Occurrence of Crocuta (Carnivora, Hyaenidae) from a potential Middle Pleistocene site at Pirro Nord (Apricena, southern Italy)

Abstract

The Pirro Nord quarry has yielded evidence of one of the earliest hominin presences in western Europe, accompanied by an extremely rich and diverse collection of vertebrate remains, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, and small and large mammals. The different Early Pleistocene sites of Pirro Nord are considered biochronologically homogeneous and indeed characterise the Pirro Nord Faunal Unit, customarily considered ~1.6–1.3 Ma, although younger numerical ages, clustering at ~0.8 Ma, have been obtained by a recent study. Recently, material recovered during the earliest fieldwork campaigns at Pirro Nord (1969–1971) has been rediscovered in Bari, and it is currently under examination. During this revision, we identified the presence of Crocuta , a hyena that spread in Europe ~0.8 Ma, from a site labelled Pirro III, which may therefore be dated to the latest Early Pleistocene or may be even younger. This finding does not imply that the rest of the fauna of Pirro Nord is younger than previously thought, but it confirms that younger deposits were present.

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