Bollettino SPI Vol. 31 - Issues 1, 2, 3
Issue 1
Published in March 1992
- Bonaduce G., Ruggieri G., Russo A. & Bismuth Serept H. (1992)
Late Miocene Ostracods from the Ashtart 1 well (Gulf of Gabès, Tunisia)
pp. 3-93
The Late Miocene-Early Pliocene ostracods of Ashtart 1 well oil-drilling samples from the Gulf of Gabès (Tunisia) are studied. Most of the samples pertain to the Late Miocene (Sahelian). The study resulted in the identification of 204 taxa (species and subspecies), 121 of which are described as new. Two new genera, namely Syrtica (type-species S. pinguis n. sp.) and Okadaleberis (type-species O. aspera n. sp.) are erected. All the taxa are illustrated.
- Wernli R. & Fookes E. (1992)
Troglotella incrustans, n. gen., n. sp., a strange, new calcicavicole foraminifera from the Kimmeridgian reef of Saint Germain-de-Joux (Ain, France)
pp. 95-103
Troglotella incrustans n. gen., n. sp., is a calcicavicole foraminifera, in other words it lives within preexisting microcavities. It preferentiatly selects microperforations in large bioclasts of unknown organisms. The test is several millimetres long and is uniserial in the juvenile calcicavicole stage, later spreading out over the substrate surface during the adult stage. The test is built in a consecutive manner, and the wall is dark and microgranular. It is a striking case of adaptive strategy during the ontogeny which allows the colonisation of ecological niches in settings of high energy within the reef environment. The precise nature of the wall, still poorly understood, and the unusual habitus of this new taxon leads to uncertainties as to its position in the systematics.
- Miculan P. (1992)
Late Miocene ostracods from Vigoleno (Piacenza Subapennines -Northern Italy)
pp. 105-132
37 samples from clayey sands outcropping near the village of Vigoleno (Piacenza province -Northern Italy) yielded rich and well preserved ostracod assemblages.
119 species were recognized. The assemblages are dominated by species of shallow marine, inner shelf genera such as Cytheridea, Aurila, Cyamocytheridea, Xestoleberis, Nonurocythereis, Cytheretta, Callistocythere, Tenedocythere, etc. An evaluation of the documented stratigraphic ranges of the identified ostracod species suggests a Late Tortonian/Early Messinian («Sahelian») Age of the sampled strata. The ostracod faunas are associated with benthic foraminiferal assemblages, which can be confidently assigned to the Early Messinian.
The following new species are proposed: Celtia clatrata, Aurila perpasta and Aurila lyaea.
- Azzaroli A. (1992)
The present status of knowledge on the Ecuatorian species of the genus Equus
pp. 133-139
The status of the South American species of the genus Equus is not fully clear because of incompleteness of the record. Eight species may provisionally be recognized as valid and, with the only possible, but not certain exception of the poorly known Equus neogeus, they may be ascribed to the subgenus Amerhippus Hoffstetter 1950, which is also present in the Irvingtonian and Rancholabrean of North America with two species.
The distinguishing features of Amerhippus are revised and discussed in detail.
The South American species are distinguished by medium to small size and heavy build. Immigration into South America took piace at a late date, during the Ensenadan (middle Pleistocene), and in the late Pleistocene equids had widely dispersed over the plains and the highlands. Three species have been recognized from the late Pleistocene of Ecuador. Equus andium, of the central highlands, is the species with the most complete fossil record in South America, and is also the smallest in size. Equus martinei, also from the highlands, is slightly larger and is poory known, but is highly characteristic for its massive limbs. Equus santae-elenae, from the coastal lowlands, is of larger size; it is represented by limb bones, dentitions and a partial skull which is figured here for the first time. It shows the typical features of Amerhippus but its closer affinities and distinguishing features are poorly known.
In the highlands equids survived into very recent times and in Northern Ecuador have been recorded from colluvial deposits overlying the late Pleistocene Cangahua Formation.
- Carboni M.G. & Giardini M. (1992)
Fissurina nazzani n. sp. (Foraminiferida, Ellipsolagenidae) from the Pliocene of the Tiber Valley (Latium, Centrai ltaly)
pp. 141-146
A new species of benthic Foraminifer is described from the clayey sediments of a Pliocene section (Globorotalia aemiliana Zone) located near Nazzano (Rome, Central ltaly). The new species, Fissurina nazzani, belongs to the Family Ellipsolagenidae and is characterized by a thick lenticular test and by an ornamentation with bifurcated costae, which depart from the central zone of the chamber surface and go towards the peripheral rim.
