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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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Article
A taphonomic and spatial distribution study of the new levels of the middle Pleistocene site of Notarchirico (670–695 ka, Venosa, Basilicata, Italy)
New excavations in the lower part of the sequence dated between 670 and 695 ka by 40Ar/39Ar and ESR-U-Th at Notarchirico revealed layers with lithic and bone remains attesting several phases of human occupations....
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Article
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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Article
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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Article
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...
