The last Antilopini bovids from the Early Pleistocene of Italy

A multiproxy study of the early Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic conditions of an anastomosed fluvial sequence from the Çameli Basin (SW Anatolia, Turkey)

“…According to Faure and Guérin (1984), S. strozzi likely preferred more humid and dense forest biotope in contrast to extant relatives which are more adapted to woodland to arid areas. However, G. torticornis is a generalist species adapted both closed and open environment as having a dietary spectrum of a mixed feeder (Bellucci and Sardella, 2015;Rivals and Athanassiou, 2008). These two different types of biotope preferences are also concordant with the palaeoecological signals gathered from micromammal assemblage of Bıçakçı and could be likely to be an outcome of a spatial separation of the two close but different habitats around the basin.…”

“…More recently, the species was also identified from the latest Villanyian locality of Yassıgüme-Burdur (Demirel and Mayda, 2014). Judging from its horn core morphology and relatively larger size (Athanassiou, 2005;Bellucci and Sardella, 2015). In summary, Bıçakçı large mammal taxa prefer forested areas in the vicinity.…”

Dating of the Lower Pleistocene Vertebrate Site of Tsiotra Vryssi (Mygdonia Basin, Greece): Biochronology, Magnetostratigraphy, and Cosmogenic Radionuclides

“…1.6-1.5 Ma, fitting best with the Farneta FU of Italy. Within the regional faunal succession, TSR is younger than Gerakarou 1 yielding the late Villafranchian "marker" Pachycrocuta brevirostris, but otherwise still retaining a more "middle Villafranchian character" in its fauna including the bovid Gazella (in Italy not later than the Costa San Giacomo FU [79,87]) and the suid Sus strozzi (see [88]). On the other hand, TSR is older than Apollonia 1, where middle Villafranchian relics are absent, and typical late Villafranchian components are present, such as Canis apolloniensis (Canis ex gr.…”

Before and after the earliest Homo dispersal in Europe: Evidence from the early Pleistocene sites of the Italian Peninsula

“…The hipsodonty and mesowear analyses on ungulate teeth from Olivola suggest clear differences both in chronology and in feeding behaviours with the CSG sample (Strani personal communication). At Olivola, the first occurrence of Pachycrocuta brevirostris, a very significant bioevent (Sardella and Palombo, 2007), is documented together with the last occurrence of Anancus and antelopes (Bellucci and Sardella, 2015;Sardella and Palombo, 2007). Among ungulates, during the Olivola-Tasso transition, antelopes became extinct and ovibovines spread, despite their remains are relatively scanty in the Italian fossil record.…”