- Gnoli M. (1992)
Occurrence of Eurypterids (Arthropoda) in the Silurian of Southwestern Sardinia
pp. 147-149
For the first time the presence of eurypterids as member of the fossil community of the Silurian (Upper Wenlock) of Sardinia is reported.
- Rook L. (1992)
«Canis» monticinensis sp. nov., a new Canidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) from the late Messinian of Italy
pp. 151-156
The finds of a dog collected in the Monticino gypsum quarry, near the village of Brisighella (Faenza, Italy), have been referred to a new species, «Canis » monticinensis. The fossils came from the fill of karst cavities in gypsum beds. The evaporite section is unconformably overlain by a thin cover of Late Messinian continental to brackish deposits.
The genus «Canis», when enclosed between quotation marks, is informally used to indicate a group of primitive dogs found in deposits of Mio-Pliocene age in North America and Eurasia.
«Canis» monticinensis sp. nov. is very close in size to «Canis» davisi, a late Hemphillian species of North America, though the two can be distinguished on the basis of some morphological differences. The finds from Venta del Moro (a Spanish locality very close in age to Monticino) are also referred to «Canis» cf. monticinensis.
Issue 2
Published in June 1992
- Bonfiglio L. (1992)
The 1987 excavation of the Pleistocene Hippopotamus pentlandi Meyer deposit at Acquedolci (Messina, North-Eastern Sicily)
pp. 157-173
A Pleistocene fossil mammal site, Acquedolci, in North-Eastern Sicily, has yelded an abundance of Hippopotamus pentlandi remains. This site also produced remains of Elephas sp., Cervus siciliae Pohlig, Ursus cf. arctos Linnaeus, Canis lupus Linnaeus, Testudo sp., birds and numerous infantile and juvenile Hippopotamus pentlandi remains, which elsewhere have considerably been rare occurrences in Sicily. Detailed excavation and mapping of the deposit, carried out since 1982, has shown that it is the site of an ancient lacustrine basin. The purpose of this paper is to describe and to discuss palaeontologic and sedimentary setting of the rich bone deposits recognized during the field work which involved 5 months of excavation in 1987. The Hippopotamus pentlandi bearing deposit is located in the steep slope between the northem high vertical cliffs of the Pizzo Castellaro carbonatic massif in the South and the wide terrace extending northward. The deposit is 14 m thick. Different successive sedimentation units have been recognized. A wave-cut platform on the substrate limestone and sterile littoral gravels underlie the vertebrate-bearing deposits. Slope deposits, containing fossil bones, are interbedded between the littoral gravels and the overlying lacustrine deposits. The terraced gravels overlying the Pizzo Castellaro massif as yet as the Pizzo Castellaro limestone has yelded boulders, pebbles and clasts for the coarse clastic sedimentation in the southern part of the lacustrine deposit, located at the foot of the cliff; silty and clayey matrix is abundant. The northward extending central part of the lacustrine deposit, mostly destroyed by the erosion, is made up by silty sediments. The abundance of the silty and clayey matrix in the coarser part of the deposit and the fossil bones setting are evidence of low energy environment. The deposit provides a means to evaluate some aspects of the modes of accumulation of hippo’s remains in lacustrine deposits. Bones are accumulated elsewhere. Bone orientation shows no clear preferred orientation and the mixed sizes suggest that idraulic sorting had n0 effect on the fossil assemblage. Since the skeletal remains are partially associated, the bone assemblage represents bones that were added to the deposits as skeletal «sets». In the coarser part of the lacustrine deposit larger fossil bones are broken by the rock falls from the carbonatic cliffs. A bone breccia overlying the lacustrine deposit contains fragmented bones reworked from the lacustrine deposit, after the lacustrine basin became extinct. Slope deposits containing reworked fossil bones and prehistoric artifacts are overlying the bone breccia. Litoral gravels, slope deposit, lacustrine basin deposit and bone breccia constitute a coastal plain regressive sequence, subsequently cut by the Eutyrrhenian transgressive cycle. The northward extending terrace is made up by an Eutyrrhenian wave-cut platform, and by overlying gravels, marls and fine sands; the gravels contain remains of Hippopotamus pentlandi and Cervus siciliae. Present data are not sufficient to decide if these remains are reworked from the older lacustrine deposit. Evidence from a mammal-bearing deposit in the 0utskirts of Acquedolci shows that the same mammal association populated the area later than the Eutyrrhenian sedimentary cycle. The insight obtained on how the Acquedolci bone deposit formed have implications for the Pleistocene stratigraphic evolution of North-Eastem Sicily.
