The Early Pleistocene Equidae from Pirro Nord (Apricena, Southern Italy)

Fossil horse remains from Pirro Nord (Southern Italy) are described and compared with the late Early to Middle Pleistocene equids from the main sites of Western and Central Europe (Spain, France, Italy and Germany). Morphological features and dimensions indicate the unequal occurrence of two horses, close in morphology but different in size as supported by the statistical analyses (PCA and DA) performed including the most significant samples of Spain (Venta Micena, Barranco León-5, Fuente Nueva-3, Huéscar-1, Cúllar de Baza-1), France (Soleilhac), Italy (Venosa Loreto, Ponte Galeria), and Germany (Süßenborn, Untermaßfeld). The middle-sized horse is identified as Equus altidens altidens von Reichenau, 1915, its similarity with to the late early to Early Middle Pleistocene specimens from Guadix-Baza basin and Süßenborn is briefly discussed in order to chronologically assess the Pirro Nord “population”. The second species Equus suessenbornensis Wüst, 1900, poorly represented, is larger and close to the type population of Süßenborn, as well to the latest Early-early Middle Pleistocene large equids from South-Eastern Spain (Cúllar de Baza-1 and Huéscar-1), and Italy (Venosa Loreto)Peer Reviewe

Light and shadows in the evolution of South European stenonoid horses

The appearance of monodactyl equids in Eurasia and their dispersal towards South Europe is a significant event that marks the beginning of the Quaternary period. During the Pleistocene, horses were a common element in most European large mammal faunal assemblages, providing important palaeoecological clues, but their taxonomy, nomenclature and phylogeny, as well as their actual biochronological significance have been widely debated by scholars. The evolutionary history of horses here regarded as “stenonoid” (Equus livenzovensis, Equus stenonis, Equus ex gr. E. senezensis, Equus altidens, Equus hydruntinus, the large-sized horses Equus major and Equus suessenbornensis, sometimes referred to as the so-called “Equus bressanus-Equus suessenbornensis group”), is one of the most intriguing. This study, mainly focusing on the South European representatives of this group, aims to highlight and discuss the major debated issues, re-examining the taxonomy of some Early and early Middle Pleistocene horses. Alternative phylogenetic hypotheses will also be discussed with the aim of providing new clues on the chronology and palaeoecology of some key species/samples.Peer Reviewe

The late Early to early Middle Pleistocene stenonoid horses from Italy

Stenonoid horses [Equus livenzovensis, Equus stenonis, Equus stehlini, Equus altidens, the large-sized horses generally referred to as the so-called “Equus ex gr. Equus major (¼ Equus bressanus) and Equus suessenbornensis”] have been recorded in a number of Early to early Middle Pleistocene Italian faunal assemblages. This study mainly focuses on E. altidens and E. suessenbornensis. Both taxa were long surviving species, ranging in age from the latest Villafranchian (Farneta and Pirro faunal units) to the middle Galerian (if not later) and are sometimes found together in the same local faunal assemblage (LFA). The Italian fossil record apparently does not include the archaic subspecies E. altidens granatensis, while E. altidens altidens, found from several sites (e.g. Pirro Nord, Slivia, Ponte Galeria, Venosa-Loreto) are similar to the late Early and early Middle Pleistocene specimens from Guadix-Baza basin and Süssenborn. The phylogenetical relationships of this horse with the late Villafranchian E. stenonis are briefly discussed. E. suessenbornensis is here regarded as a stenonoid horse, although its teeth share some morphological traits with caballine horses. The overall morphology and dimensions of the Italian specimens are close to those of the type population of Süssenborn and the latest Earlyeearly Middle Pleistocene large equids from southerneastern Spain (Huéscar-1, Cullar de Baza-1, Fuente Nueva-3 and Barranco León-5, Guadix-Baza basin).Work supported by the Projects CGL-2007-60790/BTE and CGL2010-19116/BOS of the DGCYT (Spain) and MURST “Progetti di Ricerca di Università” C26A07LPWJ (Italy) projects.Peer reviewe

