TY - JOUR
T1 - Middle Pleistocene Hippopotamus amphibius (Mammalia, Hippopotamidae) from southern Europe
T2 - Implications for morphology, morphometry and biogeography
AU - Martino, Roberta
AU - Marra, Fabrizio
AU - Beccari, Victor
AU - Ríos, Maria Ibanez
AU - Pandolfi, Luca
N1 - Funding Information:
RM is granted by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) [2021.08458.BD], Erasmus+ grant [29,191(532)105/2022/SMT
], and SYNTHESYS + [DE-TAF-TA4-063 2022]. MRI is granted by the Stimulus of Scientific Employment, Individual Support – 2018 Call grant by the FCT [CEECIND/02199/2018]. This research was also supported FCT - Fundação para a Ciencia e a Tecnología, I.P through the Research Unit UIDB/04035/2020 (DOI: 10.54499/UIDB/04035/2020). VB is granted by DFG grant [RA 1012/28–1]. LP is granted by SYNTHESYS + [BE-TAF-136]. This work is part of the project P2022RZ4PL funded by the European Union—Next Generation EU, call RIN 2022 PNRR (granted to LP).
Funding Information:
RM is granted by the Funda\u00E7\u00E3o para a Ci\u00EAncia e a Tecnologia (FCT) [2021.08458.BD], Erasmus+ grant [29,191(532)105/2022/SMT], and SYNTHESYS + [DE-TAF-TA4-063 2022]. MRI is granted by the Stimulus of Scientific Employment, Individual Support \u2013 2018 Call grant by the FCT [CEECIND/02199/2018]. This research was also supported FCT - Funda\u00E7\u00E3o para a Ciencia e a Tecnolog\u00EDa, I.P through the Research Unit UIDB/04035/2020 (DOI: 10.54499/UIDB/04035/2020). VB is granted by DFG grant [RA 1012/28\u20131]. LP is granted by SYNTHESYS + [BE-TAF-136]. This work is part of the project P2022RZ4PL funded by the European Union\u2014Next Generation EU, call PRIN 2022 PNRR (granted to LP).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2024/5/1
Y1 - 2024/5/1
N2 - Hippopotamuses were present in Western Europe during the Pleistocene with at least two continental species: Hippopotamus antiquus and H. amphibius. The former was the large European hippopotamus, which appeared in the fossil record around 2 Ma and successfully spread across Europe before its last appearance datum (LAD) in Portugal and Greece, dated to 0.4 Ma. The extant hippopotamus, H. amphibius, first occurred in Africa around 1.5 Ma, and was well-established in Europe during the Late Pleistocene; however, its first occurrence datum (FOD) in Europe is still highly debated. Most of the H. amphibius remains collected from Middle Pleistocene localities are either badly preserved and fragmented or lacking clear stratigraphical data, in turn leading to doubtful specific attributions. A well-preservedmandible herein described, collected from Fosso Malafede (Latium, central Italy), allows to re-assess the occurrence of H. amphibius and to critically revise its earliest records. The morphological and morphometric characters of the studied remain, such as the general robustness of the studied mandible, the convex ventral profile of the mandibular corpus, the length of the teeth series, and the shape of the sagittal cross section of the mandibular symphysis, allow us to ascribe it to Hippopotamus amphibius. Fosso Malafede has been chronologically assigned to MIS 7 (∼0.25 Ma) and represents one of the best preserved H. amphibius specimen of the Middle Pleistocene of the European mainland. Accordingly, we discuss biochronological and paleobiogeographic implications, suggesting a critical revision of several remains from the Middle Pleistocene of southern Europe.
AB - Hippopotamuses were present in Western Europe during the Pleistocene with at least two continental species: Hippopotamus antiquus and H. amphibius. The former was the large European hippopotamus, which appeared in the fossil record around 2 Ma and successfully spread across Europe before its last appearance datum (LAD) in Portugal and Greece, dated to 0.4 Ma. The extant hippopotamus, H. amphibius, first occurred in Africa around 1.5 Ma, and was well-established in Europe during the Late Pleistocene; however, its first occurrence datum (FOD) in Europe is still highly debated. Most of the H. amphibius remains collected from Middle Pleistocene localities are either badly preserved and fragmented or lacking clear stratigraphical data, in turn leading to doubtful specific attributions. A well-preservedmandible herein described, collected from Fosso Malafede (Latium, central Italy), allows to re-assess the occurrence of H. amphibius and to critically revise its earliest records. The morphological and morphometric characters of the studied remain, such as the general robustness of the studied mandible, the convex ventral profile of the mandibular corpus, the length of the teeth series, and the shape of the sagittal cross section of the mandibular symphysis, allow us to ascribe it to Hippopotamus amphibius. Fosso Malafede has been chronologically assigned to MIS 7 (∼0.25 Ma) and represents one of the best preserved H. amphibius specimen of the Middle Pleistocene of the European mainland. Accordingly, we discuss biochronological and paleobiogeographic implications, suggesting a critical revision of several remains from the Middle Pleistocene of southern Europe.
KW - 3D Geometric Morphometric
KW - Hippopotamus
KW - Quaternary
KW - Virtual restoration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85189432493&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108613
DO - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108613
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85189432493
SN - 0277-3791
VL - 331
JO - Quaternary Science Reviews
JF - Quaternary Science Reviews
M1 - 108613
ER -