Search results for " Paleoecologia"

Sicilian Palaentological geosites: Knowledege, protection and exploitation of the palaentological heritage

2009

A multidisciplinary approach to reveal the Sicily Climate and Environment over the last 20 000 years

2010

Abstract We present a thorough review of the knowledge on the climate and environment in Sicily over the last 20 000 years, taking into account results of several studies carried using terrestrial and marine records. We obtain a coherent framework of the most important changes succeeded in the island, even if some points need further investigation. All the reconstructions of surface temperatures of the seas and the air surrounding Sicily point out severe climatic conditions during the last glacial period. The steppe- and semisteppe-like vegetation pattern testifies, together with additional evidence from geochemical data of lacustrine evidence, markedly arid conditions. Fi-nally, significan…

Phylogeny and biogeography of fossil and extant Microtus (Terricola) (Mammalia, Rodentia) of Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula based on curre…

2011

Abstract The fossil record of the Savi vole, Microtus ( Terricola ) savii , is analyzed in terms of morphological and morphometrical variability of the first lower molar, in order to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships between insular and mainland populations and the dispersal events. The present work gives a contribution to better understand the phylogenetic history of this taxon in Sicily and Southern Italy during the interval Middle Pleistocene – Holocene, in an attempt to reconstruct the relationships between insular and continental voles and to clarify some paleobiogeographical aspects. The morphometrical data have been acquired by traditional measurements of the first lower molar a…

Astronomical dating of two Pliocene alkaline volcanic ash layers in the Capo Rossello area (southern Sicily, Italy): implications for the beginning o…

2009

Key-words. - Sicily Channel rift, Biostratigraphy, Astronomical calibration, Pliocene, Volcanic ash layers. Abstract. - Two volcaniclastic ash layers (AL1 and AL2) are intercalated throughout the middle Pliocene sedimentary sequences of Punta Piccola and Capo Rossello exposed along the south coast of Sicily (Italy). Astronomical calibration of the Punta Piccola section provided an age of 2.676 Ma for the deposition of the AL1 layer. The high-resolution bio-cyclostratigraphy of the Capo Rossello section, in combination with detailed correlations with previously astrono- mically calibrated coeval sequences, provided an age of 2.225 Ma for the deposition of the AL2 layer. Mineralogical, petrog…

Benthic foraminifera assemblages in coastal marine ecosystem and relationship with metal distribution. A spatial study along Sicilian coasts.

2007

Ricostruzioni paleoecologiche e paleoclimatiche degli ultimi 36.800 anni tramite foraminiferi bentonici e planctonici nei sedimenti di piattaforma co…

2010

The use of bioindicators (Posidonia oceanica and benthic foraminifera) to evaluate metal pollution in a complex ecological system: marine coastal env…

2007

Late Pleistocene vertebrate - bearing deposits at San Teodoro Cave (North-Eastern Sicily): Preliminary data on faunal diversification and chronology

2008

Abstract This paper deals with the chronology and the possible correlations among levels of different excavated areas in the Pleistocene vertebrate-bearing deposits at the large San Teodoro Cave (North-Eastern Sicily). Two trenches have been excavated along the eastern side of the cave, located at a distance from the entrance, respectively, of 8 m ( α trench) and 28 m ( β trench) and at different depths. Lithological features, biometrical data from small mammals and ecological data from molluscs point to similar environmental conditions for the α trench deposits and those located along the eastern wall of the cave in the eastern part of the β trench. The same evidence, and the taphonomic fe…

New species of Deinogalerix (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla) from the late Miocene of Scontrone (Abruzzo, central Italy)

2017

Deinogalerix is a typical component of the late Miocene insular fauna of Gargano (south-eastern Italy). Remains of this taxon had also been found over the last 20 years at the early Tortonian site of Scontrone (Abruzzo, central Italy), but they had never been described in detail. Two new species are introduced. One of them, D. samniticus sp. nov., is larger sized and better documented, and received a formal description. The other entity is clearly distinct from D. samniticus sp. nov., but it is merely represented by a single mandible. It is therefore presented here as a different, but undetermined species, Deinogalerix sp. Comparative analyses show that the new species have exclusive dental…

Ambiente e clima della Sicilia durante gli ultimi 20 mila anni

2010

Environment and Climate in Sicily over the last 20, 000 years. (IT ISSN 0394-3356, 2010). A series of recent studies shed light on the central Mediterranean, and Sicily, climate and environment, starting from the last glacial maximum (about 20 ka cal BP). In the present paper, we examine most of these works, in order to unravel environmental changes of the past, mainly in terms of temperature, atmospheric pattern, precipitation, vegetation and faunal associations. The climate of the last glacial maximum was characterised by very low temperature and by repeated northerlies penetration, even during summer. Low precipitation values led to a steppe- or semisteppe-like vegetation pattern, domina…