Pliocene Of Italy Research Articles

Sclerochronology of the large scallops Gigantopecten latissimus and Pecten jacobaeus in a Pliocene warmer Mediterranean Sea

Here we apply a sclerochronological approach to reconstruct the life-history of two stenohaline bivalves of the family Pectinidae, Gigantopecten latissimus and Pecten jacobaeus from the Pliocene of Italy. The specimens come from the locality of Torrita di Siena (Siena-Radicofani Basin, Tuscany), dated to the late Zanclean-Piacenzian with nannoplankton biostratigraphy and Sr-isotope stratigraphy. After measuring the width of micro-growth increments and verifying that the shells were not diagenetically altered, we sampled them at high resolution for carbon and oxygen stable isotopes. δ13C and δ18O shell values allowed to distinguish between specimens that lived above or below the thermocline. Those influenced by surface waters indicate temperatures (for δ18Oseawater = 1.5‰) with winter minima of 16–18 °C and summer values up to 28–29 °C, close to present temperature conditions in the tropical west-African climate belt. In line with this, we found that the two species had similar seasonal growth patterns, with faster growth during colder months and summer slowdown, a typical adaptation of bivalves of tropical affinity suffering from summer temperature extremes. Despite this similar adaptation, G. latissimus, with large and heavy shells (length up to 30 cm) became extinct around 3.0 Ma, while the smaller P. jacobaeus survived Plio-Pleistocene cooling. Different growth rates between the two species and, therefore, different metabolic costs, might explain such differential response, together with differences in reproduction strategies. Habitat loss and fragmentation, due to the decrease of shelf margins and organogenic substrates caused by cooling and sea level fall, are abiotic factors that could have also contributed to the extinction of G. latissimus. P. jacobaeus adaptation to live across a larger bathymetric range, which indicates the ability to thrive in a wider range of temperatures, most likely played a role in its survival. Further studies, including more specimens across multiple localities, will help verifying these hypotheses.

Two new Eucalathis (Brachiopoda, Chlidonophoridae) species from the Pliocene of Italy and history of the genus in the Mediterranean

ABSTRACT Eucalathis, a member of the brachiopod superfamily Cancellothyridoidea, is common in Recent seas. The 15 known species have an almost cosmopolitan distribution, but no known occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the rich Recent record, very little is known about the geological history of Eucalathis. In the Mediterranean, two fossil species are known from the Miocene of Italy. Two additional Eucalathis species from the Neogene of Italy are identified: E. davidi sp. nov. from NW Italy (Marmorito, Early Pliocene), and E. dorae sp. nov. from Sicily (Altavilla, Late Pliocene). It proves that Eucalathis did not disappear from the Mediterranean after the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Based on the four known species, Eucalathis (probably apart from the Messinian Crisis) was present in the Mediterranean from the Middle Miocene to the Late Pliocene. Its disappearance is possibly related to the Pleistocene cooling. Currently, three species of Eucalathis occur in the NE Atlantic, near the entrance to the Mediterranean. However, they are unable to enter because the distribution of all three species is restricted to deeper environments than the average 300 m deep Gibraltar sill. The circulation pattern of the Gibraltar area also prevents deeper water Atlantic species from entering the Mediterranean. https://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:EA467DCC-301B-4C44-9B19-A9A3E8EF332B https://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6AB4E4A5-46F2-44F9-8BFD-907190039071

Mud lobster Thalassina Latreille, 1806 (Decapoda: Gebiidea: Thalassinidae), its Cenozoic occurrences in Italy and palaeobiogeography

Two specimens of Thalassina sp. are reported from the lower Oligocene sediments cropping out at Salcedo, Italy. Although the material is not sufficiently preserved to be identified below the genus level, it represents an important addition to the known fossil record of the genus. Thalassina sp. from Salcedo is considered the oldest and the only fossil occurrence of the genus from Europe; indeed, the previous reports on Thalassina grandidactylus Robineau Desvoidy, 1849 from the Cretaceous of France and Thalassina sp. from the Pliocene of Italy are disputed herein. Thalassina is today known only from the Indo-West Pacific region; however, unequivocal evidence of Thalassina in the Oligocene strata of Europe suggests the origin of the genus in the west Tethyan (modern circum-Mediterranean area). Alternatively, the geographic distribution of the genus might be wider in the Oligocene than it is today. The Italian material presented herein comes from marine settings with strong fluvial influence, suggesting that the environmental preferences of Thalassina have not changed since the Oligocene.

