 Reference Base  Biochronological and palaeogeographical implications of a... |
|
Capasso Barbato, L.; Gliozzi, E., 1995. Biochronological and palaeogeographical implications of a well-balanced late Middle Pleistocene fauna from Quisisana-Certosa (Capri, Southern Italy). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana, Modena; 34 (2): 235-261, fig 1, Pl 4.
|
|
|
|
| |
| Location: |
Europe - Southern Europe - Italy |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Records |
| Species: |
Fossil |
 |
|
The rich fauna found in the red clays at the base of the Quisisana-Certosa deposit (Capri) was collected at the beginning of the present century during the construction and enlargement of the Quisisana Hotel. Several faunal lists have been published different authors but the vertebrate assemblage of Quisisana-Certosa has never been studied in detail.
The present morphometric study of the bone remains has provided new information, the modification of some previous identifications and the demonstration of the presence of species not previously recorded from Capri. The following species have been identified: Testudo hermanni Gmelin, Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus), Ursus spelaeus spelaeus Rosenmüller & Heinroth, Crocuta cf. C. crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss), Canis cf. C. mosbachensis Soergel, Panthera pardus (Linnaeus), Oryctolagus cuniculus ssp., Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquus Falconer & Cautley, Mammuthus (M.) chosaricus Dubrovo, Stephanorhinus hemitoechus (Falconer), Equus aff. suessenbornensis Wüst, Hippopotamus sp., Sus scrofa ssp., Cervus elaphus ssp., Dama sp., Bos primigenius Bojanus.
The mammal assemblage is comprised of both herbivorous and carnivourous forms, with the additional presence of a lagomorph. Eack of the assemblages are represented by several species having very different habitat and feeding adaptations (e.g. elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, deer, bears, hyenas). The faunal association is, therefore, well-balanced, of continental type, suggesting that, in the Middle Pleistocene, Capri was not yet an insland but merely an extension of the present Penisola Sorrentina.
From a biochronological perspective, the presence of Mammuthus chosaricus, Equus aff. suessenbornensis, Canis cf. C. mosbachensis and Ursus spelaeus spelaeus leads us to refer the Quisisana-Certosa deposit to the late Middle Pleistocene. This age is supported also by the presence of Acheulean artefacts which were collected in the upper portion of the red clays, comparable to those found in the Italian peninsula in the sequence of Torre del Pagliaccetto (lower levels) (Torre in Pietra, Rome).
|
|
|
File available
details
Original text on this topic: