Notes and Discussions on Marra, A.C. Evolution of Endemic Species, Ecological Interactions and Geographical Changes in an Insular Environment: A Case Study of Quaternary Mammals of Sicily (Italy, EU). Geosciences 2013, 3, 114–139.

Abstract

In her paper, A.C. Marra intends to review the current knowledge on Quaternary mammals of Sicily. As a review, the paper should have presented a clear, updated and rigorous picture of the chosen topic. Actually, most of the paper’s contents come from previous review papers (quoted with the numbers 1–6, 18, 19 and 50), most of which are dated. Above all, A.C. Marra overlooked recent important data concerning the species contained in the different faunal assemblages of Sicily, as well as previous data concerning the stratigraphy and datings of the faunal deposits

Response to Bonfiglio, L. Notes and Discussions on Marra, A.C. Evolution of Endemic Species, Ecological Interactions and Geographical Changes in an Insular Environment: A Case Study of Quaternary Mammals of Sicily (Italy, EU). Geosciences 2013, 3, 114–139.

“…In discussion notes, Bonfiglio claims that "important data from the recent literature are lacking in the paper of A.C. Marra" [2], but the reported remarks are mainly based on unpublished data or on personal opinions and interpretations. The remarks are discussed here following Bonfiglio's discussion.…”

“…Bonfiglio [2] reports data on elephants sourcing from Herridge's PhD thesis [3], still unpublished, so they have to be treated with caution. Marra [1] did not report that large ("normal") sized elephants are in the same lineage of Palaeoloxodon falconeri, as Bonfiglio asserts, but proposed that some occurrences of elephants having a size comparable to mainland ones might be related to several dispersal events through the Strait of Messina during late Middle Pleistocene.…”

“…Bonfiglio reports that "Burgio already suggested the possibility that hippopotamuses of different sizes inhabited Sicily in Pleistocene times" [2], but the hypothesis by Burgio [10] is not supported by biometrical data in his paper, which is a review published on an exhibition guide (not peer-reviewed). Findings of few postcranial remains of hippopotamuses from a site of unclear stratigraphy and taphonomy [11] are proposed by Bonfiglio as evidence of the presence of a new species smaller than Hippopotamus pentlandi [2].…”

“…Bonfiglio reports that "Burgio already suggested the possibility that hippopotamuses of different sizes inhabited Sicily in Pleistocene times" [2], but the hypothesis by Burgio [10] is not supported by biometrical data in his paper, which is a review published on an exhibition guide (not peer-reviewed). Findings of few postcranial remains of hippopotamuses from a site of unclear stratigraphy and taphonomy [11] are proposed by Bonfiglio as evidence of the presence of a new species smaller than Hippopotamus pentlandi [2]. The sample studied by Petruso and Traschetta is very poor and bones are badly preserved, as clearly wrote in the paper: "the taxonomic determination was possible only for the 33% of the bone material since the rest was badly damaged […] only the 4% of the fossil material have been measured due to its bad conservation status" [11].…”

“…The attribution of tortoise remains of the genus Geochelone to "a subfamily rank as Testudininei indet., probably to the African genus Centrochelys or to the European genus Cheirogaster" reported by Bonfiglio [2] is based on a short abstract without biometrical and morphological data and discussion [15]. Although the study is interesting, the source of information cannot be considered before the publication of all data, possibly on a referred paper.…”