- Ruggieri G. (1992)
Taxonomic remarks on some Neogenic and Pleistocenic Ostracods from the revision of previous papers of the writer himself
pp. 175-188
Determinations dealing with the Ostracoda illustrated in a group of previous papers of the writer are revised (see Appendix). During this re-examination the occasion arose of erecting some new taxa, namely two new subgenera, Costa (Cuneocosta) and Callistocythere (Rastrocythere), two new species, Callistocythere (Rastrocythere) ephemera and Carinocythereis florealis, and two new subspecies (chrono-subspecies) Costa (Cuneocosta) tricostata pliocenica and Callistocythere pallida praecedens.
- Schiavinotto F. (1992)
The neanic stage of Nephrolepidina tournoueri: biometry and biostratigraphic implications
pp. 189-206
A new method based on the biometrical analysis of the early neanic equatorial chambers is applied to two Nephrolepidina tournoueri populations coming from Lower Miocene outcrops (M. La Serra-L’Aquila, Centrai Apennines; Ales, Sardinia). The measurements were limited to the first seven post-nepionic cycles, within a sector of the equatorial plane 120° wide. This and some other precautions were adopted in order to minimize the influence of irregularities of the individuai growth or of imperfections of the thin sections. Almost all the variables have a normal distribution of the data.
The most significant of the parameters and factors obtained are: 1) the «Degree of stolonic distalization» (Factor FD), which expresses the variation of the length of the common walls between contiguous chambers, connected with the position of the intercyclic radial stolons; 2) the «Curvature Index » of the front wall of the chambers (Factor Re); the « Shape Index » (Factor SI), obtained from the percentage ratio between the preceding factors, which is therefore an expression of the overall morphology of the chambers.
Continual variations of these parameters were shown in the course of the ontogeny, mainly up to the construction of the 5th annulus; subsequently, there are marked drops of the mean values, and then the initial trends return. So, this biometric analysis evidences the tendency to modify the shape of the equatorial chamber, connected with a gradually more distal position of the intercyclic, radial stolons; the results appear to be a confirmation on a quantitative basis of the exclusively qualitative observations reported in the literature concerning both Nephrolepidina and the Cretaceous orbitoidids. Factors FD and SI appear well connected with the methods defining the equatorial chambers arrangements; their mean values, obtained at the 4th and 5th annulus, appear useful for taxonomic purposes as they permit a statistical distinction between the two populatiom which is impossible on the basis of the embryonic and nepionic parameters. Factors FD and SI also have an increase in time of their mean values in the 4th and 5th annulus, in accordance with the stratigraphic position of the populations.
Consequently, a «Neanic acceleration» seems a reliable auxiliary method for obtaining a more detailed definition of some evolutionary phases of the Mediterranean Nephrolepidina lineage, which appear stagnant and unusable for biostratigraphic purposes, if it is analyzed with the traditional methods, based on the biometrics of embryonic and nepionic chambers.
- Pozza G. C. (1992)
Cingolospiriferina, a new genus of Brachiopoda from the Lower Lias of Marche (Central Italy)
pp. 207-222
On the basis of new abundant material coming from the Calcare Massiccio Formation (Lower Sinemurian-Lower Lotharingian) of Cingoli anticline (Marche, ltaly) we propose a taxonomic revision of Spiriferinidae already studied in a previous paper (Pozza, 1989).
The most thorough examination both external morphology and internal structures of several specimens allowed us to justify the introduction of a new smooth genus Cingolospiriferina, which is different from Liospiriferina Rousselle, 1977 referred to middle and upper Liassic of Marocco and Spain. As known, all the other genera of Liassic Spiriferinidae are ribbed except for the above mentioned genera.
Within the new genus Cingolospiriferina, three new species C. cingolana, C. venturii, C. episulcata are included.
By palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographic considerations we have hypothized a possible provincialism in the central-western Tethys for Cingolospiriferina.
- Ciampo G. (1992)
Ostracods fauna from Pliocene of the ionian Calabria (Southern Italy)
pp. 223-239
Pliocenic sediments along the ionian coast of Calabria outcrops between Soverato (NE) and Palizzi Marina (SW). It is possible to recognize two sedimentary cycles. The first early pliocenic in age, encompasses the planktonic foraminiferal Zones MPL1-MPL3 partim. The enviromental evolution is from offshore to bathial/epibathial, to nearshore sediments towards the top. The second cycle begins at the top of the early Pliocene and it stops in the late Pliocene (Zones MPL3 partim MPL4/MPL5). The stratigraphic distribution of ostracods still now recorded in these sediments is given.
- Benvenuti M. & Dominici S. (1992)
Facies analysis, paleoecology and sequence stratigraphy in a Pliocene siliciclastic succession, San Miniato (Pisa, ltaly)
pp. 241-259
The sedimentary succession of the Poggio al Lupo quarry was studied by facies analysis and benthic paleobionomy. Five units are discussed: Unit 1 was deposited in the inner shelf, below fair-weather wave-base, under the influence of freshwater outlets; Unit 2 is a sandy body from an estuarine environment; Unit 3 is formed by grey silty sands and clays and was deposited in marsh and open lagoon settings; Unit 4 originated in inner shelf/estuarine environment, finally Unit 5 was deposited in a sand shelf, in open marine conditions. Molluscan faunas characterize the five units: from the base of the succession the following paleobiocenoses were found: SFBC (Unit 1), transported LEE species (Unit 2), PE/LEE-LEE/SVMC with the occurrence of SFBC species (U11it 3), SVMC-SFBC/SVMC (Unit 4) and SGCF (Unit 5). Sedimentological and paleoecological analyses showed that the sedimentary succession was deposited during a regressive-trangressive cycle. A Type-1 unconformity separating Unit 1 from Unit 2 together with the presence of flooding surfaces makes it possible to interpret the sedimentary succession in terms of a sequence stratigraphic model: Unit 1 is the Highstand Systems Tract of a depositional sequence, Unit 2 and the lower part of Unit 3 is the Incised Valley Fill, followed by the Transgressive Systems Tract, the Condensed Section and the Highstand Systems Tract (Unit 3, 4 and 5) of an overlying depositional sequence. The upper unconformity is not present in the outcrop. The magnitude of the cycle has been tentatively related to fourth-order eustatic cyclicity.
- Bianucci G., Landini W. & Varola A. (1992)
Messapicetus longirostris, a new genus and species of Ziphiidae (Cetacea) from the late Miocene of “Pietra leccese” (Apulia, ltaly)
pp. 261-264
A new genus and species of Ziphiidae (Cetacea), Messapicetus longirostris from lower Tortonian sediments of “Pietra leccese”; collected in Cisterna quarry (Lecce), are described.
This new genus shows resemblance with Ziphirostrum from the late Miocene of Belgium, but its more elongated rostrum and its laterally
compressed braincase warrant a distinction at genus and species level.
Well preserved specimens of ziphiids are not commons in the fossil record, so Messapicetus longirostris provides a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships of this family.
- Bossio A. (1992)
On the occurrence of Loculicytheretta pavonia (Brady) in the Pliocene of Tuscany
pp. 265-267
Loculicytheretta pavonia lives on the mediterranean coasts, under 40° of latitude. It has been found in the middle Pliocene of Tunisia, in a non-specified Quaternary and in the Tyrrhenian. A few specimens of this species are found with lots of molluscs typical of warm climate (tropical or subtropical) in the middle Pliocene of Tuscany. According to the available data on suppose that L. pavonia, after the well-known «salinity crisis» of the top of the Miocene, has got into the Mediterranean Sea during the middle Pliocene. It would have disappeared afterwards from the basin at about 2.5 ma, with a cold climatic period and it would have come back again during the Tyrrhenian.
Issue 3
Published in December 1992
- Rustioni M. (1992)
On Pliocene tapirs from France and ltaly
pp. 269-294
The Ruscinian and Villafranchian (Triversa f u.) tapirs from Central-Westem Europe and Italy are referred to Tapirus arvernensis. Scanty remains from Baccinello V3 and Casin0 are tentatively ascribed to this species. A specimen from Sarzanello is generically called Tapirus sp. T. arvernensis is easily distinguishable from the living South American species and Malayan tapir; it is seems strictly related with the latter. It was smaller than the exant species, slenderly built and shows a fairly good level of specialization to cursoriality; it is one of the most cursorial species of the genus. Tentative reconstructions of the skull, of the arrangement of its muscles, and of some parts of the postcranial skeleton are proposed.
- Di Stefano G. & Petronio C. (1992)
New data on Cervus elaphus acoronatus Beninde of the European Pleistocene
pp. 295-315
The Cervids systematic is traditionally based on the antlers morphology, which are wide-variability organs not only in the populations of a species but also in the individuals of a population. According with the tradition, Beninde instituted the species Cervus acoronatus on the basis of the antler morphology of the Mosbach sands (Germany) deer. Some paleontologists did not believe in a specific subdivision only based on such antlers and have considered the acoronate deer as a subspecies of Cervus elaphus. The complete reexamination of the skull and post-cranial remains from Mosbach and other european sites, biostratigraphically correlatable with the german locality, confirms the subspecific level of the acoronate deer. Some hypotheses on the origin and on the stratigraphical limits of this deer are also proposed.
- Sgarrella F. (1992)
Revision of Brizalina aenariensis Costa, 1856 (Foraminiferida)
pp. 317-323
The original material of Brizalina aenariensis Costa, 1856, type-species of the genus, has allowed for its revision, redescription and emended diagnosis. The characters of the species demonstrate that: a) the genus Brizalina has to be considered a junior synonym of Bolivina d’Orbigny, 1839; b) Bolivina subaenariensis Cushman, 1937 has to be considered a junior synonym of Bolivina aenariensis (Costa). On the basis of its paleogeographical distribution in the Recent sediments of the Mediterranean, and its particular abundance during the cold intervals of Pleistocene, the species can be considered a valid paleoclimatic marker.
- Capasso Barbato L., Cassoli P.F., Minieri M.R., Petronio C., Sardella R. & Scarano M. (1992)
Ingarano Pleistocene fauna (Apricena, Foggia): preliminary report
pp. 325-334
In this preliminary work fossil birds and mammals from cave deposits in Ingarano (Apricena, Foggia) are described. The age of this fauna is referable to late Pleistocene by the occurrence of Nyctea scandiaca, Coelodonta antiquitatis, Equus hydruntinus and Cervus dama dama. Some contrasting palaeoclimatic and biocronological evidences let the authors suppose that the fossiliferous sediments deposited in two different times of late Pleistocene. The occurence of peculiar faunistical features permits some palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental considerations.
- Zafonte F. & Masini F. (1992)
Enamel structure evolution in the first lower molar of the endemic murids of the genus Microtia (Pliocene, Gargano, Italy)
pp. 335-349
The microstructure of the enamel of the first lower molar of four evolutionary lineages of the genus Microtia was analyzed with a S.E.M. device.
The study showed the presence of two basic structural types of enamel: 1) radial enamel arranged in zones in which enamel prisms have different orientation with respect to the sagittal plain of the crown; 2) tangential enamel at different stages of evolution. The tangential enamel appear to be derived directly from the radial structure through an increase in the inclination of the prisms.
The study evidenced that the dental enamel of Microtia underwent significant evolutionary processes that occurred parallel in the different lineages considered. The development of the microstructural modification appear to follow a recapitulative pattern and to be constrained by processes of morpho-functional canalization. The enamel microstructural changes are interpreted as a adaptation to a highly abrasive diet.
- Channel J., Di Stefano E. & Sprovieri R. (1992)
Calcareous Plankton Biostratigraphy, Magnetostratigraphy and Paleoclimatic History of the Plio-Pleistocene Monte San Nicola Section (Southern Sicily)
pp. 351-382
Nannofossil and foraminiferal quantitative biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy provide high resolution stratigraphic control for a Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene section in Southern Sicily, and serve to improve Mediterranean biomagnetostratigraphic conrrelations. Detailed quantitative foraminiferal data are interpreted in term of Plio-Pleistocene climatic changes. Alternating warm and temperate climatic conditions characterize the base of the section in the 3.7-3.38. Ma interval. This is followed by warm conditions until the cold event at 3.16 Ma. A long period of cool to cold conditions followed until about 2.81 Ma, when the 0nset of glacial-interglacial conditions occurred. Several cold events are recognized in the 2.73-2.37 Ma interval culminating at about 2.40 Ma, coincident with the completion of build-up of the Northern Hemisphere ice cap. The upper part of the Late Pliocene is characterized by oscillating warm and cool intervals, with the development of colder conditions close to the Plio-Pleistocene boundary.
- Gnoli M. (1992)
The problematic organism Kolihaia sardiniensis n. sp. of the latest Wenlock – earliest Ludlow of SW Sardinia
pp. 383-385
Prantl discovered the enigmatic organism Kolihaia in 1946 in Central Bohemia. This paper provides a description and illustration of newly proposed species K. sardiniensis from southwestern Sardinian material of the latest Wenlock-earliest Ludlow age. Some remarks on its autecology are also made.