The genus Sveltia (Gastropoda, Cancellariidae) in the Atlantic Pliocene of Iberia with a new species from the Cenozoic Mondego Basin of Portugal

AbstractThe cancellarid genus Sveltia Jousseaume, 1887, is widespread in western European and North African Neogene marine fossil assemblages. In Pliocene deposits it is commonly represented by Sveltia varicosa (Brocchi, 1814), which until recently was considered a widely distributed taxon in the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent Atlantic faunas. A recent review of the species from the Pliocene of Italy and Spain (Guadalquivir Basin), leading to the erection of S. confusa, prompted the reassessment of the Sveltia material from the Atlantic Pliocene of the Portuguese Mondego Basin and the subsequent description of Sveltia sofiae n. sp. Consequently, a mosaic of species has emerged from what was previously viewed as the broad Atlanto-Mediterranean range of the widespread and quite variable S. varicosa. From a biogeographic standpoint, it is now clear that S. varicosa was a Mediterranean species, occurring east of the Alboran Sea. Sveltia confusa had a mainly Atlantic distribution, from the French Pliocene Ligerian Gulf to the Gulf of Cadiz, at least, and straddling the Strait of Gibraltar into the Alboran Sea. Sveltia sofiae n. sp. was endemic to western Iberia, represented today only in the western Portuguese Mondego Basin. Sveltia is a thermophilic genus. Since early Pliocene times, because of northeastern Atlantic sea surface temperature decline, it underwent a southward range contraction, occurring today—in the eastern Atlantic—from Cape Blanc, Mauritania, south. This range reduction was coupled with the post mid-Piacenzian southward contraction of the Pliocene Mediterranean-West African tropical molluscan province and the consequent rise of the present-day Mediterranean-Moroccan subtropical province.UUID: http://zoobank.org/0cf3c73a-8d57-472e-87e4-f1ad065e5fb6.

Deer from the Early Pliocene Prioziornoe, Kuchurgan River Valley (Moldova, Eastern Europe)

We here describe new cervid material from the rich Early Pliocene fauna of Priozernoe situated on the western slope of the lower part of the valley of Kuchurgan River (Eastern Moldova). An important part of this study aims the taxonomy and systematics of the Kuchurgan cervids. A new genus is established for the small muntjaclike cervids from the Pliocene of Italy, Central and South-eastern Europe. The fauna of Priozernoe contains three cervid species: Praeelaphus australorientalis Croitor, 2017, Procapreolus moldavicus (Janovskaya, 1954), and Eostyloceros pidoplitschkoi Korotkevich, 1964, which we propose to include in a new genus. Such a characteristic association of cervid species resembles the fauna from Priozernoe to Beresti (Romania), suggesting the similar geological age. Our results confirm the earlier conclusions on the fauna Priozernoe as the youngest among Kuchurgan faunas and its close affinity with the Moldavian faunal assemblage from the Carbolia Beds.

IL GENERE <em>APHELESIA</em> (RHYNCHONELLIDA, BRACHIOPODA) NEL MIO-PLIOCENE ITALIANO

The three species of Aphelesia recognized in the Miocene and Pliocene of Italy are here revised. All descriptions are based also on topotypic material, the primary types being lost. They are Aphelesia bipartita (Brocchi, 1814) from the Pliocene of Castellarquato (Piacenza) Reggio Calabria area, Aphelesia margineplicata (Philippi, 1844) ( = A. plicatodentata Costa, 1 852, junior synonym) from the Upper Miocene of Francavilla and Pizzo Calabro (Catanzaro), Aphelesia pseudobipartita (Sacco, 1902) from the Pliocene of Rivarone (Alessandria). Basic statistics complete the taxonomic study. The main palaeoecological factors are also discussed. Aphelesia seems to be bounded to the circalittoral stage, on sandy or calcarenitic bottoms. Usually is associated with the genus Terebratula and bryozoans, except for A. pseudobipartita from Rivarone (Alessandria).

