Marco Pavia

Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Pliocene to Lower Pleistocene succession of the Apricena-Lesina-Poggio Imperiale quarrying district (western Gargano, southern Italy)

The post-Miocene marine succession of the «Apricena horst» is described with the purpose to verify the chronostratigraphic constraints for the type-locality of the Pirro Nord Faunal Unit. The stratigraphic succession has been subdivided in four units bounded by ubiquitous unconformities with evidence of subaerial exposure. The two basal units (dated late Zanclean to at most early Piacenzian) are formally grouped in the Lago di Varano Fm. that on the whole consists of sediments ranging from lagoonal to circalittoral environments. Within the lowermost unit, a megabreccia is interpreted as the product of a tsunami event. The third unit, Gelasian in age, is informally cited as Calcari a Briozoi Fm. The last unit, the Lower Pleistocene Serracapriola Fm., consists of siliciclastic deltaic sediments and represents the closure of the marine cycle. Conspicuous lateral facies and thickness changes, and the frequency of unconformities are the consequence of an intense synsedimentary tectonic activity developed in the frame of the southern Apulia foredeep closure. In the study area, such activity is documented by two E-W trending normal faults which, during Zanclean and at least the earliest Gelasian, controlled the Pliocene horst-graben system of the Apricena-Poggio Imperiale area.

Stratigraphic context and paleoenvironmental significance of minor taxa (Pisces, Reptilia, Aves, Rodentia) from the late Early Pleistocene paleoanthropological site of Buia (Eritrea)

The Buia Homo site, also known as Wadi Aalad, is an East African paleoanthropological site near the village of Buia that, due to its very rich yield from the late Early Pleistocene, has been intensively investigated since 1994. In this paper, which reports on the finds of the 2010-2011 excavations, we include new fossil evidence on previously identified taxa (i.e., reptiles), as well as the very first description of the small mammal, fish and bird remains discovered. In particular, this study documents the discovery of the first African fossil of the genus Burhinus (Aves, Charadriiformes) and of the first rodent from the site. This latter is identified as a thryonomyid rodent (cane rat), a relatively common taxon in African paleoanthropological faunal assemblages. On the whole, the new occurrences documented within the Buia vertebrate assemblage confirm the occurrence of taxa characterized by strong water dependence. The paleoenvironmental characteristics of the fauna are confirmed as fully compatible with the evidence obtained through sedimentology and facies analysis, documenting the sedimentary evolution of fluvio-deltaic and lacustrine systems.

Taphonomic Analysis of the Lower Pleistocene Pirro Nord Fossil Locality (Pirro 10 Site, Puglia, Southern Italy): A Depositional Model for Vertebrate Assemblages in a Karstic Environment

ABSTRACT Taphonomic analyses have been conducted on the macromammal remains found in Sedimentary Unit 7 of the lower Pleistocene Pirro 10 site of the Pirro Nord locality in Italy. Recent field research has concentrated on investigating the fossil content of this site and the genesis of the karst network and its related deposits. In the present study, we distinguish between preburial and synsedimentary (during burial) processes in order to group the vertebrate remains into different taphonomic categories according to their various states of preservation, thus introducing the concept of taphorecord—borrowed from invertebrate taphonomy—into macrovertebrate taphonomy for the first time. Element quantification, evaluation of transport effects, and state of preservation of the skeletal elements were studied and all elements separated into four taphorecords according to their relative chronology. The use of taphorecords also improves the accuracy of the data obtained from the various methods of element quantification. The analysis of bone sorting and orientation indicates that the fossiliferous deposits originated by water flows carrying both fossils and sediments, alternating with phases of carcass accumulation and reelaboration of bones from previously deposited layers. The study presented here serves as a proof of concept for the use of taphorecords in analyses of fossiliferous deposits in caves.

Pannonictis nestii (Galictinae, Mustelidae), a new element in the vertebrate association of the human site of Pirro Nord (Italy, Early Pleistocene).

ABSTRACT Systematic excavations in the Early Pleistocene site of Pirro Nord (Apulia, southern Italy) yielded some remains of a relatively rare mustelid belonging to the subfamily of Galictinae Reig, 1956. The taxonomy of extinct genera within this clade is controversial, especially between Pannonictis Kormos, 1931 and Enhydrictis Forsyth-Major, 1901. Nevertheless, the Pirro Nord findings are very similar to the holotype of Pannonictis nestii (Martelli, 1906) from Upper Valdarno, and closely related to the specimens from Pietrafitta and Atapuerca.

The extreme insular adaptation of Garganornis ballmanni Meijer, 2014: a giant Anseriformes of the Neogene of the Mediterranean Basin

New skeletal elements of the recently described endemic giant anseriform Garganornis ballmanni Meijer, 2014 are presented, coming from the type-area of the Gargano and from Scontrone, southern and central Italy, respectively. The new remains represent the first bird remains found at Scontrone so far, and another shared element between these two localities, both part of the Apulia-Abruzzi Palaeobioprovince. The presence of a very reduced carpometacarpus confirms its flightlessness, only previously supposed on the basis of the very large size, while the morphologies of tarsometatarsus and posterior phalanges clearly indicate the adaptation of G. ballmanni to a terrestrial, non-aquatic, lifestyle. Its very large body size is similar to that observed in different, heavily modified, insular waterfowl and has been normally interpreted as the response to the absence of terrestrial predators and a protection from the aerial ones. The presence of a carpal knob in the proximal carpometacarpus also indicates a fighting behaviour for this large terrestrial bird species.