The endemic bovids from Sardinia and the Balearic Islands: State of the art

Bovids are not so common in endemic insular faunas and are mainly recorded in Southeast Asia, Japan and some Mediterranean islands. In the Western Mediterranean, endemic bovids have been recorded during the late Miocene in the Tusco-Sardinian palaeobioprovince (Baccinello-Cinigiano basin, South Tuscany, and Fiume Santo, north-western Sardinia). In the latest Neogene and Quaternary, bovids showing highly endemic features were restricted to the Balearic Islands and Sardinia, while Bovini only slightly reduced in size were present on Pianosa, Malta and Sicily. On Sardinia, the richest bovid sample comes from Monte Tuttavista (Orosei), where at least three species have been identified: Asoletragus genthry, Nesogoral aff. N. melonii, and Nesogoral sp. 2. On Mallorca (Balearic Islands) six chronospecies belonging to the Myotragus endemic phylogenetic lineage have been described, spreading in age from the Early Pliocene to the Holocene. For decades, a close phylogenetic relationship between Nesogoral and Myotragus has been widely accepted by scholars. Morphological and biometrical differences shown by Balearic and Sardinian bovids have generally been regarded as the result of the evolution into two different island ecological systems, characterized by different inter and intra-guild selection pressures. Indeed, the more diversified environment of Sardinia, as well as the presence of other large mammals (similar-sized competitors belonging to the same guild and a running predator), increased the interspecific competition, forcing Sardinian bovids to exploit different resources and to occupy different niches, while Myotragus exploited under a monopoly regime the supply of resources available for large herbivores on the Eastern Balearic Islands. Nonetheless, new data suggest that Nesogoral and Myotragus possibly originated from different taxa. © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS.Researches supported by PRIN 2008 (prot. 2008RTCZJH_002) Unit “Sapienza, University of Rome”, PI M.R. PalomboPeer Reviewe

An intriguing middle-sized horse from Coste San Giacomo (Anagni Basin, central Italy)

Various species and ecomorphotypes of the genus Equus are recorded in several southern European Early Pleistocene local faunal assemblages (LFAs), though their taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships, and chronological distribution are still a matter of debate. This article aims to increase knowledge on the European pre-Olduvai stenonoid horses by describing and discussing the equid sample from the middle Villafranchian (Gelasian) Italian site of Coste San Giacomo (CSG; Anagni). Although horse remains from CSG are scanty, the morphological traits, dimensions, and proportions of teeth and some limb bones suggest some affinities with middle-sized European stenonoid horses, in particular with Equus senezensis, as supported by statistical analysis. This opens a new window on the possible phylogenetic relationships of the middle-sized, slender middle Villafranchian horses, although some questions about their actual taxonomic rank cannot be firmly answered based on available data. The complex relationship among environment, structure of the accompanying mammalian fauna, and the presence in the Early Pleistocene LFAs of only one equid, large or middlesized, or even of more horse species with different size is briefly discussedThis research was funded by the Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica of Spain (Project CGL2010-19116/BOS; principal investigator, M.T. Alberdi) and the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) (Sapienza University 2014 project C26A14BNRM, M.R. Palombo; Sapienza University 2011 project C26A11SNA3, R. Sardella; Sapienza University 2012 project C26A12PZA2, R. Sardella). The Soprintendenza Archeologica per il Lazio is acknowledged for the field activity and research permission. The fieldwork at CSG was supported by MIUR 6/2000 grants (respectively R. Sardella and L. Bellucci), by IsIPU and BancAnagni. We thank Luciano Bruni and all the participants who worked in the excavations and in the field activities.Peer Reviewe

Remarks on the biochronological framework of the late Neogene western european mammals

Azanza Béatriz, Palombo Maria Rita, Alberdi María Teresa. Remarks on the biochronological framework of the late Neogene western european mammals. In: Documents des Laboratoires de Géologie, Lyon, n°156, 2002. STRATI 2002. 3ème congrès français de stratigraphie. Lyon, 8-10 juillet 2002. pp. 25-26