Basel–Tuscany, a long-lasting link

A significant contribution of Burkart Engesser to fieldsurveys and palaeontological studies is undoubtedly on theLate Miocene faunas from Maremma in southern Tuscany,especially the celebrated Baccinello basin in the Grossetodistrict. This is not just a coincidence, but is the continu-ation of a long tradition.The interest of successive Palaeontologists of theNaturhistorisches Museum Basel (NMB) in Tuscan fossilsand fossiliferous localities has a long history that datesback to the second half of the nineteenth century. Thisstarted with Ludwig Ru¨timeyer (1825–1895) who was theprofessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at theUniversity of Basel in 1855. Ru¨timeyer was mainly inter-ested in the natural history of Tertiary mammal species,and a number of specimens from Italy (as well as fromother countries in Europe, especially France) were acquiredby the NMB during his period of activity.The interest in the Tuscan mammal fossil record becameparticularly strong thanks to the activity of CharlesImmanuel Forsyth Major (1843–1923), a physician ofScottish origin who grew up in Switzerland. He graduatedin Medicine in Basel in 1868 and started his professionalpractice in Florence (Italy) where he stayed for about adecade. As many nineteenth century medical doctors,however, he was fascinated by natural history and devotedmuch of his spare time to the study of fossil mammals. Hisinterest in extinct vertebrates exceeded his dedication tomedicine, so that he finally decided to cease practising inthe mid 1880s. Forsyth Major was a correspondent ofCharles Darwin (Cioppi & Dominici, 2010), and his nameappears three times in the second edition of The Descent ofMan (a much improved edition, published in 1874) aboutsexual dimorphisms in fossil pigs tusks, about the occur-rence of fossil apes in Europe, and about a bovid skull''wholly without horns'' from Upper Valdarno, believed tobe that of a ''Bos etruscus'' female. The latter is an issuethat re-addresses us to the story of the Basel-Florenceexchanges. About this specimen (housed in the collectionof the Florence Museum), Forsyth Major (1874, 1890) wasin disagreement with ''the leading authority in the field ofTertiary Ruminants'', i.e. Ru¨timeyer. The eminent palae-ontologist from Basel (Ru¨timeyer, 1878) described thisspecimen as type of a new species (Leptobos strozzii), lateron formally synonymzed to L. etruscus by Forsyth Major(1890). Forsyth Major's main interests were especiallyPrimates and, more generally speaking, Plio-Pleistocenemammals (e.g. among others, Forsyth Major, 1872,1875–1877, 1890). His entire scientific production clearlyshows how deep his attention was for Tuscan vertebratefossils, and whilst he was active in Florence, he system-atically searched for new material, mainly in Tuscany butalso in other Italian regions (Sardinia, Calabria, Sicily),bringing hundreds of specimens to the Florence Museum.Forsyth Major had intensive relationships with colleaguesand institutions across Europe and in Basel too. Samplescollected during his Italian field surveys are now housed inseveral museums, amongst others in the Natural History,London, in the Colle`ge Gaillard in Lausanne (Switzerland),and in the Naturhistorisches Museum Basel.Other Tuscan material (namely from Upper Valdarno)kept in Basel from the Plio-Pleistocene of Italy was boughtby another eminent Basel palaeontologist, Hans GeorgStehlin (1870–1941). He was the president of the board ofthe Naturhistorisches Museum from 1920 to 1940 and astudent of Ludwig Ru¨timeyer at the University of Basel

Mesopithecus (Primates: Cercopithecoidea) from Villafranca d'Asti (Early Villafranchian; NW Italy) and palaeoecological context of its extinction

Remains of the cercopithecid Mesopithecus monspessulanus are relatively rare. Two previously unpublished mandibles of M. monspessulanus (housed in the Basel Naturhistorisches Museum), from the Italian locality of Villafranca d'Asti are described. These remains belong to the assemblage of the Triversa Faunal Unit, dated to the Early Villafranchian, that is to the unit MN16a (Middle Pliocene) of the European mammal biochronology. According to this recently revised biochronological attribution, Villafranca d'Asti records the last Mesopithecus occurrence in Europe. The NOW (Neogene Old World) database has been used as a basis to evaluate both the mammalian faunal and the palaeoenvironmental context at the time surrounding this last occurrence of Mesopithecus. The comparison (taxonomical composition and ungulate hypsodonty), between the Villafranca d'Asti assemblage and other Plio-Pleistocene mammal communities of Europe, shows that the extinction of Mesopithecus is related to a faunal turnover and a change toward more open landscapes during the Early–Middle Villafranchian transition. This is consistent with the "Elephant-Equus event", that occurred in Europe at 2.5 Ma. Furthermore, the co-occurring but more terrestrial cercopithecid Macaca crossed this faunal turnover. This strengthens the assumption that the latest Mesopithecus species, M. monspessulanus, had woodland-oriented adaptations

