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An almost complete cranium of a juvenile individual from the late Early Pleistocene site of Buia, in the northern Afar (Danakil) Basin in Eritrea, reveals a different growth pattern of the extinct species Hippopotamus gorgops Dietrich, 1928 compared to the extant species Hippopotamus amphibius Linnaeus, 1758. The specimen shows important cranial features of Hip. gorgops (also visible in adult specimens), with a derived cranial anatomy that is related to the specialization to a more aquatic life style than other species of Hippopotamidae: elevated nuchal and sagittal crests, strongly elevated orbital cavities, short neurocranium and elongated palate. A geometric morphometrics analysis was performed in the lateral view on skulls of Hip. gorgops and Hip. amphibius, to investigate size-shape relationship and to compare ontogenetic growth trajectories between both taxa. The study revealed that, during growth (increase in size and age), variations in skull shape are prominent in Hip. amphibius; juvenile and adult individuals of Hip. gorgops display strong morphological similarities but size and shape are poorly correlated. The results support the hypothesis that in a relatively early ontogenetic stage, Hip. gorgops was more specialized in its aquatic adaptation than Hip. amphibius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Rhinocerotidae material from the early Pleistocene Tetoiu Formation of Colțești (southwestern Romania) is here described for the first time. The rhinoceros is documented by calcaneus and second, third, and fourth metatarsals, probably belonging to the same individual. The morphology and the dimensions of these specimens enable us to record the presence of Stephanorhinus jeanvireti , a relatively rare rhinoceros usually reported from late Pliocene European localities and recently considered a junior synonym of S. elatus. Nevertheless, the taxon Rhinoceros elatus is here regarded as a nomen dubium and the name S. jeanvireti is retained in order to maintain nomenclatural stability, being it based on much more diagnostic material. In Romania, S. jeanvireti has been listed within a few late Pliocene faunal assemblages, but the rhinoceros remains are fragmentary and isolated bones. The Colțești find is among the best documented records of S. jeanvireti in Romania. The biochronological distribution of S. jeanvireti is mainly confined within the MNQ16 (early and early middle Villafranchian), and its first occurrence is doubtfully reported in late MNQ15 faunas. The record of Colțești (MNQ17/MNQ18) represents, instead, the last occurrence of this taxon in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Rhinocerotidae material from the latest Miocene of Sahabi (Libya) is here revised in detail in order to clarify its systematic position and the paleobiogeographic implications. The family is represented by four specimens only at Sahabi, a phalanx, a mandible, a second upper molar (M2), and a second upper premolar (P2). Except for the phalanx, which can be only identified at the family level, the morphology and the dimensions of these specimens have revealed the presence of three taxa: Aceratheriini vel Teleoceratina, Brachypotherium lewisi and ' Diceros ' sp. The presence of the large-sized B. lewisi has been suggested in several papers, but without a detailed comparison or critical revision. The Brachypotherium from Sahabi also resembles Brachypotherium heinzelini , suggesting a probable synonymy between this species and B. lewisi. A P2 from Sahabi differs from several species belonging to Ceratotherium , including Ceratotherium neumayri , and it resembles the genus Diceros. The rhinoceros association (Brachypotherium and a dicerotine) recognized at Sahabi has been recorded at Lothagam (Kenya), suggesting a biogeographic affinity with the eastern Africa assemblage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stephanorhinus etruscus is one of the most abundantly recorded and better known Eurasian Early Pleistocene rhinoceroses. Nevertheless, the first and last appearances of this species, as well as its paleogeographic distribution, are controversial and debated in literature. S . etruscus is documented since the latest Pliocene in Spain (Las Higueruelas), Italy (Montopoli and Castelnuovo di Barardenga), France (Perrier–Les Étouaires) and Romania (Iarăș–Cariera Veche). During the Early Pleistocene, S . etruscus occurred in several Spanish, French and Italian localities, as well as in The Netherlands (e.g., Tegelen), Germany (e.g., Thiede), Greece (e.g., Aivaliki) and Israel (e.g., Ubeidiya). The last appearance of S . etruscus in Eurasia is debatable. Etruscan rhino populations survived till the Jaramillo subchrone (around 1.1 Ma) in France (Bois-de-Riquet), Romania (Betfia XII) and Hungary (Osztramos 2 and 8), and close to the early–middle Pleistocene transition in Spain (Cueva Victoria, Huéscar 1, Atapuerca TD4, TD6 and TD8), and Italy (Monte delle Piche). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The palaeogeographic origin of the Bas Ostriconi Unit (Balagne area, Alpine Corsica) has long been a matter of debate. This unit is actually detached from its original basement. It is made of Late Cretaceous carbonatic turbidites with lenses of coarse-grained polymict conglomerates (Narbinco Flysch). The turbidites have a mixed siliciclastic-carbonatic composition and are affected by a polyphasic deformation. Here, based on field observations and sampling, we analyse the sedimentary, petrographic, and structural features of the Narbinco Flysch. From these analyses, we derive that the Narbinco Flysch belongs to the sedimentary cover of the Balagne ophiolite Nappe. We also show that the carbonatic turbidites are associated with mixed siliciclastic-carbonatic coarse-grained debris, which is typical of the turbidite sediments deposited during the Late Cretaceous in the Ligure-Piemontese oceanic basin close to the European Margin. Our results thus suggest that, the Bas Ostriconi Unit succession originally formed on the Ligure-Piemontese oceanic crust, then was integrated to the accretionary wedge that was thrusted on the European margin of Corsica during the Eocene collisional events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In Alpine Corsica, the Balagne Nappe displays the best-developed sedimentary succession associated with an ophiolite sequence. This sedimentary succession includes the Alturaia Arkose, whose age is still unknown. Several shale horizons cropping out in the Cima di Alturaia area were studied for palynological analyses. In this paper, a new palaeontological find in the Alturaia Arkose is reported and the related geological implications are discussed. The collected data indicate the occurrence of a palynological assemblage of Late Barremian to Middle Aptian age. The Alturaia Arkose can be regarded as a clastic deposit of Late Barremian–Middle Aptian age derived from rocks cropping out in Hercynian Corsica. To cite this article: M. Marroni et al., C. R. Palevol 3 (2004) . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract Palaeoenvironmental information on Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) coastal Latium is sparse, mainly based on studies of isolated faunal assemblages or long pollen records from lake sediments, often of insufficient resolution to aid in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. This study describes in detail the Late Pleistocene faunal assemblage from layers SU11 and SU12 of Cava Muracci (Cisterna di Latina, central Italy), the first of which is a partially-preserved hyena den. The first multi-disciplinary palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of coastal Latium between 34–44 ka BP, a critical time span for the presence of the latest Neanderthals and the arrival of Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH), is provided combining palaeoecological inferences from a previous pollen study of hyena coprolites with the palaeontological study described here. The results indicate a temperate climate and a landscape characterised by the coexistence of at least three habitats within a short distance between the coastline and the inland mountains, suitable for a wide variety of species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the kinematics of the coupled Helminthoid Flysch-Marguareis Unit outcropping in the High Tanaro Valley in order to constraint the tectonic evolution of the Western Ligurian Alps. Field mapping highlights a tectonic pile composed of, from top to bottom: theMarguareis Unit (Briançonnais Domain); theHelminthoid FlyschUnit (Ligurian Domain) and several continentalderived tectonic slices (Chambeuil Slices) showing affinity to the Briançonnais Domain. Each unit recorded different deformation histories represented by pre-, syn- and post-stacking structures. The syn-stacking structures are represented by thrusts and folds, both responsible for the coupling of the units and for their current structural relationships. In other sectors of the Alpine chain previous authors have highlighted similar structural architectures. We maintain that syn-stacking deformation events played a key role in the tectonic evolution of theWestern Ligurian Alps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Corsica, continental units (the Lower Units) affected by high-pressure metamorphism represent the remains of the European margin deformed during the Alpine orogeny. In order to document how Alpine deformation and metamorphism changed along the European margin involved in the Alpine subduction, we selected three key areas: the Corte, Cima Pedani, and Ghisoni transects. The three transects show a broadly similar lithostratigraphy. They are characterized by a Variscan basement intruded by Permo-Carboniferous metagranitoids, and by a sedimentary cover including Mesozoic carbonates and middle to late Eocene breccias and sandstones. The three transects recorded a similar deformation history with three deformation phases. Thermo-baric estimations, instead, reveal that each unit was exhumed along an independent retrograde path within the orogenic Alpine wedge. In particular, the lowest units of the Lower Units stack were exhumed along an isothermal path, whereas those located at upper structural levels experienced progressive heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the Boyalı area, northern Turkey, the tectonic units of the İstanbul–Zonguldak Terrane and the IntraPontide suture zone are thrust over the deposits at the top of the Sakarya Terrane, known as Taraklı Flysch. It consists of Early Maastrichtian–Middle Paleocene turbidite and mass-gravity deposits, whose source mainly corresponds to the İstanbul–Zonguldak Terrane, and, with a lesser extent, to the IntraPontide suture zone. These deposits were sedimented in a foredeep basin developed during the convergence between Sakarya and Eurasian continental microplates. In the Late Paleocene–Early Eocene time span, the Taraklı Flysch was deformed (D1 phase) during the closure of the foredeep basin. In the Miocene time, the strike-slip tectonics (D2 phase) related to the North-Anatolian fault produced further deformations of the Taraklı Flysch. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Borbera Valley (northwestern Italy) is located in a complex geological area where the linkage between Alps and Apennines occurs. In this area the Antola Unit (Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene) is unconformably overlain by the Upper Eocene–Miocene succession of the Tertiary Piedmont Basin. The structural analysis indicates the occurrence of a folding phase of Late Oligocene–Early Miocene age, characterised by recumbent F2 folds. These folds are superposed onto D1 structures related to an early folding phase of Middle Eocene, affecting only the Antola Unit. The occurrence of map-scale D2 folding phase structures that affect the Tertiary Piedmont Basin succession suggests that the linkage area between Alps and Apennines was reactivated during the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene. To cite this article: M. Marroni et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 565–572. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Fenes Nappe belongs to the stack of tectonic units cropping out in the southern Apuseni Mts (Romania). It is characterised by a structural history consisting of two folding phases that developed during the time spanning from Early Aptian to Late Maastrichtian. The D1 phase produced west-northwest-verging, isoclinal to very tight folds, associated to a slaty cleavage. The main metamorphic imprint of the Fenes Nappe is linked to this deformation phase; illite and chlorite ‘crystallinity’ values indicate metamorphic conditions of the late diagenesis, close to the diagenetic zone/anchizone boundary. The subsequent D2 phase produced north-northwest-verging, parallel folds, not associated with synkinematic recrystallisation. These phases are interpreted as developed during a structural path, which includes burial at a depth of 8–10 km, followed by exhumation at shallower structural levels. To cite this article: A. Ellero et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 347–354. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]