THE HOLOTYPE OF CERVALCES GALLICUS (AZZAROLI, 1952) FROM SENEZE (HAUTE LOIRE, FRANCE) WITH NOMENCLATURAL IMPLICATIONS AND TAXONOMICAL PHYLOGENETIC PROBLEMS

The remains of Cervalces (Libralces) gallicus (Azzaroli, 1952) from the Middle-Upper Villafranchian of Sénèze (Haute-Loire, France), kept in the Paleontological Museum of the University Claude Bernard - Lyon 1, are here studied again. The remains consist of an assembled skeleton, with skull, antlers and all postcranial elements, described by Azzaroli (1952) as holotype, and in the limb bones of a second specimen, designated as cotype by the same author. The cotypeís limb bones are here attributed to the holotype, while the smaller assembled limb bones cannot be determined over the family taxonomic level, due to the bad state of preservation.The characters determining the genus Cervalces are described here and, in accordance with Azzaroli, the species C. (L.) latifrons from the Middle-Upper Pleistocene is attributed to it. All the species of the genus Cervalces show characters of cranial and facial morphology, which differ from that of present-day Alces. The narrow, deep occipital and the short nasals, not articulated with the long premaxillaris, are in this view considered apomorphic characters of Alces alces.&nbsp

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)

Vigna Nuova : the first Middle Villafranchian mammal assemblage from the Valdichiana Basin, Perugia (Italy)

The region of Umbria (Central Italy) represents one of the most interesting areas for the study of Mediterranean Plio-Pleistocene mammal faunas due to the occurrence of numerous paleontological deposits. Most of the fossils have been discovered within the Tiberino Basin, which extends across the centre of the territory for ca. 1800 km2, and the small Tavernelle-Pietrafitta Basin, south of Lake Trasimeno. Herein, we provide an additional report on an assemblage within continental deposits from the locality of Vigna Nuova (Piegaro, Perugia) in the Valdichiana Basin, which are observed to crop out in only a few areas of western Umbria. Taphonomic and geological evidence, coupled with rare excavation notes, have allowed the sample to be divided into two assemblages. The younger was collected from the conglomerates (here called "upper layer") which are still visible on the outcrop and is composed only of remains of cf. Leptobos. The data obtained from this fragmentary sample together with some sedimentological-stratigraphic considerations suggest that it can be correlated with other well-known Valdichiana assemblages (e.g., Selvella, Farneta), dated at ca. 1.5 Ma. The older sub-sample comes from a putative paleosol (here called "lower layer") no longer visible in the field. It includes cf. Megantereon, Canis sp., Mustelidae indet., Proboscidea indet., Equus cf. senezensis, cf. Leptobos, Croizetoceros ramosus, Pseudodama sp., Cervidae indet. (large size), and Sus cf. strozzii. This assemblage can be referred to the Coste San Giacomo Faunal Unit (late Middle Villafranchian; ca. 2.2-2.1 Ma). It represents the first wellpreserved sample of this age in Umbria and one of the few recorded in Italy, opening new interesting research perspectives on the distribution of mammals within the Peninsula and also on the stratigraphy and evolution of the Valdichiana Basin. "Aggiungeva che per scavare le poche ossa che mi avrebbe subito inviate aveva dovuto faticare enormemente e lottare per due giorni contro ogni sorta di difficoltà. Ricevuto il graditissimo invio mi affrettai a consolidare e restaurare con ogni cura quelle primizie ed oggi sono lieto di poter annunziare, in così solenne adunanza, la interessante scoperta…" ("He added that in order to excavate the few bones that he would immediately send me he had had to work enormously and struggle for two days against all sorts of difficulties. Having received the very welcome shipment, I hastened to consolidate and restore those fruits of the soil with every care and today I am pleased to be able to announce, in such a solemn meeting, the interesting discovery…"). Giovanni Capellini, 189

The Morphological Distinction between the postcranial skeleton of Cervalces / Alces and Megaloceros giganteus (Blumenbach 1799) and comparison between the two Alceini genera from the Upper Pliocene-Holocene of Western Europe

Alces alces, Cervalces and Megaloceros giganteus are deer of approximately the same size whose limb bones could be exchanged if fragmentary so morphological features are needed, enabling identification of postcranials remains. In thiswork the limb bone features described by Pfeiffer (1999a) as distinguishing Cervalces latifrons from M. giganteus are re-analyzed and further developed, considering also the vertebral column, the articular girdles and the carpals and tarsal elements. This analysis is extended to the other Cervalces species (C. gallicus, C. carnutorum and C. scotti) and to the present-day moose Alces alces. It results in a substantial uniformity in the postcranial skeleton of the species of the genus Cervalces, confirming what has already been stated by Sher (1987), that the Alceini, in the Upper Pliocene, constituted an already well-defined morphological type that did not undergo further structural postcranial remodeling

The early Middle Pleistocene fallow deer Dama roberti: New insight on species morphology from a complete postcranial skeleton from Valdemino (northwestern Italy)

A nearly complete fallow deer skeleton from the lower levels (early Middle Pleistocene) of Valdemino Cave (northwestern Italy) is attributed to the recently described Dama roberti Breda and Lister. The dental and postcranial anatomy of this specimen is analysed in detail. Some anatomical elements show a mosaic of characters of living D.dama and Cervus elaphus, but with only a minor part resembling the latter. Each element is compared with other representatives of the fallow deer lineage, in particular to the type series of the early Middle Pleistocene D.roberti from the British Cromer Forest Bed Formation and from the French locality of Soleilhac, with its possible descendant D.dama (both the late Middle Pleistocene D.d.clactoniana and modern D.d.dama) and with its possible parent species (several representatives of the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene 'Pseudodama' group). The variability of selected characters has enabled a better morphological characterization of the species. The skeleton from Valdemino matches very precisely the morphology of the few existing postcranial elements of the D.roberti holotype and paratype. This will allow future identification of isolated postcranial bones from other localities. The Valdemino skeleton also perfectly matches the size of the type populations and confirms that D.roberti is larger than the living fallow deer D.dama