0000000001314766
AUTHOR
Vittorio Garilli
Physiological advantages of dwarfing in surviving extinctions in high-CO2 oceans
Excessive CO 2 in the present-day ocean-atmosphere system is causing ocean acidification, and is likely to cause a severe biodiversity decline in the future, mirroring effects in many past mass extinctions. Fossil records demonstrate that organisms surviving such events were often smaller than those before, a phenomenon called the Lilliput effect. Here, we show that two gastropod species adapted to acidified seawater at shallow-water CO 2 seeps were smaller than those found in normal pH conditions and had higher mass-specific energy consumption but significantly lower whole-animal metabolic energy demand. These physiological changes allowed the animals to maintain calcification and to parti…
KYLLINIA PARENTALIS (NEOGASTROPODA: TURRIDAE), NEW GENUS AND SPECIES FROM THE PLIO–PLEISTOCENE OF THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN AREA
Abstract A new genus and species of turrid neogastropod, Kyllinia parentalis, is described based on three shells from the Pliocene (North Italy) and the Pleistocene (northwestern Peloponnesus) of the central Mediterranean area. The new taxon is compared to the buccinid (sensu lato) genus Metula H. and A. Adams, 1853 with which it shows a few superficial similarities mainly limited to the latticed sculptural pattern of the teleoconch. Kyllinia parentalis is placed in the turrid subfamily Mangeliinae on the basis of teleoconch characters (double sinuosity of the outer lip and the short, forward curved anterior canal) and protoconch (a characteristic pattern formed by narrow axial riblets givi…
Distinct protoconchs recognised in three of the larger Mediterranean Cerithium species (Caenogastropoda: Cerithiidae)
The gastropod genus Cerithium includes several polymorphic species which are hardly distinguishable using a morphological approach based on teleoconch characters. Here we show that protoconch characters can be reliably used to identify the larger Mediterranean species (Cerithium alucastrum, C. repandum and C. vulgatum), and to assess their intraspecific variability. Based on a large amount of morphological data, we show that a multispiral, strongly sculptured protoconch (traditionally associated with C. vulgatum) is found in C. alucastrum. This species originated in the Pliocene. A multispiral, weakly sculptured protoconch, not observed previously, is reported for C. vulgatum. A paucispiral…
Nuovi dati sulla paleoecologia del sito pleistocenico di San Teodoro (Acquedolci, Messina)
La Grotta di San Teodoro (ST) è uno dei siti preistorici più importanti del Mediterraneo cen-trale. Da pochi anni il sito è oggetto di una ripre-sa delle attività di analisi stratigrafica, geologica, geochimica e paleontologia, alla luce di una colla-borazione tra il Parco Archeologico di Tindari e l’Università degli Studi di Palermo.
Surface–bottom relationships in the Gulf of Salerno (Tyrrhenian Sea) over the last 34 kyr: Compositional data analysis of palaeontological proxies and geochemical evidence
The palaeontological, geochemical and mineralogical records of core GNS84-C106 were analysed in order to reconstruct palaeohydrological changes and palaeoproductivity patterns in the Gulf of Salerno for the last 34 kyr. This approach, including compositional analysis of planktonic and benthic assemblages, gave an insight into the relationships between continental, sea surface and bottom environmental changes. The main source of variability of planktonic and benthic assemblages is related respectively to sea surface temperature and palaeobathymetry. Interrelated changes in surface salinity, nutrients, density gradient in the water column and organic fluxes at the bottom act as a secondary fa…
A new Miocene deep-sea chiton and early evidence for Teredinidae-sustained wood-fall communities
Deep-sea wood-falls are important biodiversity hot spots for insights on chemosynthesis-based communities. The study of deep-sea wood-fall-related palaeocommunities from the Neogene of north Italy shed light on interesting associations from the Miocene of Torrente Cinghio (Tortonian) and of Moncasale di Casina (Langhian). The most common components of this association are typical chemosynthetic/wood-fall molluscs, such as the gastropods Homalopoma sp. and Pseudonina bellardii, the bivalves Idas sp. and shipworms, and the chiton Leptochiton lignatilis n. sp., which belongs to a genus typical of recent sunken woods in tropical waters. The new species described is compared with other fossil an…
Geochemistry of phosphatic nodules as a tool for understanding depositional and taphonomical settings in a paleolithic cave site (San teodoro, Sicily)
