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The region of Umbria (Central Italy) represents one of the most interesting areas for the study of Mediterranean Plio-Pleistocene mammal faunas due to the occurrence of numerous paleontological deposits. Most of the fossils have been discovered within the Tiberino Basin, which extends across the centre of the territory for ca. 1800 km2, and the small Tavernelle-Pietrafitta Basin, south of Lake Trasimeno. Herein, we provide an additional report on an assemblage within continental deposits from the locality of Vigna Nuova (Piegaro, Perugia) in the Valdichiana Basin, which are observed to crop out in only a few areas of western Umbria. Taphonomic and geological evidence, coupled with rare excavation notes, have allowed the sample to be divided into two assemblages. The younger was collected from the conglomerates (here called "upper layer") which are still visible on the outcrop and is composed only of remains of cf. Leptobos. The data obtained from this fragmentary sample together with some sedimentological-stratigraphic considerations suggest that it can be correlated with other well-known Valdichiana assemblages (e.g., Selvella, Farneta), dated at ca. 1.5 Ma. The older sub-sample comes from a putative paleosol (here called "lower layer") no longer visible in the field. It includes cf. Megantereon, Canis sp., Mustelidae indet., Proboscidea indet., Equus cf. senezensis, cf. Leptobos, Croizetoceros ramosus, Pseudodama sp., Cervidae indet. (large size), and Sus cf. strozzii. This assemblage can be referred to the Coste San Giacomo Faunal Unit (late Middle Villafranchian; ca. 2.2-2.1 Ma). It represents the first wellpreserved sample of this age in Umbria and one of the few recorded in Italy, opening new interesting research perspectives on the distribution of mammals within the Peninsula and also on the stratigraphy and evolution of the Valdichiana Basin. "Aggiungeva che per scavare le poche ossa che mi avrebbe subito inviate aveva dovuto faticare enormemente e lottare per due giorni contro ogni sorta di difficoltà. Ricevuto il graditissimo invio mi affrettai a consolidare e restaurare con ogni cura quelle primizie ed oggi sono lieto di poter annunziare, in così solenne adunanza, la interessante scoperta…" ("He added that in order to excavate the few bones that he would immediately send me he had had to work enormously and struggle for two days against all sorts of difficulties. Having received the very welcome shipment, I hastened to consolidate and restore those fruits of the soil with every care and today I am pleased to be able to announce, in such a solemn meeting, the interesting discovery…"). Giovanni Capellini, 1890

Fossil footprints are very useful palaeontological tools. Their features can help to identify their makers and also to infer biological as well as behavioural information. Nearly all the hominin tracks discovered so far are attributed to species of the genus Homo. The only exception is represented by the trackways found in the late 1970s at Laetoli, which are thought to have been made by three Australopithecus afarensis individuals about 3.66 million years ago. We have unearthed and described the footprints of two more individuals at Laetoli, who were moving on the same surface, in the same direction, and probably in the same timespan as the three found in the 1970s, apparently all belonging to a single herd of bipedal hominins walking from south to north. The estimated stature of one of the new individuals (about 1.65 m) exceeds those previously published for Au. afarensis. This evidence supports the existence of marked morphological variation within the species. Considering the bipedal footprints found at Laetoli as a whole, we can hypothesize that the tallest individual may have been the dominant male, the others smaller females and juveniles. Thus, considerable differences may have existed between sexes in these human ancestors, similar to modern gorillas.

