Search results for " PLEISTOCENE"
showing 10 items of 73 documents
The Quaternary fossil record of the genus Testudo in the Iberian Peninsula. Archaeological implications and diachronic distribution in the western Me…
2009
This paper explores the presence of tortoise remains and its meaning in Palaeolithic archaeological contexts. We focus on two topics: (1) the presence or absence of the genus Testudo from the Early Pleistocene to the Holocene in SW Europe; and (2) the relationship between Testudo and the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental conditions diachronically. In order to address this objective, we collected published and unpublished data from different sites on the eastern Iberian Peninsula. The results obtained by this study demonstrate that Testudo hermanni was the only tortoise present in this area until recent times and its presence in archaeological sites is almost always related to anthropic…
Morphométrie comparée de la première molaire inférieure de différentes populations d'Europe du Pléistocène supérieur du campagnol des steppes Microtu…
2006
The comparative analysis of the first lower molar (M1) of five populations of the steppe vole Microtus gregalis (Pallas, 1779) of the Upper Pleistocene from Romania and Germany has permitted to identify criteria characterising these populations. The proposed hypothesis in order to explain the observed variations between these populations is different chronological migrations of populations of M. gregalis from different climatic and geographical regions.
The response of calcareous nannoplankton to sea surface variability at Ceara Rise during the early Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles
2019
The Ceara Rise lies just beyond the edge of the Amazon River Fan and sediments from this site may record the complex interplay of different climatic systems and processes, including past changes in southern America monsoon activity, Intertropical Convergence Zone setting, different Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) strength and phytoplankton blooming triggered by Amazon River plumes. Here we investigate early Pleistocene calcareous nannoplankton at Ceara Rise, between about 1150 and 850 kiloyears ago. Our investigation shows abrupt variations in water column dynamics across glacial/interglacial cycles or, even better, linked with different AMOC modes. Dominant placoliths in…
Fossil remains of Macaca sylvanus florentina (Cocchi, 1872) (Primates, Cercopithecidae) from the Early Pleistocene of Quibas (Murcia, Spain)
2011
The macaque material from the Early Pleistocene site of Quibas (Albanilla, Murcia, Spain), including dentognathic remains, isolated teeth and some postcranial bone fragments, is described. Both metrically and morphologically, this sample must be attributed to Macaca sylvanus (the Barbary macaque). This species is currently distributed through North Africa and Gibraltar, but was much more widely distributed during the Plio-Pleistocene, being represented by several European fossil subspecies. Metrical comparisons of dental size and proportions between extant M. s. sylvanus and fossil Macaca sylvanus florentina from the type locality and other Italian sites are undertaken, in order to classify…
New molecular data attest to the absence of cospeciation patterns between Placobdella costata (Fr. Müller, 1846) (Hirudinea) and freshwater turtles (…
2021
The only Palearctic representative of the leech genus Placobdella Blanchard, 1893 is P. costata, an ectoparasite of freshwater turtles. To date, no conclusive evidence about the possible presence of coevolutionary patterns between this leech and its turtle hosts is available due to the paucity of DNA sequence data available for P. costata; moreover, comparative host data is also mostly lacking, making any inferences more difficult. The discovery of new populations of the species in northern Italy and Sicily allowed us to generate novel mitochondrial DNA sequences and to compare the topology of the resulting phylogenetic trees with the phylogeny of the turtle hosts occurring in the study are…
The last of the large-sized tortoises of the Mediterranean islands
2022
Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya Altres ajuts: Operational Programme Research, Development and Education Project (CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/16_027/0008360) Archaeological investigations carried out in the cave Zubbio di Cozzo San Pietro, Bagheria, Sicily, revealed the presence of a few skeletal elements of a large-sized tortoise in a funerary area dating to the Copper/Bronze Age. The tortoise has been AMS-dated revealing an age of 12.5 ± 0.5 kyr BP and therefore it pre-dates the funerary activities. The morphology of the retrieved skeletal elements differs from that of the only native tortoise currently living in Sicily, Testudo hermanni. The tortoise's size significantly exc…
Stratigraphic frame work of the type locality of Pirro Nord Mammal Faunal Unit (Late Villafranchian, Apricena south-eastern Italy)
2013
The fossiliferous karst deposits of the typical Pirro Nord Faunal Unit recently revived interest for the lithic tools documenting the human occurrence in southern Italy at Early Pleistocene. Therefore, a revision of the Pliocene to lowermost Pleistocene stratigraphic succession was needed. It was carried on with a twofold aim: to detail the stratigraphic architecture and the structural-depositional evolution of the “Apricena horst”, and to verify the chronostratigraphic constraints for the Pirro Nord F.U. in the type area of Apricena. The stratigraphic record has been subdivided in four units bounded by ubiquitous unconformity surfaces, often associated to evidence of sub-aerial exposure. F…
Book Review. The Pleistocene of Untermassfeld near Meiningen (Thüringen, Germany).
2020
Around one million years ago (late Early Pleistocene), a major faunal turnover occurred in Europe, linked to the onset of increased climatic instability: the transition between Villafranchian and Galerian faunas. Few palaeontological sites in Europe documents this biological event, highlighting over all of them the site of Untermassfeld, near Meiningen (Thuringia, Germany), which provided an amazing fossil record, either in abundance, diversity, and good preservation.Previous results of the interdisciplinary research developed on Untermassfeld were published in three volumes of the monograph series of the Romisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, Mainz, released in 1997 and 2001, as well as in a…
Does genetic population structure of Ambrosina bassii L. (Araceae, Ambrosineae) attest a post-Messinian land-bridge between Sicily and Africa?
2012
Abstract Aim of the present work is the analysis (through the study of enzyme polymorphism) of Sicilian and African (Tunisian) populations of Ambrosina bassii , a small perennial endemic to the Central-Western Mediterranean basin, in order to verify if the complex geological history of this part of the Mediterranean area left its mark in the present-day genetic structure of this taxon. Starch gel allozyme electrophoresis of seven putative loci of A. bassii was employed to estimate genetic diversity, genetic structure and gene flow. Populations from Sicily, Tunisia and Sardinia (as outgroup) were sampled. Results show that Sicily populations have 4 private alleles, Sardinia 3, Tunisia just o…
The rodents of the Pirro Nord fauna (Foggia, Southern Italy)
2013
The rodent fauna of various fissure fillings of the Pirro Nord karstic complex are examined here. They have been collected during several field caingns starting from the 70’s until 2006 and are here examined in a comprehensive matter. Hundreds of specimens of arvicolids, murids and, in much lower amount, Glirids have been recovered from several of these fissures. They belong to the species Allophaiomys ex gr. ruffoi, Myodes sp. Apodemus flavicollis and Muscardinus sp.