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A large-sized species of Parasorex is common in the MN 13 mammal assemblages from the uppermost Messinian sandy-marly fissure fillings within the Gessoso Solfifera Formation at Brisighella (Northern Apennine). This erinaceid has been classified as Galerix sp. in the first papers on the Brisighella fauna. Later, it was described in detail in an unpublished Ph.D. dissertation by Fanfani (1999), who referred it to Galerix depereti. Van den Hoek Ostende (2001) included G. depereti in the genus Parasorex, Parasorex depereti has been described by Crochet (1986) on scarce material from a few Early Pliocene (MN 14–15) localities of southern France and Spain. Parasorex cf. depereti has been reported from the Early Pliocene fauna of Capo Mannu (Mandriola, Sardinia; Furió and Angelone 2010). The species seems actually distributed in south-western Europe, where it represents the youngest occurrence of the genus Parasorex. The very abundant sample of P. depereti from fissure filling BRS 25 enables a more accurate and comprehensive description of the species. It also permits inspection of the mesial elements of the dentition, which were lacking in the material examined by Crochet (1986). The systematic position of the species has been revisited and compared with those of other Galericini of the Parasorex group.

A paleosurface with a concentration of wooden-, bone-, and stone-tools interspersed among an accumulation of fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, was found at the bottom of a pool, fed by hot springs, that was excavated at Poggetti Vecchi, near Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy). The site is radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene, around 171,000 years BP. Notable is the association of the artifacts with the elephant bones, and in particular the presence of digging sticks made from boxwood (Buxus sp.). Although stone tools show evidence of use mainly on animal tissues, indicating some form of interaction between hominins and animals, the precise use of the sticks is unclear. Here we discuss about the role played by the hominins at the site: paleobiological and taphonomic evidence indicates that the elephants died by a natural cause and were butchered soon after their death. The associated paleontological and archeological evidence from this site provides fresh insights into the behavior of early Neanderthals in Central Italy. The discovery of Poggetti Vecchi shows how opportunistically flexible Neanderthals were in response to environmental contingencies.

• Revision of Deinogalerix remains from the Terre Rosse of Gargano stored at the University of Florence. • The material was assigned mainly to D. freudenthali, D. intermedius and D. minor. • The material improves our knowledge of the small and primitive species D. freudenthali. • The study confirms the validity of the lineages D. minor-D. brevirostris and D. intermedius-D. koenigswaldi.

Work on thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi in Grosseto, Italy, exposed an up to 3-meter-thick succession of seven sedimentary units. Unit 2 in the lower portion of the succession contained vertebrate bones, mostly of the straight-tusked elephant, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, commingled with stone, bone, and wooden tools. Thermal carbonates overlying Unit 2 are radiometrically dated to the latter part of the middle Pleistocene. This time span indicates that early Neanderthals produced the human artifacts from Poggetti Vecchi. The elephant bones belong to seven individuals of different ages. Sedimentary facies analysis and paleoecological evidence suggest a narrow lacustrine-palustrine embayment affected by water-level fluctuations and, at times, by hydrothermal water. Cyclic lake-level variations were predominantly forced by the rapid climatic fluctuations that occurred at Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6–7 transition and throughout the MIS 6. Possibly an abrupt, intense, and protracted cold episode during the onset of MIS 6 led to the sudden death of the elephants, which formed an unexpected food resource for the humans of the area. The Poggetti Vecchi site adds new information on the behavioral plasticity and food procurement strategies that early Neanderthals were able to develop in Italy during the middle to the late Pleistocene transition.