Antonella Cinzia Marra

Pleistocene Calabrian and Sicilian bioprovinces

Abstract During the Pleistocene, southern Calabria was the area through which several mammalian taxa dispersed into the Sicilian island via the Straits of Messina. The rich fossil record of Sicily allowed for the construction of a fairly detailed bio-chronological frame that is dated by correlation of vertebrate bearing deposits with marine deposits. At present five Faunal Complexes (F.C.), characterised by the occurrence of different taxa, have been recognised. The two older Faunal Complexes (Monte Pellegrino F.C.xes Elephas falconeri F.C.) include taxa with differently marked endemic features denoting the occurrence of an insular system made up of geographically isolated small islands, with very difficult and sporadic connections with the mainland. The Lower Pleistocene physiographic evidence fits closely with data coming from palaeontologic evidence. In the younger F.C.xes ( E .xa0 mnaidriensis F.C., Pianetti S. Teodoro F.C. and Castello F.C.), faunal composition is becoming more similar to that of the southern Italian peninsula, endemisation is more moderate becoming absent in the youngest assemblages. This behaviour denotes that temporary connections with southern Italy occurred more frequently and extensively during Late Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene. Possibly a sort of filtering barrier affected the dispersals that gave rise to the former phase of population of the E .xa0 mnaidriensis F.C. preventing small mammals from the mainland from entering the island. The vertebrate fossil record of southern Calabria is rather poor and no mammal deposit is apparently older than the Late Middle Pleistocene. The occurrence at Bovetto of a continental fallow deer ( Dama dama cf. tiberina ), closely related to the endemic Sicilian species D .xa0 carburangelensis of the E.xa0mnaidriensis F.C., may document the first Pleistocene connection of southern Calabria to the Italian peninsula and the dispersal of the forerunners of mammals of the E. mnaidriensis F.C. in Sicily. The well-diversified continental faunas coming from Archi and from Ianni di S. Calogero, both containing remains of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis , may document a post-Tyrrhenian dispersal event through the Catanzaro isthmus. Data are still lacking for the correlation of these faunal assemblages with the scarcely endemic faunas of the Late Pleistocene Contrada Pianetti–San Teodoro F.C. of Sicily. No record of the mammal assemblages that gave origin to the fauna of the Castello F.C. has been recovered so far in southern Calabria.

The contribution of Quaternary vertebrates to palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatological reconstructions in Sicily

Abstract In Sicily few studies have been devoted to the climatic-environmental changes of the Pleistocene and Holocene period. Most of the studies on Quaternary vertebrates in Sicily have been focused on the evolutionary-taxonomic aspects of the fauna. Sicily experienced at least four vertebrate dispersal events during Quaternary time, which are of different provenence (African and/or European) and have been controlled by filtering barriers of different intensities. The marked endemism and the extremely low diversity of the fossil assemblages of early and early-mid-Pleistocene time do not allow detailed interpretations. By way at contrast, younger assemblages are more diverse and, although they display some endemic characters, are similar to those of southern peninsular Italy. The late mid-Pleistocene and early Late Pleistocene assemblages (Elephas mnaidriensis faunal complex) are characterized by the occurrence of a red deer (Cervus elaphus siciliae), a dwarf fallow deer-like endemic megalocerine (Megaceroides carburangelensis), auroch (Bos primigenius siciliae), bison (Bison priscus siciliae), elephant (Elephas mnaidriensis), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus pentlandi), boar (Sus scrofa), brown bear (Ursus cf. arctos) and three large social carnivores (Panthera leo, Crocuta crocuta and Canis lupus). Most of these taxa, except for the megalocerine, are characterized by slightly reduced body size compared with the same taxa from mainland Europe. These assemblages are indicative of a climate with temperate, Mediterranean affinity and of landscapes in which forested areas were associated with more open environments. The relatively low abundance of the red deer and the dominance of the megalocerine in several assemblages suggests that a Mediterranean-type forest locally dominated some of the climatic phases. The assemblages of the youngest Late Pleistocene period on Sicily are characterized by a dramatic drop in diversity, with the disappearance of elephant, hippopotamus, bison, the endemic megalocerine, and the largest predators. This would indicate an environmental crisis probably linked to the drier climatic oscillations of late Pleniglacial time, as is suggested also by the spread of the ground vole, which is the dominant small mammal in several assemblages. The Late Glacial period is characterized by the spread of equids (horse and wild ass), which are indicators of open landscapes and of xerophytic steppe-like cover. The beginning of the Holocene period is characterized by the expansion of forested areas and by a more humid climate, as suggested by the abundance of red deer, and by the dispersal of the common dormouse (Glis glis) and water vole (Arvicola sp.).

