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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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Article
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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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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Article
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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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 ...