Late Miocene biota from the Abad Member of the Carboneras-Nijar Basin (Spain, Andalusia): A bathyal fossil assemblage pre-dating the Messinian salinity crisis

Marly sediments of the early Messinian Abad Member of the Turre Formation from the northeastern sector of the Carboneras-Nijar Basin (southern Spain) have yielded a rich fossil assemblage, of which 60 taxa are documented herein. Besides nannoflora and microfauna, this assemblage includes the first autochthonous macrofauna described from the Abad Member. Based on the calcareous nannofossil assemblage, in particular the occurrence of the zonal index taxon Amaurolithus primus, the sediments are assigned to the Mediterranean calcareous nannofossil zone CNM17, corresponding to the latest Tortonian to earliest Messinian interval. This matches the age range generally reported for the Abad Member. Palaeoecological evidence from calcareous nannofossils (20 autochthonous taxa), planktic and benthic foraminifera (12 taxa), Porifera (3 taxa), Octocorallia (Keratoisis), Serpulidae (4 taxa), Bivalvia (5 taxa), Gastropoda (2 taxa), Brachiopoda (7 taxa), Cirripedia (Faxelepas) and Vertebrata (5 taxa) indicates an upper bathyal environment with an influx of neritic elements for the Abad Member near Carboneras. Additionally, several faunal components may represent allochthonous/parautochthonous elements from adjacent habitats, which were transported into the deep marine setting by turbiditic mass flows. Although similarities exist, the fossil assemblage from the marls is compositionally significantly different from the biota previously documented from a nearby exposed olistostrome, the ‘red breccia’. Similar fossil assemblages from the Mediterranean have so far mainly been reported from the Pliocene-Pleistocene of southern Italy and Greece. The Carboneras fauna thus adds to our knowledge of the development of these habitats and their biota prior to the Messinian salinity crisis. Beyond the novel palaeoenvironmental data, the range of the dyscoliid brachiopod Ceramisia meneghiniana, previously known only from the Pliocene of Italy, is extended to the Miocene of Spain. The cirripede crustacean Pycnolepas paronai De Alessandri, 1895 is transferred to the hitherto monospecific genus Faxelepas Gale, 2015, whereby the range of the latter (previously Maastrichtian to Danian) is extended to the late Miocene.

Preliminary note: alpheid shrimp (Decapoda, Caridea, Alpheidae) snapping claw fingertips from the early Pliocene of Tuscany (central Italy)

We briefly report fossil small-sized major chelae of alpheid snapping shrimps from the early Pliocene of Tuscany (central Italy). The studied specimens have been compared with the morphologically strictly similar fossil structures, recorded from worldwide Cenozoic sediments. This report represents the first record of alpheid shrimp snapping claw fingertips from the Pliocene of Italy.

A pinnotheroid pea crab (Decapoda, Brachyura, Pinnotheridae), from the early Pliocene of Cassine (Alessandria, Piemonte, NW Italy)

A pinnotheroid pea crab (Pinnotheridae De Haan, 1833), is here reported from the Zanclean (early Pliocene) clays of a quarry located S-SW of Cassine (Alessandria, Piemonte, NW Italy). Though the studied specimen cannot be assigned to any genus within the Pinnotherinae (Pinnotheridae De Haan, 1833), it is the first record from the Pliocene of Italy and paleo-Adriatic Gulf, increasing the knowledge of the presence and fossil distribution of this family in the Mediterranean area.

The first record of amphisbaenian and anguimorph lizards (Reptilia, Squamata) from the upper Miocene Solnechnodolsk locality in Russia

ABSTRACT The amphisbaenian and anguimorph fossil lizards from the late Miocene (MN 13) Solnechnodolsk locality (southern European Russia) are described. Amphisbaenians are represented only by isolated vertebrae of which more precise allocation is difficult. The anguine material shows the presence of at least two taxa which are described from this area for the first time: Anguis cf. rarus and Ophisaurus cf. spinari. The A. rarus was previously known only from the early Miocene of Germany. Ophisaurus spinari has a broad stratigraphic range – from the early and middle Miocene of Central Europe, with the last occurrence documented from the late Pliocene of Italy. However, no record was known from the late Miocene, which would show an important part of the story. The parietal of A. cf. rarus forms the first evidence of its survival to the end of the Miocene by its shifting to south areas of Eastern Europe, together with O. spinari. The Solnechnodolsk material is evidence of a broad spatial and/or temporal distribution of both these anguine taxa and the parietal of Anguis unambiguously documents the presence of this taxon in Russia already in the late Miocene. The thermophilic forms in Solnechnodolsk are represented by monitor lizards (Varanus).

Decapod crustaceans from the late Pliocene (Piacenzian) nearby Faenza (Emilia-Romagna, N Italy)

Several specimens of anomuran and brachyuran decapods are reported from the late Pliocene clays (Argille Azzurre Fm.) at localities nearby Faenza (Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna), located in the foothills of Romagna Apennines (NE Italy). The specimens were assigned to species already reported from the Pliocene of Italy, but never previously recorded in this area. This new report enlarges our knowledge on the composition and distribution of the brachyuran decapods along the Pliocene coastline of the Adriatic Gulf of the paleo- Mediterranean Sea.

