–2, and narrow labial cingulid in lower molars associated to a well-develo…
New Light on Parasorex Depereti (Erinaceomorpha: Erinaceidae: Galericini) from the Late Messinian (MN 13) of the Monticino Quarry (Brisighella, Faenza, Italy)
Abstract A large-sized species of Parasorex is common in the MN 13 mammal assemblages from the uppermost Messinian sandy-marly fissure fillings within the Gessoso Solfifera Formation at Brisighella (Northern Apennine). This erinaceid has been classified as Galerix sp. in the first papers on the Brisighella fauna. Later, it was described in detail in an unpublished Ph.D. dissertation by Fanfani (1999), who referred it to Galerix depereti. Van den Hoek Ostende (2001) included G. depereti in the genus Parasorex, Parasorex depereti has been described by Crochet (1986) on scarce material from a few Early Pliocene (MN 14–15) localities of southern France and Spain. Parasorex cf. depereti has been…
GLI INSETTIVORI DI CAVA MONTICINO (BRISIGHELLA, RA)
Sono note quattro diverse specie di insettivori dalla cava del Monticino, due soricidi (Neomyosorex sp. e cf. Miosorex desnoyersianus) e due erinaceidi (Parasorex depereti e “Mioechinus” sp.). Parasorex depereti appartiene ai Galericini, una tribù estinta di gimnuri, e probabilmente era un animale piuttosto opportunista, come gli altri membri dello stesso genere, forse non legato ad ambienti di foresta o umidi relativamente caldi. “Mioechinus” sp. di collocazione sistematica incerta, per alcuni autori potrebbe essere sinonimo dei generi di ricci moderni Atelerix o Hemiechinus. In questo caso, la sua presenza escluderebbe ambienti desertici o di foresta pluviale. Infine, Neomyosorex sp., rel…