Search results for " Neogene"

Evolutionary trends in arvicolids and the endemic murid Mikrotia - New data and a critical overview

2014

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 …

The interation of compressional and extensional tectonics during the Sicily Chain building

2012

The use of insular vertebrates in palaeogeographic reconstructions.

2009

New insular taxa from the oldest Terre Rosse fissure filling (Gargano, Southeastern Italy).

2012

A rich amount of fossil remains of a highly diversified vertebrate fauna, known as “Mikrotia fauna”, has been retrieved from the red soil deposits (Terre Rosse) which fill the extensive palaeokarst network that affects the Mesozoic limestone along the north-western slopes of Mount Gargano (Southern Italy). The faunal assemblages reveal a rather complex history of bioevents such as dispersals and extinctions, which occurred when the area was isolated. These reconstructions were based on the materials collected during the seventies and the eighties of the last century. Forty years after its discovery, the Gargano Terre Rosse finally yielded evidence of an older faunal settlement. The peculiar…

Surface expression of eastern Mediterranean slab dynamics: Neogene topographic and structural evolution of the southwest margin of the Central Anatol…

2012

The southwest margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau has experienced multiple phases of topographic growth, including the formation of localized highs prior to the Late Miocene that were later affected by wholesale uplift of the plateau margin. Our new biostratigraphic data limit the age of uplifted marine sediments at the southwest plateau margin at 1.5 km elevation to <7.17 Ma, and regional lithostratigraphic correlations imply that the age is <6.7 Ma. Single-grain CA-TIMS U-Pb zircon analyses from a reworked ash within the marine sediments yield dates as young as 10.6 Ma, indicating a maximum age that is consistent with the biostratigraphy. Our structural measurements within the uplifte…

Le Faune insulari delle “terre rosse” del Gargano: una panoramica

2009

Ba/Ca evolution in water masses of the Mediterranean late Neogene

2008

A Mediterranean composite sedimentary record was analyzed for Ba/Ca ratios on carbonate shells of Orbulina universa planktonic foraminifer (Ba/Ca) carb providing the opportunity to study and assess the extent of freshwater inputs on the basin and possible impacts on its dynamics during the Tortonian to Recent period. A number of scanning electron microscope analyses and auxiliary trace element measurements (Mn, Sr, and Mg), obtained from the same samples, exclude important diagenetic effects on the studied biogenic carbonates and corroborate the reliability of (Ba/Ca) carb ratios in foraminifera calcite as indicators of seawater source components during the studied interval. A long-term tre…

Prima filogenesi del genere Nyctereutes (Canidae, Carnivora): conferme e implicazioni

2019

Il cane procione, Nyctereutes procyonoides (Gray, 1834), è un canide di piccola taglia originario dell’Asia orientale e Giappone, diffusosi anche in Europa centro-orientale in seguito a introduzioni. La tassonomia di questo canide e le sue affinità filogenetiche rispetto ad altri membri della stessa famiglia sono state una fonte di dibattito scientifico. Ad esempio, recenti analisi cromosomiche suggeriscono la possibilità di separare le popolazioni del Giappone da quelle del continente in una specie diversa, N. viverrinus. Inoltre, sebbene filogenesi morfologiche basate su campioni attuali indicavano possibili relazioni tra Nyctereutes ed alcuni canidi sudamericani, p.e. Cerdocyon Hamilton-…

The Messinian stromatolites of the Sierra del Colmenar (Western Mediterranean): facies characterization and sedimentological interpretation

2018

A representative outcrop of the Messinian stromatolites belonging to the Terminal Carbonate Complex unit, from the northern sector of the Bajo Segura basin (Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo section, Sierra del Colmenar, SE Spain) has been studied. Here, we present a detailed analysis of the architecture, external morphology, and internal morphology in order to reconstruct the environmental and palaeoecological conditions for their growth. The stromatolites macrostructure consists of a continuously doming type morphology (build up and sheets areas).These developed close to the coast and acted as a palaeogeographic barrier, reducing physical stress, channeling the erosive effect of water and …

Mediterranean Neogene planktonic foraminifer biozonation and biochronology

2019

Abstract Planktonic foraminifera are widely used for biostratigraphy and correlation of Mediterranean Neogene marine sediments, and are a fundamental component in the astronomical tuning of the Neogene Time Scale. Recent developments in high-resolution studies, focused on the astronomical calibration of cyclically marine sediments cropping out in land-based sections and recovered from deep-sea successions, increased the accuracy of stratigraphic ranges of planktonic foraminiferal species improving the biostratigraphic resolution and biochronology. The large amount of data on planktonic foraminifera obtained through quantitative/semiquantitative analyses, published in the recent years, allow…