Systematic position of two Pliocene carditids with description of Akardita n. gen. and A. iberica n. sp. (Bivalvia: Carditidae).

Akardita n. gen. is described for a small Pliocene to Recent group of carditids. The type species is Cardita subrevoluta de Stefani, 1888, from the lower Pliocene of Italy. The new genus includes Akardita iberica n. sp., from the lower Pliocene of southern Spain, and Cardita (Venericardia) monodi Nicklès, 1953, an extant species from West Africa. A few additional Neogene species from Europe could turn out to be representatives of the new genus, whose disappearance from European seas seems to be related to an increasing cooling trend during the Neogene-Pleistocene interval. Because of the confused status of carditid taxonomy, about which some observations are reported in the present work, it is not possible to assign the new genus to any of the traditional subfamilies.

Ethusa sp. (Decapoda, Brachyura, Ethusidae) from the Pliocene of Valduggia (Vercelli, Piedmont, NW Italy)

<em>Ethusa</em> sp. (Decapoda, Brachyura, Ethusidae) from Valduggia (Vercelli, Piedmont, NW Italy) is here reported for the first time from the Pliocene of Italy. This new finding enlarges our knowledge on the distribution and stratigraphic range of this genus in the paleo- Mediterranean basin.

A Reevaluation of Pliophoca Etrusca (Pinnipedia, Phocidae) from the Pliocene of Italy: Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Implications

ABSTRACTThe holotype of Pliophoca etrusca, a partial skeleton from the late Pliocene (Piacenzian) of central Italy, is redescribed. Referred material from the Pliocene of Italy, France, and Spain is compared with the holotype and reassigned to Pliophoca cf. P. etrusca. New dental and postcranial material from the late Pliocene and Pleistocene of Italy is referred to Monachini indeterminate. Purported referred material from Pliocene deposits in the eastern North Atlantic (Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina) likely represents several new monachine taxa rather than Pliophoca etrusca. Using the largest novel data set to date, including extant and fossil monachines and comprising morphological and molecular data, we inferred phylogenetic relationships among monachine phocids. Results of morphological and combined analyses revealed that Pliophoca etrusca is most closely related to the Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus, although this result is not strongly supported. Based on our phylogenetic framework, the origin of Monachini occurred during the early–middle Miocene, centered in either the Tethys Sea or the West Atlantic.SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free at www.tandfonline.com/UJVP

New and revised occurrences of Dihoplus megarhinus (Mammalia, Rhinocerotidae) in the Pliocene of Italy

Several rhinoceros remains, collected in the Pliocene deposits of Northern Italy and usually ascribed to Dicerorhinus or Rhinoceros megarhinus, are revised; furthermore, unpublished Pliocene remains are also described. The material is compared with the respective anatomical elements of Dihoplus megarhinus, Stephanorhinus jeanvireti and Stephanorhinus etruscus. Based on morphological and morphometrical comparisons, the presence of Dihoplus megarhinus is confirmed in at least ten sites. In other Late Pliocene fossiliferous localities, the presence of S. jeanvireti and/or S. etruscus is recorded. D. megarhinus occurred in Italy at the beginning of the Early Pliocene. It was well represented in Val di Pugna (Tuscany) and in several Pliocene marine deposits near Bologna by fragmentary mandibles, some postcranial remains and few teeth. The species disappeared before the beginning of the Villafranchian (Late Pliocene) when S. jeanvireti and S. etruscus co-occurred both in the site of Villafranca d’Asti and Montopoli. S. jeanvireti disappeared in Italy at the Pliocene-Early Pleistocene transition whereas S. etruscus was widespread in Central and Southern Italy.

Evidence of Osedax worm borings in Pliocene (∼3 Ma) whale bone from the Mediterranean

Osedax worms subsist entirely on vertebrate skeletons on the seafloor, using root-like tissues to bore into and degrade the bones. Paleontologists have only recently begun to appreciate the possible destructive effect that these worms may have had on the marine vertebrate fossil record and little is known of their evolutionary history. Using microcomputed tomography, we document Osedax-like borings in a fossil whale bone from the Pliocene of Italy and present new data on the borings of extant Osedax worms. The fossil borings are distinguished from those of other known borers and identified as traces of Osedax activity based on diagnostic features. Our results suggest that it is necessary to isolate individual borings for the confident identification of Osedax traces. This is only the second paleogeographic occurrence of Osedax in the fossil record and indicates that by the Pliocene these worms had colonised a large portion of the world's oceans. This is the first evidence for Osedax in the Mediterranean, past or present, and suggests that more species await discovery in this region.

