Pantalla (Pleistocene of Italy)

Where: Italy (42.9° N, 12.4° E: paleocoordinates 42.8° N, 12.3° E)

When: Early/Lower Pleistocene (2.6 - 0.8 Ma)

• The main structural element of the basin is represented by the east-bounding Martana Fault, a N-S trending, west-dipping normal fault that abruptly separates the PlioPleistocene

•basin infill from the Martani Ridge. The fault likely exerted a strong control on local accommodation

•and sedimentation, at least up to Early Pleistocene

•time (Sardella et al., 2012, with references therein).

Environment/lithology: fluvial; silty claystone

• As pointed out by Basilici (1997), at least the southwestern branch of the Tiber Basin has been characterized by a quite uniform depositional history, identifying four lithostratigraphic units, vertically exposed for about 450m: the Fosso Bianco Formation is mainly constituted by silty clays deposited in a large lake system; the Ponte Naja Formation is probably partially heteropic with the uppermost part of the Fosso Bianco Formation, and is the result of the sedimentation activity of an alluvial fan on the lake margin; the Santa Maria di Ciciliano Formation is made up of silty clays and clayey silts deposited in alluvial plain environments, and sand bodies deposited in meandering fluvial channels; the Acquasparta Formation consists of continental carbonates deposited within shallow-lake and wetland environments.

Size class: macrofossils

• The cranium SBAU 337653 is in very good

•state of preservation, although the right zygomatic arch and

•both canines are broken. In addition, the specimen shows

•a diagenetic dorso-ventral compression...Only right I2

• and I3

• are preserved, and

•both canines are broken at the crown base...The right hemimandible SBAU 167337

•is partially embedded in a sand block, together with two

•slender ribs, and is therefore visible only on the labial

•side. In addition, the mandibular branch is broken in the

•middle part, so it was left in the block for not endangering

•its integrity...The lower canine is high and curved...The left calcaneus SBAU 337636

•is virtually complete, since only the lateral tip of the

•sustentaculum tali is broken.

Primary reference: M. Cherin, D. A. Iurino, and R. Sardella. 2013. New well-preserved material of Lynx issiodorensis valdarnensis (Felidae, Mammalia) from the Early Pleistocene of Pantalla (central Italy). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana 52:103-111 [M. Uhen/G. Halstead-Johnson/M. Uhen]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 189026: authorized by Mark Uhen, entered by Guinevive Halstead-Johnson on 28.09.2017, edited by Mark Uhen

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Mammalia
 Proboscidea - Elephantidae
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Equus sp. Linnaeus 1758 horse
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
 Carnivora - Felidae
Lynx issiodorensis Croizet and Jobert 1828 lynx
Acinonyx pardinensis Croizet and Jobert 1828 cheetah
 Carnivora - Canidae
Vulpes sp. Frisch 1775 fox
Canis etruscus Forsyth Major 1877 canine
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Lutraeximia umbra n. gen. n. sp., Lutra sp.
Lutraeximia umbra n. gen. n. sp. Cherin et al. 2016 otter
Lutra sp. Brisson 1762 otter
 Rodentia - Muridae
Apodemus dominans Eurasian field mouse