Page 22 - Palombo_Ferretti _2005

ARTICLE IN PRESS
128 M.R. Palombo, M.P. Ferretti / Quaternary International 126–128 (2005) 107–136

and extinction events (Gliozzi et al., 1997; Palombo and suggest M. meridionalis rather than E. (P.) antiquus
Valli, in press and references therein). (Palombo, 1994), as instead proposed by Ambrosetti
The beginning of the Galerian LMA is conventionally (1965), who actually referred the molar to an ‘‘archaic’’
marked by the first appearance of the giant deer form of E. (P.) antiquus. Due to its state of wear it is not
‘‘Praemegaceros’’ verticornis. A representative fauna of possible to identify the evolutionary level of this
the early Galerian was collected at Colle Curti (Umbro- specimen. If the Campo di Merlo molar actually
Marchean Appenine), a site calibrated with base of represents M. meridionalis, then three different elephan-
Jaramillo event, ca. 1.1 Ma (late Early Pleistocene; tine species would occur in the Ponte Galeria Forma-
Ficcarelli and Silvestrini, 1991). tion. Noticeable would be the co-occurrence of M.
The middle Galerian begins with marked climatic meridionalis and M. trogontherii in the same formation.
cooling, correlated with OIS 24 and 22, and slightly This association (actually based on indirect evidence at
post-dates the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene present) would, in fact, support the scenario proposed
(considered in correspondence of OIS 25, ca. 0.95 Ma, by Lister and Sher (2001) and Lister et al. (2004) for the
following the proposal by Cita and Castradori, 1995). evolution of Mammuthus during the Middle Pleistocene,
The oldest fauna of the middle Galerian is the Slivia FU. as it would provide further evidence that M. trogontherii
The Slivia fossil assemblage represents a karsic fissure represents an immigrant species to western Europe,
filling and no direct dates exist for this site. Nevertheless, where it co-existed for a short time interval (correspond-
based on interpretation of the fauna and occurrence of ing to the Slivia FU) and then replaced resident late
new taxa, the Slivia assemblage results intermediate populations of M. meridionalis. In younger faunal
between the Colle Curti and the successive Isernia FU, assemblages, belonging to the Isernia (ca. 600 kya) and
and therefore its age is bracketed between 1.1 and Fontana Ranuccio (ca. 460 kya) FUs (middle to late
0.6 Ma (early Middle Pleistocene). At Slivia an isolated Galerian), remains of M. trogontherii are very scanty
but well preserved molar signals the first appearance of (e.g. Valdemino), while E.(P.) antiquus became wide-
E.(P.) antiquus in Italy. At the same time other faunas spread.
belonging to the Slivia FU, as Monte Tenda, San
Giminiano, Oriolo, and Imola, record the last appear- 3.3. Aurelian
ance of M. meridionalis in Italy (but see below).
Recently, a new FU (Ponte Galeria) has been Aurelian faunas include a majority of modern taxa, or
proposed for mammal assemblages retrieved from the closely related species, differing from extant associations
Ponte Galeria (PG) Formation, intermediate in age in the occurrence of megamammals (horses, rhinos,
between the Slivia and Isernia FUs (Petronio and hippos, elephants) and large carnivores (hyaenas, lions,
Sardella, 1999). The new Ponte Galeria FU is based leopards). The beginning of Aurelian is calibrated with
on a fossil assemblage found within a sedimentary OIS 9, ca. 300 kya (late Middle Pleistocene). Early
sequence (PG2) of the Ponte Galeria Formation out- Aurelian faunas (OIS 9–6) are included in the Torre in
cropping along the Latium coast (Milli, 1997; Milli and Pietra FU (see Milli and Palombo, 2004 for a discus-
Palombo, 2004: Milli et al., in press). Uncertainty as to sion). Significant faunas from this FU include La
the systematic identity of some ungulates from the Slivia Polledrara di Cecanibbio, Castel di Guido, Riano,
LF and the limited knowledge of the carnivores and Grotte Santo Stefano and Fonte Campanile, correlated
micromammals from PG2, however, would not rule out to OIS 9. In the time interval represented by these faunal
the possibility that, actually, Slivia and PG2 represent assemblages E.(P.) antiquus is particularly abundant
one and the same FU. and widespread in Italy. Faunal assemblages dated to
From PG2 deposits of the Ponte Galeria Formation the interval between OIS 7 to 6, previously included by
several elephantine molars (Ambrosetti, 1967; Caloi and Gliozzi et al. (1997) in the Vitinia FU (middle Aurelian
Palombo, 1980; Petronio and Sardella, 1999) and two LMA) (see Palombo et al., in press for a discussion),
incomplete skulls (one of which recently recovered and include Vitinia, Campo Verde, Bucine, Via Flaminia
not yet prepared; Palombo, unpublished data) have been (possibly dated to OIS 6, 190–150 kya), Tarquinia, and
recovered at different sites near Rome:Monteverde, Torrente Conca. Bucine, Tarquinia and Torrente Conca
Muratella di Mezzo, Malagrotta, Campo del Merlo, and record the first appearance of the woolly mammoth in
Monte Spaccato. E. (P.) antiquus is represented at Italy. This corresponds to the age of the earliest woolly
Monteverde and Muratella di Mezzo. A molar from mammoth in northwestern and central Europe (Lister
Malagrotta (Fig. 7c) and a partial skull from Monte and Sher 2001; Lister et al., 2004). On the other hand
Spaccato (see above) are to be referred to a derived sites like Campo Verde and via Flaminia, indicate the
mammoth, likely M. trogontherii, representing, thus, the persistence in Italy of mammoth samples more primitive
first record of this species in Italy. More contentious is than M. primigenius (see Systematic section above).
the identification of a molar from Campo del Merlo The late Aurelian begins with the Late Pleistocene
(Fig. 5g). The molar is deeply worn. The wear figures (OIS 5e, Eemian; ca. 135 kya). Late Aurelian fauna are