Anapagurus mamertinus n. sp. (Anomura, Paguroidea, Paguridae) from the Pliocene of S. Antonio, Capo Milazzo (Sicily, S Italy)

We document for the first time the presence of <em>Anapagurus</em> Henderson, 1886 (Paguridae Latreille, 1802) with <em>Anapagurus</em> <em>mamertinus</em> n. sp., from the Pliocene of S. Antonio, Capo Milazzo (Sicily, S Italy). It is the first report of this genus from the Pliocene of Italy, enlarging the knowledge on its distribution in the palaeo-Mediterranean area. <em>Anapagurus</em> was known to date with a. sp. from the Pleistocene of Arda River (Emilia Romagna, N Italy).

Ilex geissertii sp. n. (Aquifoliaceae), a fossil ancestor of Ilex sect. Ilex in the upper Miocene and Pliocene of Europe

Leaf remains of Ilex L. sect. Ilex known from the Pliocene of Auenheim (Alsace, France) and Frankfurt a. M. - Niederrad (Hesse, Germany) as Ilex aff. cornuta Lindley fossilis Geissert and Ilex aquifolium L. fossilis Engelhardt, respectively, are re-interpreted as representing a new species Ilex geissertii Kvaček, Teodoridis et Wang Qing, sp. nov. Similar leaf fossils occur also in the upper Miocene of the Netherlands (Brunssum), France (Murat), and the Pliocene of Italy (Valdarno Superiore). Although these fossil records were considered either direct ancestors of I. aquifolium L. (Near-East, Europe, N Africa) or allied to I. cornuta Lindley and Paxton (China and Korea), both the mentioned extant species differ in the leaf morphology. Close affinities of I. geissertii to several extant representatives of Ilex subsect. Ilex (= Oxyodontae Loesener nom. illegit.) are indisputable and stress a common origin of this group of the hollies known already from the Oligocene in Europe ( Ilex castellii Kvaček et Walther). Several extinct elements of the European late Miocene and Pliocene flora accompanying this new holly (e.g., Ginkgo, Taxodium, Fagus kraeuselii, Parrotia, Craigia, and Trichosanthes) share similar former phyllogeography in having their modern nearest relatives outside Europe.

TAXONOMIC NOTES ON SOME CHEILOSTOME BRYOZOA FROM THE PLIOCENE OF THE WESTERN EMILIA REGION (N ITALY)

From a well-preserved fossil assemblage of the mid-Pliocene (Piacenzian) Monte Padova section near Castell’Arquato (northern Italy), three cheilostome bryozoan species are described and figured. The dome-shaped, free-living Cupuladria bugei Reguant, described from the Pliocene of the eastern Atlantic, is characterised using SEM photography for the first time, and the present finding is the first from the Mediterranean realm. Similarly, the encrusting unilaminar Cleidochasmidra canakkalense Unsal & d'Hondt, occasionally occurring independently of a substrate, was described from the Recent Mediterranean Sea but hitherto lacked a thorough SEM-based description. It has previously been reported only once from the Pliocene of Italy. Plesiocleidochasma mediterraneum Chimenz Gusso & Soule, occurring as uni- to plurilaminar encrustations or free of a substrate, was only recently described from the Mediterranean Sea while our finding represents its first fossil occurrence. For the latter two species no information on ancestrula morphology and early colony development was, until now, available from the existing literature.

Tooth enamel structure in the hyaenid Chasmaporthetes lunensis lunensis from the Late Pliocene of Italy, with implications for feeding behavior

ABSTRACT Hunter-Schreger Bands (HSB) and the outer enamel surface of the teeth of the hunting hyena Chasmaporthetes lunensis lunenesis Del Campana, from Olivola (late Pliocene, Italy) has been analysed. As in the bone crushing hyenas (Crocuta, Hyaena, and Pachycrocuta) C. I. lunensis possesses complex HSB, with both horizontal and vertical components. However the less intense folding of the HSB and the smooth outer enamel surface suggest a more primitive structure than that in the bone crushing hyenas. This is consistent with the hypothesis that Chasmaporthetes was not an extremely specialized bone eater.