OLD WORLD PORCUPINE (RODENTIA, HYSTRICIDAE) REMAINS FROM THE LATE MESSINIAN OF PIEDMONT, NW ITALY

The goal of this paper is to describe a single upper molar and a fragmented radius of Old World porcupines recently discovered in the latest Messinian localities of Moncucco Torinese and Verduno in the Tertiary Piedmont Basin, NW Italy. The available material can be assigned to the large-sized species Hystrix (Hystrix) depereti , rarely found in the late Turolian and early Ruscinian of Europe. A combined comparative and morphofunctional analysis of the fragmented radius suggest that Hystrix (Hystrix) depereti was characterized by a generalized terrestrial locomotory behaviour thus being very similar to extant Old World porcupines. Paleobiogeography and paleoecological consequences are also discussed.

The presence of Harlequin duck Histrionicus histrionicus (Linnaeus 1758) in the Middle Pleistocene of Italy

AbstractA nearly complete coracoid of Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus (Linnaeus 1758) is described from the Middle Pleistocene of Casal Selce (Rome, Central Italy). The fossil specimen is very well preserved and its morphology and dimensions are perfectly compatible with those of modern Harlequin Duck, and differ from other candidate diving ducks. This record represents the first European fossil of this species, previously recorded as fossil only in North America, and one of the few European documented records of wild-origin bird outside Iceland, where the species is sedentary.ZusammenfassungDas Auftreten der KragenenteHistrionicus histrionicus(Linnaeus 1758) im Mittelpleistozän Italiens Wir beschreiben hier ein fast komplettes Rabenschnabelbein der Kragenente Histrionicus histrionicus (Linnaeus 1758) aus dem Mittelpleistozän von Casal Selce (Rom, Mittelitalien). Das Fossil ist sehr gut erhalten, und seine Morphologie und Dimensionen stimmen perfekt mit denen rezenter Kragenenten überein und unterscheiden sich von anderen Tauchenten. Dieser Fund repräsentiert das erste europäische Fossil dieser Entenart, die zuvor lediglich in Nordamerika als Fossil gefunden worden war, und ist außerdem einer von nur wenigen dokumentierten europäischen Funden wildlebender Kragenenten außerhalb Islands, wo diese Art ansässig ist.

Apparent sympatry of Stiphrornis pyrrholaemus Schmidt & Angehr, 2008 and S. xanthogaster Sharpe, 1903 (Passeriformes: Muscicapidae) in Gabon, and taxonomic implications.

We report the occurrence of the recently-described Stiphrornis pyrrholaemus in the Makokou area, northeastern Gabon, more than 600 kilometers NE from its type locality, in areas covered by dense primary to secondary forest. The previous records of Stiphrornis from the same area were referred to S. xanthogaster. We confirm this attribution on the basis of museum specimens. Although several recent sources treat all Stiphrornis as a single species, our findings strongly suggest the sympatric coexistence of two Stiphrornis species and thus that they should be treated as separate species under the Biological Species Concept.

A NEW EARLY PLEISTOCENE BIRD ASSOCIATION FROM PIETRAFITTA (PERUGIA, CENTRAL ITALY)

We here present che preliminary results of the analysis of the fossil bird assemblages found in the lignite deposits of the Pietrafitta Mine (Perugia, Central Italy). A rich vertebrate association, mainly mammals, has been retrieved in Pietrafitta, which is the richest local fauna of the Farneta Faunal Unit (late Villafranchian, early Pleistocene). Avian remains of Podicipedidae, Ardeidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Anatidae, Phasianidae and Rallidae have been identified, for most of which Pietrafitta represents the earliest occurrence in Italy. The Pietrafitta fossil bird association is the first Italian bird assemblage of the Early Pleistocene and seems to be one of the most important ones for the early Pleistocene in Europe, especially because it contains mainly aquatic birds, often rare in many other European deposits.

A test of the European Pleistocene refugial paradigm, using a Western Palaearctic endemic bird species

Hewitts paradigm for effects of Pleistocene glaciations on European populations assumes their isolation in peninsular refugia during glacial maxima, followed by re-colonization of broader Europe during interstadials. This paradigm is well supported by studies of poorly dispersing taxa, but highly dispersive birds have not been included. To test this paradigm, we use the dunnock (Prunella modularis), a Western Palaearctic endemic whose range includes all major European refugia. MtDNA gene tree, multilocus species tree and species delimitation analyses indicate the presence of three distinct lineages: one in the Iberian refugium, one in the Caucasus refugium, and one comprising the Italian and Balkan refugia and broader Europe. Our gene flow analysis suggests isolation of both the Iberian and Caucasus lineages but extensive exchange between Italy, the Balkans and broader Europe. Demographic stability could not be rejected for any refugial population, except the very recent expansion in the Caucasus. By contrast, northern European populations may have experienced two expansion periods. Iberia and Caucasus had much smaller historical populations than other populations. Although our results support the paradigm, in general, they also suggest that in highly dispersive taxa, isolation of neighbouring refugia was incomplete, resulting in large super-refugial populations.