VIVERRA HOWELLI N. SP., A NEW VIVERRID (CARNIVORA, MAMMALIA) FROM THE BACCINELLO-CINIGIANO BASIN (LATEST MIOCENE, ITALY)

We describe a new viverrid species (Viverra howelli n. sp.). Viverra howelli n. sp. is identified in Late Miocene (Messinian) localities in the circum Mediterranean area (Italy and Lybia) and in East Africa (Kenya). Morphologically, the new species is characterized by a relatively small size and a lower carnassial with short talonid

TECTONO-STRATIGRAPHIC REVISION OF THE AIT KANDOULA FORMATION (MIDDLE MIOCENE-PLIOCENE), WESTERN OUARZAZATE BASIN (SOUTHERN MOROCCO)

This paper reports the results of a stratigraphic revision of the Ait Kandoula Formation exposed in the western Ouarzazate Basin (Middle Miocene-Lower Pliocene, Southern Morocco). This formation is part of the upper Eocene-Quaternary continental Imerhane Group considered to record the main stage in the building of the Central High Atlas (CHA) under a regime of tectonic inversion of Mesozoic rifted basins. The development of this chain during the late Cenozoic generated a south-verging structural front and the related Ait Kandoula and Ait Seddrat sub-basins facing the wider Ouarzazate foreland basin. The revision of the Ait Kandoula Formation, occurring in both the Ouarzazate Basin and Ait Kandoula sub-basin, was carried out through new field observations, remote sensing and exploiting the distribution and the biochronologic range of fossil micro- and macro-vertebrate associations available from previous studies. In the western Ouarzazate Basin four stratigraphic-depositional sub-units (AK1-4) were distinguished in this formation, attesting to the development of a fluvio-lacustrine setting. This was strongly influenced by the syn-depositional deformation of the growing southern front of the CHA and by the episodic activity of shear zones oriented transversally to this front. The chronostratigraphic constraint provided by the mammal assemblages and by their magnetostratigraphic calibration, suggests a five-stage scenario for the tectono-sedimentary development of this actively deforming front and its related foreland and satellite depocentres between the Middle Miocene and the Early Pliocene. In the proposed reconstruction, the interplay of front-parallel thrust faults and front-transverse shear zones controlled the fluvial supply to the Ouarzazate Basin and later on the activation of the Ait Kandoula sub-basin.&nbsp

NYCTEREUTES (MAMMALIA, CARNIVORA, CANIDAE) FROM LAYNA AND THE EURASIAN RACCOON-DOGS: AN UPDATED REVISION

The Early Pliocene site of Layna (MN15, ca 3.9 Ma) is renowned for its record of several mammalian taxa, among which the raccoon-dog Nyctereutes donnezani. Since the early description of this sample, new fossils of raccoon-dogs have been discovered, including a nearly complete cranium. The analysis and revision here proposed, with new diagnoses for the identified taxa, confirm the attribution of the majority of the material to the primitive taxon N. donnezani, enriching and clarifying our knowledge of the cranial and postcranial morphological variability of this species. Nevertheless, the analysis also reveals the presence in Layna of some specimens with strong morphological affinity to the derived N. megamastoides. The occurrence of such a derived taxon in a rather old site, has critical implications for the evolutionary history and dispersal pattern of these small canids. For instance, it reconciles the Western European and Asian records. Formerly, it was commonly thought that the evolutionary pattern of Early Pliocene raccoon-dogs in Europe was substantially different from the Asian one, where the advanced N. sinensis and the primitive N. tingi apparently coexisted in the same sites ; conversely, Europe was characterized by the occurrence of the single species N. donnezani. Our recognition of a derived taxon in the MN15 zone suggests the existence of similar ecological dynamics at the two extremes of the paleobiogeographic range of the genus (i.e., across the entire Eurasia). &nbsp