Silvano Agostini

Hoplitomerycidae (Late Miocene, Italy), an Example of Giantism in Insular Ruminants

The remains of the largest Hoplitomeryx known to date have been retrieved from the upper Miocene limestones of Scontrone (Abruzzo, central Italy). Hoplitomerycidae derived from small-sized Oligocene Tragulina ruminants. Therefore, this is the first giant insular ruminant ever described. Insular giantism has been notoriously exhibited by other taxa, such as rodents. It is suspected for the largest Cretan deer Candiacervus, if these cervids monophyletically are derived from Dama. This large Hoplitomeryx was a lightly built animal with long, slender limbs. This case shows not only that insular giantism can be attained also on large islands, but confirms that it can be promoted by competitive release and immigrant selection.

Feather palm foliage from the Messinian of Italy (Capo di Fiume, Palena and Pollenzo near Alba) within the framework of northern Mediterranean late Miocene flora

New records of plant macrofossils of palms and other groups are evaluated within the framework of the Messinian environment at the newly studied site of Capo di Fiume, Palena, central Italy. Similar palm foliage has been also recovered from the Messinian deposits of Pollenzo near Alba, northern Italy. The palm leaves were assigned to Phoenicites sp. based only on the leaf morphology. The floristic composition of the Palena plant assemblage shows a relatively high abundance of woody elements typical of a subhumid environment (Tetraclinis, Cupressus, Leguminosae), but also includes common mesic elements (Pinus, Magnolia, Ilex, Berberis, cf. Trigonobalanopsis, Paliurus, Myrica, Engelhardia), which are known from other Messinian floras of Italy, France and Greece. The affinities of several angiosperm macrofossils including enigmatic inflorescences resembling palms and Butomus, foliage of Dicotylophyllum sp. div. and disseminules of Carpolites sp. div. remain unresolved. The reconstructed vegetation type is interpreted as coastal non-swampy, wet soil (riparian) vegetation with a high abundance of woody elements growing under warm and semi-arid/sub-humid climatic conditions. ■ feather palms, conifers, angiosperms, vegetation, Messinian, Italy. Received April 24, 2015 Issued December, 2015