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[EN] Latest Miocene (MN 13) rhinoceroses from central and northern Italian localities are here described and compared in detail. Rhinoceros specimens have been collected from four localities (Moncucco Torinese, Verduno, Baccinello V3 and Monticino Quarry) and consist of isolated teeth (upper and lower premolars and molars), an almost complete maxilla with I1 and P2-M3, a fragmentary mandible, a p2-p4, a scaphoid and a damaged tibia. A few specimens (isolated teeth from Verduno and Moncucco Torinese and a fragmentary tibia from Baccinello V3) have been generally referred to as Rhinocerotini indet. whilst other remains have been assigned to the species “Dihoplus” megarhinus based on several morphological characters. “D.” megarhinus has been considered a typical Pliocene species, nevertheless it has been recently recorded in several Late Miocene (MN 12 and MN 13) mammal assemblages of the Pannonian Basin. The occurrence of “D.” megarhinus in the latest Turolian of Italy confirms the presence of this species during the Late Miocene in Europe and suggests a dispersal of eastern European taxa in western Europe and Italy during the MN 13 as also testified by other taxa such as Hippotherium, Prolagus sorbinii and Hansdebruijnia sp., [IT] Rispetto ad altre aree d’Europa, i resti di rinoceronti fossili miocenici in Italia sono piuttosto scarsi e poco conosciuti. In questo lavoro vengono descritti e comparati in dettaglio resti di rinoceronte rinvenuti in località del Miocene terminale (MN 13) dell’Italia centrale e settentrionale. I resti di rinoceronte provengono da quattro località: Moncucco Torinese (Piemonte), Verduno (Piemonte), Baccinello V3 (Toscana) e Cava Monticino (Emilia Romagna). Gli esemplari considerati in questo lavoro includono denti isolati (premolari e molari superiori e inferiori), un mascellare quasi completo con I1 e P2-M3, una mandibola frammentaria, p2-p4, uno scafoide ed una tibia danneggiata. Pochi esemplari (denti isolati da Verduno e Moncucco Torinese ed una tibia danneggiata da Baccinello V3) sono stati attribuiti come Rhinocerotini indet. poichè non mostrano caratteristiche mofologiche utili per una discriminazione a livello di genere o specie. Altri resti (ad esempio il mascellare di Baccinello V3 ed i denti superiori isolati di Cava Monticino) sono stati assegnati alla specie “Dihoplus” megarhinus sulla base di diversi caratteri morfologici. I denti di Cava Monticino mostrano alcuni caratteri più evoluti rispetto a quanto osservato negli esemplari di “D.” megarhinus da Baccinello V3, Kávás e altre località mioceniche. Tali caratteri sono stati osservati in alcuni denti isolati rinvenuti nel sito di Montpellier, cronologicamente riferito al Pliocene Inferiore. “D.” megarhinus era considerato un taxon tipico del Pliocene, ma la specie è stata recentemente segnalata nelle associazioni a mammiferi del Miocene terminale (MN 12 e MN 13) del Bacino Pannonico. La comparsa di “D.” megarhinus nel Turoliano terminale in Italia conferma la presenza di questa specie in Europa nel corso del Miocene Superiore e suggerisce una dispersione di taxa dell’Europa Orientale verso Occidente e la Penisola Italiana durante la MN 13 così come testimoniato anche da altri elementi faunistici quali Hippotherium, Prolagus sorbinii e Hansdebruijnia sp., LP thanks the European Commission’s Research Infrastructure Action, EU-SYNTHESYS project AT-TAF-2550, DE-TAF-3049, GB-TAF-2825, HU-TAF-3593, ES-TAF-2997; part of this research received support from the SYNTHESYS Project http://www.synthesys.info/ which is financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” Program.

A number of suture zones exist in Turkey, which is believed to represent the closure of Paleo and NeoTethyan oceanic basins. Regarding the development of the latter oceanic entity, namely Neotethys, the geodynamic evolution of the Intra-Pontide branch, the northernmost one of a number of oceanic basins remains enigmatic. The Intra-Pontide Suture Zone in Northwest Turkey includes several tectonic units most of which are characterized by the occurrence of mafic rocks with distinct geochemical signatures. In this paper, the mafic rocks collected from four of these units (the Domuz Dag Unit, the Saka Unit, the Daday Unit and the Arkot Dag Melange) have been studied in detail along two selected transects. The Domuz Dag Unit is characterized by amphibolites, micaschists and marbles, which have been overprinted by low-grade metamorphism.The Saka Unit is in turn represented by an assemblage of slices of amphibolites, marbles and micaschists metamorphosed under upper amphibolite facies metamorphic conditions in the Late Jurassic time. In these units, the amphibolites and their retrograded counterparts display E-MORB-, OIB- BABB- and IAT-type signatures. The Daday Unit is characterized by metasedimentary and metamafic rocks metamorphosed under blueschist to sub-greenschist facies conditions. The metamafic rocks comprise actinolite-bearing schists and Na-amphibole-bearing varieties possibly derived from basaltic and gabbroic protoliths. They have a wide range of chemical compositions, displaying N-MORB-, E-MORB-, OIB- BABB- and IAT-type signatures. The Arkot Dag Melange consists of a Late Santonian assemblage of slide-blocks mainly represented by basaltic lithologies showing affinities ranging from N-MORB- and IAT- to BABB-type magmas. The geochemical signature of the studied mafic rocks indicates that the tectonic units documented along the two studied transects of the Intra-Pontide Suture Zone have been derived from a supra-subduction zone. This hypothesis corroborates the available data collected from the Ayli Dag Ophiolite Unit cropping out in the westernmost studied transect. This finding can provide new insights for the reconstruction of the geodynamic history of the Intra-Pontide domain.

Integrated 40Ar/39Ar, trace-element, stratigraphic, palaeontological and palaethnological data provide geochronological and biochronological constraints for the sedimentary and tectonic history of a Middle Pleistocene fluvial-lacustrine basin near Rome (Cretone Basin, central Italy), which has yielded a significant record of mammal fossil remains and Palaeolithic industry. This work is a case study of the interplay between tectonics and glacio-eustacy, which strongly influenced the evolution of the Tyrrhenian Sea margin of central Italy. Dating of tephra layers interbedded within the Cretone Basin lacustrine succession and reconstruction of relict terraced surfaces allow correlation with similar, geochronologically constrained, marine isotopic stages (MIS) 15-5 terraced deposits along the coast. Coupled extensional tectonics and regional uplift over the last 600 ka caused the progressive uplifting and westward migration of the main fluvial-lacustrine basin and the formation of a smaller satellite basin at its eastern margin. Here, stable environmental conditions during MIS 13-5 indicated continuous human and large mammal frequentation, as testified by lithic industry and fossil remains ascribable to the Acheulean and later early Middle Palaeolithic technocomplexes and Galerian-Aurelian mammal faunas, respectively. In addition to providing independent age constraints to glacial sea-level oscillations of this region, the reconstructed chronostratigraphic setting for the Cretone Basin provides evidence for one of the oldest Acheulean lithic assemblage of central Italy, as well as new biochronological and palaeobiogeographical data for some Middle Pleistocene mammal species of Italy.