NEW MATERIAL OF LUTRA SIMPLICIDENS (CARNIVORA, MUSTELIDAE, LUTRINAE), A KEY TAXON FOR UNDERSTANDING THE EVOLUTION OF EUROPEAN OTTERS

Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) is the only otter living in Europe today, but the palaeodiversity of this group during the Pleistocene was much higher. Lutra simplicidens Thenius, 1965 is one of the best-known taxa from the European Quaternary fossil record, having been reported in at least eight localities in Central Europe, Britain, Italy and the Azov Sea area, with a stratigraphic occurrence spanning the mid Early to the Middle Pleistocene. However, no cranial remains of this species have been described so far. Here I analyse some unpublished material of L. simplicidens from the early Middle Pleistocene site of Voigtstedt (Germany), which consists of the right and left P4-M1 of the same individual and a complete left humerus. The comparative study of these findings highlights a number of morphological and biometrical similarities between L. simplicidens and some Mediterranean Quaternary otters, such as Lutraeximia umbra Cherin et al., 2016 from central Italy, Lutraeximia trinacriae (Burgio & Fiore, 1988) from Sicily, Sardolutra ichnusae (Malatesta, 1977) from Sardinia and Lutrogale cretensis (Symeonides & Sondaar, 1975) from Crete. These species - together with the living Lutrogale perspicillata (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1826) - form a monophyletic clade, which most probably includes also L. simplicidens, as well as several other Eurasian extinct taxa only known by fragmentary remains. These results confirm the pivotal importance of L. simplicidens for the evolution of European otters and lead to doubts about its taxonomic status, which will be solved with the discovery of new material

Surveyor launch opportunities for mid-1965 through 1968

Lunar launch data - ascent characteristics of Atlas-Centaur AC-15 configuration and mission ground rules applied to models for Surveyor flight

Large mammal remains from the early pleistocene site of Podere San Lorenzo (Perugia, Central Italy)

Most of the research on fossil mammals from Umbria (central Italy) has been carried out in the southwestern branch of the Tiber basin, due to its paleontological richness. This portion of the basin extends from Perugia to Terni and corresponds to a well-defined half-graben filled with fluvial-lacustrine deposits. The paleontological sample presented here was discovered in a sand and gravel quarry at Podere San Lorenzo, East of the town of Deruta. The stratigraphic succession exposed in the quarry is no longer visible, but we describe here a new outcrop (Palazzone), which is not far from Podere San Lorenzo and shows comparable facies associations. The two successions were deposited in a fluvial environment characterized by an average reduction of the hydrodynamic energy from the bottom upwards. They are referred to the Early Pleistocene Santa Maria di Ciciliano Subsyntheme (Madonna dei Bagni Lithofacies). Large mammal remains are attributed to Mammuthus cf. meridionalis (Nesti, 1825), Stephanorhinus etruscus (Falconer, 1859), Equus stenonis Cocchi, 1867, Leptobos cf. etruscus (Falconer, 1868), ‘Pseudodama’ nestii (Azzaroli, 1947), and Sus strozzii Forsyth Major, 1881. Some hyena coprolites are also reported. The assemblage is typical of the early Late Villafranchian Land Mammal Age and can be referred to the Olivola/Tasso Faunal Units (about 2.0–1.8 Ma). This is in agreement with the alleged age of some other assemblages found in the southwestern branch of the Tiber basin (e.g., Torre Picchio, Villa San Faustino, Colle Sant’Andrea, Pantalla)

Stock Market Reaction to Successful and Unsuccessful Mergers

Antony C. Cherin is an Associate Professor of Finance in the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University. Michael Hergert is an Associate Professor of Management in the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University

The lost hyena from Paciano (Umbria, Italy) reconsidered

We redescribe and revise the taxonomic attribution of a lost hyena hemimandible recovered from Paciano (Umbria, Italy), originally reported in the early 1900s, by comparing it with relevant samples of Pliocene, Pleistocene, and extant species. The mandible of the Paciano hyena was initially attributed to Hyaena striata (= Hyaena hyaena) and subsequently listed as a record of the giant hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris, but is here assigned to another “bone-cracking” hyena, the Pliocene-Early Pleistocene Pliocrocuta perrieri. The Paciano hyena contributes to the discussion on the relationships and turnover between Pl. perrieri and P. brevirostris. On the one hand, the two species are very similar in craniodental morphology; their isolated remains are often separated by size; and P. brevirostris is thought to derive from a large-sized population of Pl. perrieri. On the other, a larger size is not an aspect to disregard in hyenas as it usually correlates with the acquisition or better development of “bone-cracking” features; remains attesting the co-occurrence of Pl. perrieri and P. brevirostris are known from some sites dated at around 2.0–1.8 Ma; and the observed size differences between the two species exceed those recorded between extant and (at times) sympatric species. Therefore, taken alone the competition with P. brevirostris does not explain the extinction of Pl. perrieri, but considering it together with the concurrent spread and resulting peak of carnivoran diversity in Late Villafranchian faunas might. Pliocrocuta perrieri was outcompeted by its larger descendent in scavenging carcasses, while other carnivorans limited its options to deviate to other resources or adopt a different feeding behavior (e.g., active hunting). The case of Paciano is also significant in that it offers an example of the importance and feasibility of reconsidering historical collections, even when the original material is lost entirely. In general, the seek for “novelty” that permeates current scientific literature ensues in few descriptions or reconsiderations of historical samples, especially if the new examinations confirm old results, but we emphasize the significance of such efforts in making old data truly available for the scientific community. In addition, the hyena from Paciano has a biochronological and stratigraphic value, confirming the occurrence in western Umbria of a depositional cycle older than the late Early Pleistocene one (well represented by the rich assemblages from Pietrafitta and Selvella; Farneta Faunal Unit)