Page 11 - Malatesta

Alberto Malatesta: 20 years of activity at the Geological Survey of Italy 21

Fig 11 - Illustration of the type specimen of Thericium (Theri-
cium) lividulum antiquum MALATESTA from Plate IV of the mo-
nograph “Malacofauna pleistocenica di Grammichele (Sicilia)”
(MALATESTA, 1960).
Illustrazione dell’olotipo della nuova sottospecie Thericium
(Thericium) lividulum antiquum MALATESTA tratta dalla Tavola IV
Fig. 10 - Plate X from ANGELELLI & ROSSI (2004) illustrating the della monografia “Malacofauna pleistocenica di Grammichele
holotypes of Acmaea (Collisella) johannae MALATESTA (figs. 1a, (Sicilia)” (MALATESTA, 1960).
b, c) and Cantharus (Pollia) advena MALATESTA (figs. 2a, b)
from Grammichele (Sicily). species erected more that one century before (MALA-
Plate X da ANGELELLI & ROSSI (2004), nella quale sono illustrati TESTA, 1962). Further recoveries and studies (MALATES-
gli olotipi di Acmaea (Collisella) johannae MALATESTA (figs. 1a, TA, 1970) allowed to refer this species to the subgenus
b, c) e di Cantharus (Pollia) advena MALATESTA (figs. 2a,b) pro- Cynotherium, a fossil taxon recognized also from the
venienti da Grammichele (Sicilia). Villafranchian of China. The abundant and well pre-

over one decade of researches, being collected during served remains of the Sardinian wild dog allowed the
the geologic surveys on 1960-1965. Around 9000 mol- laboratory of the Paleontology Institute of “La Sapienza”
lusc specimens have been picked, about 3000 of which University to reconstruct an almost complete individual
are gastropods (2293) (Fig. 12) and more than 6000 of Cynotherium. Currently, the fossil skeleton is pre-
served in its original wood and glass box (Fig. 15) in the
are bivalves (Fig. 13). All those remains have been re-
ferred to 356 species or subspecies coming mainly ISPRA headquarter of Via Curtatone 3. Recently, within
from the Umbria deposits located in the Chianti, Paglia the institutional activities of ISPRA Paleontological Sec-
and Tevere valleys, and subordinately from Tuscany tion, it has been accurately restored under the supervi-
(Case Nanni and Poggio Rotondo). The Umbria collec- sion of F. Angelelli.
In the Alghero area, a further important recovery
tion is at present stored in special wooden chest of
drawers in the historical hall of the Paleontological Mu- carried out by A. Malatesta was the finding of a complete
seum (Fig. 14). skeleton of an otter inside the Neptune Cave, near Capo
Among the large collections of the Geological Sur- Caccia (Fig. 16). The examination of the skull, initially
vey of Italy rearranged by A. Malatesta, it is worth to re- picked up by the speleologists of Alghero and brought to
member the mollusc and echinid faunas from the Eocene A. Malatesta, led him to guide personally a survey to re-
of Briga and Tenda (Marittime Alps). Such fauna, col- cover all the remains. In fact, the skull showed a peculiar
lected by the Engineer Franchi during the Survey of the form, different from any living species. In the subsequent
Geological Sheet 91 “Boves”, was studied by MALATESTA study, MALATESTA (1978) made a revision of all the fossil
(1964) who strongly remarked its clear African affinity. remains of the Tertiary and Quaternary Lutrinae of Eura-
sia and northern Africa, in order to recognize possible
3.3.2 Vertebrate section affinities of the Sardinian form. At the end, Malatesta
The studies published by A. Malatesta on the ver- arose a new genus (Nesolutra) and the morphological
tebrate faunas of the Plio-Pleistocene Italian basins and study of the whole skeleton evidenced the adaptation of
on the endemic fossils of Sardinia and Sicily gave a the new species Nesolutra ichnusae to the marine envi-
substantial contribution to the development of the know- ronment. This adaptation was also confirmed by the
ledge on the fossil mammal faunas of Italy. study of the encephalon (ANGELELLI, 1995).
During the geological field surveys carried out by Moreover, A. Malatesta re-examined several
Malatesta in the area of Alghero (Sardinia), abundant mammal collections stored in the Paleontological Mu-
paleontological remains were collected in the marine seum, in particular those recovered by A.C. Blanc from
and continental Pleistocene deposits. One of the most Cava Redicicoli (Bufalotta, Rome) and referred to the
important results was the discovery of a post-Tyrrhenian Villafranchian Mammal Age. The abundant fossil re-
ossiferous breccia filling a cave opened in the Creta- mains were taxonomically revised and ascribed to
ceous limestones cliff of Porto Conte Bay. There, the Mammuthus (Arkidiscodon) meridionalis, Equus alti-
remains of a wild dog were recovered; they consist of dens, Stephanorhinus undsheimensis, Hippopotamus
skulls, limb bones and vertebrae. Their study and the ex antiquus, Pseudodama sp., Bison schoetensacki. On
comparison with living and fossils species of Cuoninae the whole, A. Malatesta referred this fauna to the Gale-
brought to their attribution to Cuon sardous STUDIATI, a rian Mammal Age.