Olduvai Gorge (northern Tanzania) is one of the best known and most iconic palaeontological and archaeological sites in the world. In more than a century of research it has yielded an impressive record of fossils and stone tools which stands as a compendium of human evolution in the context of environmental changes of East Africa in the last 2 Ma. Recent field work in the DK site at Olduvai lead to the retrieval of a partial crocodile cranium nicknamed Black Sun because it was discovered during an annular solar eclipse. The specimen is here described and compared with extinct and extant African crocodylids. The new cranium can be referred to Crocodylus anthropophagus, a Pleistocene species hitherto found only in Olduvai Gorge. Thanks to the good preservation of the skull table, its morphology is here characterised for the first time. Black Sun represents to date the earliest (ca. 1.9–1.85 Ma) and the most informative cranium of C. anthropophagus in the fossil record. Our phylogenetic analysis supports a strict relationship between C. anthropophagus and Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni, a large species from the Plio-Pleistocene of the Turkana Basin (Kenya). These two sister taxa share a combination of characters which places them at the base of Crocodylus, providing an intriguing element to the debate on the African or extra-African origin of this genus., RIVISTA ITALIANA DI PALEONTOLOGIA E STRATIGRAFIA , V. 127 N. 2 (2021)

Fossil footprints are of great interest. A number of features help to identify their makers and can be used to investigate on biological and ecological issues. This is of crucial interest in palaeoanthropology, particularly in view of the emergence of our peculiar pattern of posture and locomotion. However, hominin footprints are rare and most of them are ascribed to the genus Homo. The only exception is represented by the trackways discovered in 1978 at Laetoli Site G, northern Tanzania, and referred to Australopithecus afarensis. These footprints were left on volcanic ashes about 3.66 million years ago by three bipedal creatures walking on a humid layer that was subsequently cemented. At Laetoli Site S (about 150 meters from Site G), we have unearthed new bipedal footprints of two different individuals, who were moving on the same palaeosurface, in the same direction and at the same speed as the three exposed at Site G. Our analysis based on advanced photogrammetric methods shows that the estimated stature and related body mass of one of the new individuals greatly exceed the estimates for those from Site G. This evidence supports marked intraspecific variation, pointing out the occurrence of a considerable difference in size between sexes and suggesting inferences on reproductive behaviour and social structure of these ancient bipedal hominins. A research project combined with conservation plans urgently needs to be developed and submitted to the Tanzanian Authorities for the knowledge, preservation and valorisation of such an extraordinary cultural heritage.

The origin and evolution of the cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus , have been the subject of considerable attention because of the species’ highly unusual and specialized morphology. In this chapter we review current knowledge concerning its relationship to other living felids, as well as its evolutionary roots, as inferred from fossil, morphological, and genetic data. At present, the data tend to support an Old World origin of the clade that includes Acinonyx , Puma , and the extinct North American genus Miracinonyx . The earliest appearance of the genus Acinonyx in the fossil record is in eastern and southern Africa approximately 4 million years before present, with the extant species first recorded in Africa about 2 million years later.

Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) is the only otter living in Europe today, but the palaeodiversity of this group during the Pleistocene was much higher. Lutra simplicidens Thenius, 1965 is one of the best-known taxa from the European Quaternary fossil record, having been reported in at least eight localities in Central Europe, Britain, Italy and the Azov Sea area, with a stratigraphic occurrence spanning the mid Early to the Middle Pleistocene. However, no cranial remains of this species have been described so far. Here I analyse some unpublished material of L. simplicidens from the early Middle Pleistocene site of Voigtstedt (Germany), which consists of the right and left P4-M1 of the same individual and a complete left humerus. The comparative study of these findings highlights a number of morphological and biometrical similarities between L. simplicidens and some Mediterranean Quaternary otters, such as Lutraeximia umbra Cherin et al., 2016 from central Italy, Lutraeximia trinacriae (Burgio & Fiore, 1988) from Sicily, Sardolutra ichnusae (Malatesta, 1977) from Sardinia and Lutrogale cretensis (Symeonides & Sondaar, 1975) from Crete. These species - together with the living Lutrogale perspicillata (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1826) - form a monophyletic clade, which most probably includes also L. simplicidens, as well as several other Eurasian extinct taxa only known by fragmentary remains. These results confirm the pivotal importance of L. simplicidens for the evolution of European otters and lead to doubts about its taxonomic status, which will be solved with the discovery of new material., Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia (Research In Paleontology and Stratigraphy), V. 123, N. 3 (2017)