Fossil remains of Mammuthus meridionalis were found in 2016 at Tasso, near Terranuova Bracciolini (Province of Arezzo, Italy) in Early Pleistocene deposits of the second depositional phase of the Upper Valdarno. The interest in this new find derives from its clear stratigraphic position, at the top of the so-called “Sabbie e Limi del Torrente Oreno” (sand and silt deposits typical of the Oreno Creek), close to the transition to the marginal alluvial fan deposits. The excavations yielded the remains of a skull of Mammuthus meridionalis still preserving part of its tusks, and an ulna, likely of the same individual. The fossils were found at the base of a fluvial channel infilled with sediments from the Pratomagno Ridge. Over time the channel was subjected to channel bank collapse and was infilled with sand deposited during small- to middle-scale flooding. The elephant skull, which is deformed due to sediment loading and partially eroded, belongs to a relatively large individual, presumably a male. The channel deposits provided also other small fossil remains of Equus stenonis, Pseudodama nestii and Pachy crocuta brevirostris. These late Villafranchian taxa suggest more or less open steppe/forested savannah landscapes in response to the glacial/interglacial cycles of that time period.
RINVENIMENTO DI UN CRANIO DI MAMMUTHUS MERIDIONALIS NEI DEPOSITI ALLUVIONALI PLEISTOCENICI DEL BACINO DEL VALDARNO SUPERIORE
M. FARAONI
2019
Abstract
Fossil remains of Mammuthus meridionalis were found in 2016 at Tasso, near Terranuova Bracciolini (Province of Arezzo, Italy) in Early Pleistocene deposits of the second depositional phase of the Upper Valdarno. The interest in this new find derives from its clear stratigraphic position, at the top of the so-called “Sabbie e Limi del Torrente Oreno” (sand and silt deposits typical of the Oreno Creek), close to the transition to the marginal alluvial fan deposits. The excavations yielded the remains of a skull of Mammuthus meridionalis still preserving part of its tusks, and an ulna, likely of the same individual. The fossils were found at the base of a fluvial channel infilled with sediments from the Pratomagno Ridge. Over time the channel was subjected to channel bank collapse and was infilled with sand deposited during small- to middle-scale flooding. The elephant skull, which is deformed due to sediment loading and partially eroded, belongs to a relatively large individual, presumably a male. The channel deposits provided also other small fossil remains of Equus stenonis, Pseudodama nestii and Pachy crocuta brevirostris. These late Villafranchian taxa suggest more or less open steppe/forested savannah landscapes in response to the glacial/interglacial cycles of that time period.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
