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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

RESUMO: A dispersão de hipopótamos de África para a Europa no Pleistocénico inferior tem sido amplamente discutida. A maioria dos autores propõe uma única entrada de formas semelhantes à espécie africana Hippopotamus gorgops, denominada Hip. antiquus ao entrar na Europa. No entanto, outros autores propõem uma primeira entrada de formas semelhantes ao táxon africano Hip. kaisensis, chamado Hip. antiquus ao entrar na Europa, e uma segunda entrada de formas semelhantes ao Hip. gorgops, chamado Hip. tiberinus ao entrar na Europa. Neste trabalho, avaliamos o estado da arte do debate, revisando o registo fóssil de hipopótamos e destacamos os últimos achados em locais da África Central à Europa e suas possíveis passagens. ABSTRACT: The dispersal of the genus Hippopotamus from Africa to Europe in the Early Pleistocene has been widely discussed in the last decades. Most authors propose a single entry of forms similar to the African species Hippopotamus gorgops, named H. antiquus upon entering Europe. However, other authors propose a first entry of forms similar to the African taxon H. kaisensis, named H. antiquus upon entering Europe, and an Early Pleistocene second entry of forms similar to H. gorgops, named H. tiberinus upon entering Europe. In this work we evaluated the current state of the debate reviewing the fossil record of genus Hippopotamus highlighting the last findings in sites from central Africa to Europe and their possible passageways. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Cova 120 is a karstic originated horizontal gallery of approx. 25m located in the southern side of the Eastern Pyrenees at 460m a.s.l. Field surveys conducted from 1985 to 1989 and, more recently, from 2003 to 2006 enabled us to describe a long chronological sequence comprised between the Bronze Age (layers II-III) and the Middle-Late Pleistocene (layers IV-IX, from 57,9 Ka to MIS7) (Agustí et al. 1991; Martín and Terradas, 2007). Here we describe, for the first time, the vertebrate assemblage from the lower layers of the assemblage (MIS4-7). The preliminary faunal list is composed by: Panthera pardus, Lynx pardinus, Felis sylvestris, Ursus spelaeus s.l., Crocuta sp., Canis lupus, Vulpes vulpes, Capra pyrenaica, Cervus elaphus, Bos/Bison, Marmota marmota, Oryctolagus cuniculus, Microtus oeconomus, M. nivalis, M. arvalis-agrestis, M. duodecimcostatus, Pliomys lenki, Glis glis, Eliomys quericinus, Apodemus sylvaticus and Spermophilus sp. The mammal assemblage is composed basically by more than 70% remains of Capra and secondarily carnivores, specifically P. pardus (3%) and Ursus (6%). The primary taphonomic analyses suggest that this accumulation was produced, mainly by leopards as happened in the really close Cova S’Espasa site (Sauqué et al., 2018), however other accumulation agents as hominins or small carnivores as Lynx or Vulpes are not a priori discarded.

Dentognathic remains of European Middle Pleistocene Vulpini are scarce and fragmentary. They have classically been attributed to several species, but many taxonomic and phylogenetic uncertainties remain. Here we describe a fox well-preserved maxilla with associated mandible from the Middle Pleistocene layers of the Vallparadís Section (EVT3; ca. 0.6 Ma; Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) and compare them with the known fossil record of Vulpes from roughly contemporary European localities. The studied Vulpes remains described here differ from Early Pleistocene Vulpes alopecoides (including its junior synonyms V. praeglacialis and V. praecorsac) in several dentognathic features (less individualized P4 protocone; M2 paracone larger than the metacone; more robust mandibular corpus, and stouter m1 with reduced metaconid) and most closely resemble extant Vulpes vulpes. The large size of the described remains also contrasts with the small dimensions of V. alopecoides and fits better within the variability of the extant red fox. We conclude that the studied specimens, like other available Middle Pleistocene fox remains from Europe, are attributable to the extant species V. vulpes. Therefore, the EVT3 remains represent the first well-dated appearance datum of the species in Europe., RIVISTA ITALIANA DI PALEONTOLOGIA E STRATIGRAFIA , V. 127 N. 1 (2021)

L'estudi del "llegendari" ós cavernari, Ursus spelaeus, ha permès donar a conèixer alguns aspectes sobre la seva biologia, ecologia i història evolutiva. La seva vida va transcórrer en un mitjà hostil en el qual, per a sobreviure, va aconseguir adaptar el seu cos a les inclemències de les glaciacions; però també va modificar la seva dieta. Com va poder realitzar tots aquests canvis? El descobriment en 2011 de restes fòssils del seu predecessor, Ursus deningeri en un jaciment del sud de França ha proporcinat inflormació valiosa per comprendre aquest tipus de qüestions. L'estudi, liderat per investigadors del Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP) en col·laboració amb altres institucions i amb la UAB ha permès realitzar algunes conclusions sobre el seu canvi d'alimentació. El estudio del "legendario" oso cavernario, Ursus spelaeus, ha permitido dar a conocer algunos aspectos sobre su biología, ecología e historia evolutiva. Su vida transcurrió en un medio hostil en el que, para sobrevivir, consiguió adaptar su cuerpo a las inclemencias de las glaciaciones; pero también modificó su dieta. ¿Cómo pudo realizar todos estos cambios? El descubrimiento en 2011 de restos fósiles de su predecesor, Ursus deningeri, en un yacimiento del sur de Francia ha aportado información valiosa para comprender este tipo de cuestiones. El estudio lo ha liderado investigadores del Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP). The study of the "legendary" cave bear Ursus spelaeus has made it possible to reveal certain aspects of its biology, ecology and evolutionary history. The lives of these bears passed through a hostile environment in which they managed to adapt their body to the harsh conditions of the ice ages in order to survive; however, they also modified their diet. How could this species make all these changes? The discovery in 2011 of fossil remains of its predecessor, Ursus deningeri, at a site in southern France has provided valuable information to help understand these types of issues. The study was led by researchers from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP).