19 Result(s)
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Raffaele Sardella
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Open AccessLate Early to late Middle Pleistocene medium-sized deer from the Italian Peninsula: implications for taxonomy and biochronology
The taxonomy of Quaternary medium-sized deer from Europe rests mainly on antler morphology, while adequate dental and postcranial diagnostic features are lacking. When complete antlers are not available, the t...
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Open AccessStratigraphic reassessment of Grotta Romanelli sheds light on Middle-Late Pleistocene palaeoenvironments and human settling in the Mediterranean
During the last century, Grotta Romanelli (Southern Italy) has been a reference site for the European Late Pleistocene stratigraphy, due to its geomorphological setting and archaeological and palaeontological ...
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Open AccessRediscovering Lutra lutra from Grotta Romanelli (southern Italy) in the framework of the puzzling evolutionary history of Eurasian otter
A river otter hemimandible has been rediscovered during the revision of the historical collections of G.A. Blanc from Grotta Romanelli, complementing the ongoing multidisciplinary research fieldwork on the sit...
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Open AccessA Middle Pleistocene wolf from central Italy provides insights on the first occurrence of Canis lupus in Europe
Here, we describe a partial cranium of a large canid dated at 406.5 ± 2.4 ka from the Middle Pleistocene of Ponte Galeria (Rome, Italy). The sample represents one of the few Middle Pleistocene remains of a wol...
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New human fossil from the latest Pleistocene levels of Grotta Romanelli (Apulia, southern Italy)
Grotta Romanelli can be counted among the most interesting sites for the late Upper Palaeolithic of the Mediterranean area, since returned a consistent record of lithic artefacts, faunal remains, mobiliary and...
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Open AccessSuidae Transition at the Miocene-Pliocene Boundary: a Reassessment of the Taxonomy and Chronology of Propotamochoerus provincialis
The Miocene-Pliocene (Turolian-Ruscinian) transition represents a fundamental interval in the evolution of Euro-Mediterranean paleocommunities. In fact, the paleoenvironmental changes connected with the end of...
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Open AccessThe origin of early Acheulean expansion in Europe 700 ka ago: new findings at Notarchirico (Italy)
Notarchirico (Southern Italy) has yielded the earliest evidence of Acheulean settlement in Italy and four older occupation levels have recently been unearthed, including one with bifaces, extending the roots o...
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Open AccessOld African fossils provide new evidence for the origin of the American crocodiles
Molecular and morphological phylogenies concur in indicating that the African lineages formerly referred to Crocodylus niloticus are the sister taxon the four Neotropical crocodiles (Crocodylus intermedius, C. mo...
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Digital Cranial Endocasts of the Extinct Sloth Glossotherium robustum (Xenarthra, Mylodontidae) from the Late Pleistocene of Argentina: Description and Comparison with the Extant Sloths
The internal cranial morphology of the terrestrial sloth Glossotherium robustum is described here based on a neurocranium from the late Pleistocene of the Pampean region of Buenos Aires, northeastern Argentina. T...
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First report of Sus strozzii (Suidae, Mammalia) from the Early Pleistocene of Hungary (Dunaalmás) and species distinction based on deciduous teeth
Herein we describe a fragment of a mandible with a deciduous fourth premolar (dp4) from the Early Pleistocene locality of Dunaalmás, representing the first confirmed report of Sus strozzii from Hungary. The compa...
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The Late Pleistocene European badger Meles meles from Grotta Laceduzza (Brindisi, Apulia, Southern Italy): the analysis of the morphological and biometric variability
In the last decades, many studies have focused on the description of fossil badger materials from Eurasia and several evolutionary hypotheses have been proposed. Nevertheless, the debate on taxonomy of the Lat...
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Open AccessSynchrotron radiation reveals the identity of the large felid from Monte Argentario (Early Pleistocene, Italy)
We describe here a partial skull with associated mandible of a large felid from Monte Argentario, Italy (Early Pleistocene; ~1.5 million years). Propagation x-ray phase-contrast synchrotron microtomography of ...
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Phylogenetic and functional implications of the ear region anatomy of Glossotherium robustum (Xenarthra, Mylodontidae) from the Late Pleistocene of Argentina
Several detailed studies of the external morphology of the ear region in extinct sloths have been published in the past few decades, and this anatomical region has proved extremely helpful in elucidating the p...
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Medical CT scanning and the study of hidden oral pathologies in fossil carnivores
Skeletal pathologies and oral disease are largely unexplored in fossil carnivores. Dental abnormalities, fractures, trauma, supernumerary teeth, tumours, periodontitis, and other bacterial infections are some ...
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CT scanning analysis of Megantereon whitei (Carnivora, Machairodontinae) from Monte Argentario (Early Pleistocene, central Italy): evidence of atavistic teeth
CT scanning analysis applied to vertebrate palaeontology is providing an increasing number of data of great interest. This method can be used in many branches of palaeontology such as the investigation of all ...
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Re-Defining Canis etruscus (Canidae, Mammalia): A New Look into the Evolutionary History of Early Pleistocene Dogs Resulting from the Outstanding Fossil Record from Pantalla (Italy)
An outstanding sample of Canis etruscus has been found within the faunal assemblage from the early Pleistocene site of Pantalla (Italy), which is referred to the early late Villafranchian. Canis etruscus appeared...
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A Pathological Late Pleistocene canid from San Sidero (Italy): implications for social- and feeding-behaviour
Evidence of diseases on vertebrate fossil bones can provide detailed information on many aspects of extinct animals. This study focused on pathological craniodental remains (left maxilla and dentary) referred ...
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How did environmental disturbances affect carnivoran diversity? A case study of the Plio–Pleistocene Carnivora of the North-Western Mediterranean
The Plio–Pleistocene carnivores from the North-Western Mediterranean (Iberian and Italian peninsulas, and France) are analysed in order to investigate whether their diversity over the last 5.3 Ma was influence...
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Evidence of earliest human occurrence in Europe: the site of Pirro Nord (Southern Italy)
Some flint lithic artifacts were discovered in the fissure fillings of the well-known Pirro Nord site (Apulia, Southern Italy). The lithic industry, composed by three cores and some flakes, has been found to b...