Interpreting depositional settings of cave sites is generally problematic, especially in absence of palaeontological/archaeological evidence. This is the case of some deposits at San Teodoro Cave (Sicily), a key site for the Mediterranean Palaeolithic. In a stratigraphic level interrupted by a carbonatic concretion, phosphatic nodules are present only in the part enclosed between the concretion and the cave wall. The discovery of these nodules combined with the punctual lack of fossils had initially suggested an erosion phenomenon and subsequent formation of nodules at a vadose level. Here we show the usefulness of an integrated, geochemical-palaeoecological approach in defining stratigraph…
First evidence of Pleistocene ochre production from bacteriogenic iron oxides. A case study of the Upper Palaeolithic site at the San Teodoro Cave (Sicily, Italy)
Abstract The use of iron pigments is well documented in the archaeological horizons of the different parts of the world since the Middle Pleistocene. The mineralogical and chemical composition of the pigments allowed defining, in most cases, their inorganic origin, which were then used after a limited transformation and manipulation. The use of a biogenic ochraceous pigment and its manipulation has recently been described in a late Holocene archaeological horizon of the American continent. Here we describe the earliest case of archaeological use of ferrous pigment produced by iron-oxidising bacteria (FeOB), the first identified in a European Epigravettian (late Upper Palaeolithic) layer, at…
Taxonomy and palaeobiogeography of the Cenozoic Euro-Mediterranean rissoid gastropod Galeodinopsis and its relationship with close genera
The investigation of the Late Paleogene to Late Neogene species of rissoid gastropod Galeodinopsis in the Euro-Mediterranean area has supported the hypothesis that this genus is an intermediate form between two well-known rissoids, Alvinia and Manzonia. We recognized four species of Galeodinopsis: G. biangulata, G. germanica sp. nov., G. semperi (new name for Rissoa duboisii), and G. tiberiana. The oldest (very Late Eocene/Oligocene) representatives of Galeodinopsis, G. biangulata, and G. semperi, share similar shell shape and microsculpture with Alvinia. This suggests that Galeodinopsis originated from some Eocene species related to Alvinia. The new species represents the first occurrence …
From sepulchre to butchery-cooking: Facies analysis, taphonomy and stratigraphy of the Upper Palaeolithic post burial layer from the San Teodoro Cave (NE Sicily) reveal change in the use of the site
Abstract The San Teodoro Cave is considered the most significant witness of the first, Epigravettian, human colonization of Sicily from the Italian continent. Furthermore the site is a paradigmatic horizon in the Pleistocene faunal record, demonstrating a progressive transition from mega faunas to smaller-sized, Boreal, faunas. The site has been repeatedly studied and excavated, with different aims and approaches, leading to an interpretation of Epigravettian burial site and daily attendance. Here we propose a reappraisal of the study of the stratigraphy of the site, and in particular of the bone-rich layer (PAL) accumulated over the red ochre layer that apparently sealed all the different …
Distinct protoconchs recognised in three of the larger Mediterranean Cerithium species (Caenogastropoda: Cerithiidae)
The gastropod genus Cerithium includes several polymorphic species which are hardly distinguishable using a morphological approach based on teleoconch characters. Here we show that protoconch characters can be reliably used to identify the larger Mediterranean species (Cerithium alucastrum, C. repandum and C. vulgatum), and to assess their intraspecific variability. Based on a large amount of morphological data, we show that a multispiral, strongly sculptured protoconch (traditionally associated with C. vulgatum) is found in C. alucastrum. This species originated in the Pliocene. A multispiral, weakly sculptured protoconch, not observed previously, is reported for C. vulgatum. A paucispiral…
Physiological advantages of dwarfing in surviving extinctions in high-CO2 oceans
Excessive CO2 in the present-day ocean-atmosphere system is causing ocean acidification, and is likely to cause a severe biodiversity decline in the future, mirroring effects in many past mass extinctions. Fossil records demonstrate that organisms surviving such events were often smaller than those before, a phenomenon called the Lilliput effect. Here, we show that two gastropod species adapted to acidified seawater at shallow-water CO2 seeps were smaller than those found in normal pH conditions and had higher mass-specific energy consumption but significantly lower whole-animal metabolic energy demand. These physiological changes allowed the animals to maintain calcification and to partial…