Micromorphological, geochemical, and diagenetic characterization of sirenian ribs preserved in the Late Miocene paleontological site of Cessaniti (southern Calabria, Italy)

The site of Cessaniti (Vibo Valentia, Italy) has been well known since the 19th century for the richness and good preservation of its Miocene fauna and flora. The sedimentary succession of the site represents a paralic system that evolved toward an open-marine environment recording the Tortonian transgression. The fossil assemblage contains rich invertebrate (corals, bivalves, gastropods, brachiopods, echinoids, benthic and planktonic foraminifers) and vertebrate faunas (proboscideans, rhinoceroses, giraffids, bovids, sirenids, marine turtles, and fish remains). The fossils recovered at the Cessaniti site have a relevant role in phylogenetic studies and paleogeographic reconstructions of Late Miocene environments of the southern Italy. This research is focused on the microstructure and preservation state of the fossil bones. Samples of Metaxytherium sp. bones have been analyzed to understand the diagenetic profile of the bone assemblages that characterizes the taphonomic history of the Cessaniti site. The analyses provided a comprehensive account of how bone mineral (bioapatite) has been altered and demonstrated that the post-burial processes did not significantly affect the micromorphological and biogeochemical features of the bones. The excellent preservation state of the bones strengthens the importance of the Cessaniti site for studies of the Mediterranean Miocene vertebrate fauna.

NEW PLEISTOCENE FISSURE-FILLING DEPOSITS FROM THE HYBLEAN PLATEAU (SOUTH EASTERN SICILY)

On the Hyblean Plateau (south eastern Sicily) at Contrada Cimilla, south west of Ragusa, the infillings of a karstic cavity on the carbonatic Ragusa platform has yielded abundant Pleistocene mammal bones. Prevailing remains of the pigmy megacerine Megaloceros ( Megaceroides ) carburangelensis (De Gregorio, 1925) are associated with scanty remains of Cervus siciliae Pohlig, Elephas cf. mnaidriensis Adams, Ursus cf. arctos L . aves. On the margins of the Hyblean Plateau two Pleistocene mammal faunal associations have been recognized which are contained in continental deposits correlated with early Middle Pleistocene and late Middle Pleistocene-Late Pleistocene terraced marine deposits, respectively. Both faunal associations are preserved in the fissure-filling deposits of the central carbonatic Ragusa platform. The Pleistocene mammal remains from Contrada Cimilla belong to the younger faunal association of the Hyblean Plateau. The infillings of a karstic cavity near by the Pleistocene mammal-bearing cavity at Contrada Cimilla has yielded remains of not endemic mammals ( Canis sp., Erinaceus europaeus L.) as well as Neolithic artifacts.

Stratigraphic and chronologic framework of the upper Miocene Cessaniti Succession (Vibo Valentia, Calabria, Italy)

This study revises the mammal-bearing stratigraphic succession of Cava Gentile, near Cessaniti (Calabria, southern Italy), with the aim of dating the Late Miocene fossiliferous succession by the integration of mammal biochronology with sedimentology, magnetostratigraphy and marine biostratigraphy. Since the first discovery of mammal remains at Cessaniti, the chronological framework of the sedimentary succession was based on the biochronological significance of the mammal assemblage and on the biostratigraphic characterisation of the capping unit. Chronological control of the sedimentary succession and the age range of the mammal faunal assemblage at Cessaniti is now possible by combining the mammal biochronological constraints with biostratigraphy and the characterisation of the magnetostratigraphy of the sedimentary succession. Our study allows the conclusion that: i) an overall transgressive trend is recorded at the late Tortonian succession of the Capo Vaticano area, with locally different depositional trends; ii) the late Tortonian transgression was punctuated by minor episodes of forced regression, as attested by soils and fluvial deposits intercalated within the Cava Gentile succession (documented here for the first time); iii) the relative sea level rises that characterised these sedimentation patterns allowed accumulation of marine and terrestrial fossils in specific transgressive horizons; iv) the combination of palaeomagnetic data and biostratigraphic analyses, together with the biochronological constraints offered by the Cessaniti mammal assemblage, allows the assignment of the basal unit of the Cessaniti (Cava Gentile) succession to the normal Chron C4n (8.1–7.5 Ma); and v) the maximum range of the Cessaniti land mammal assemblage from Cava Gentile is about 1 Ma, bracketed between 8.1 and 7.2 Ma.

FIRST RECORD OF DUGONGIDAE (MAMMALIA: SIRENIA) FROM THE FLORESTA CALCARENITES FORMATION (LATE BURDIGALIAN – EARLY LANGHIAN, REGGIO CALABRIA, SOUTHERN ITALY)

A sirenian rib has been recovered at Motta San Giovanni (Reggio Calabria) in the “Floresta Calcarenites”, a Formation cropping out in Sicily and Calabria and dated late Burdigalian-Langhian. Although the rib is not a diagnostic bone for taxonomy, its presence in southern Calabria extends the knowledge about the paleobiogeography of the Family Dugongidae in the Mediterranean basin. The find is hitherto the only record of sirenians in the Floresta calcarenites. Moreover, the specimen extends back to the Early-Middle Miocene (late Burdigalian-Langhian) the occurrence of sirenians in Calabria, previously determined thanks to substantial material from the Late Miocene (Tortonian) of the Monte Poro area (Vibo Valentia).xa0 The paleoenvironment of the Floresta calcarenites was a warm and shallow sea, consistent with the paleoecology of Dugongidae.