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Fish otoliths from the Middle Pleistocene deposits of Montalbano Jonico (Southern Italy)
No full textMessapicetus longirostris a new genus and species of Ziphiidae (Cetacea) from the Late Miocene of "Pietra leccese" (Apulia; Italy)
No full textA new genus and species of Ziphiidae (Cetacea), Messapicetus longirostris from lower Tortonian sediments of "Pietra leccese', collected in Cisterna quarry (Lecce), are described. This new genus shows resemblance with Ziphirostrum from the late Miocene of Belgium, but its more elongated rostrum and its laterally compressed braincase warrant a distinction at genus and species level. Well preserved specimens of ziphiids are not common in the fossil record, so Messapicetus longirostris provides a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships of this family. -Author
Kentriodontidae (Odontoceti, Cetacea) from Miocene sediments of the Pietra leccese (Apulia, Italy)
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New records of Metaxytherium (Mammalia: Sirenia) from the late Miocene of Cisterna quarry (Apulia, southern Italy)
No full textNew records of Metaxytherium (Mammalia: Sirenia) from Tortonian (late Miocene) sediments of Cisterna quarry, Apulia (southern Italy) are described. They are two fragmentary specimens consisting of a skull roof with one associated rib and one isolated rib. On the basis of this datum and other published and unpublished records, Metaxytherium occurred relatively frequently and with a wide geographical distribution in the Mediterranean during the Miocene. In particular, high frequency and wide distribution have been observed in the late Miocene for the species M. medium, the only recorded in the Mediterranean during this time interval
Relationships of Messapicetus longirostris (Cetacea, Ziphiidae) from the Miocene of south Italy
No full textMessapicetus longirostris Bianucci, Landini & Varola, 1992 (Cetacea, Ziphiidae) is known from a nearly complete skull collected in the lower Tortonian sediments of the Pietra leccese formation, at Cavallino near Lecce (Apulia, Italy). The peculiar morphology and significant lengthening of the rostrum suggests that there exists a particular trophic specialization related to the search for food at the sea bottom. Besides Messapicetus, only four fossil genera of Ziphiidae with well preserved skull remains are known. This family is uncommon in the Miocene Mediterranean Basin, even if some isolated periotics, previously referred to other families, belong, in our opinion, to the Ziphiidae
First discovery of the Miocene morthen Atlantic sperm whale Orycterocetus in the Mediterranean
No full textAn incomplete mandible of a fossil sperm whale (Odontoceti; Physeteridae) is described. It is a portion of elongated and narrow symphysis with cylindrical and slightly curved teeth without enamel. The specimen, collected from the Miocene "Pietra leccese" sediments of South Italy, appears to represent a species of Orycterocetus, and is the first such record from the Mediterranean. Considering the wide diffusion of Orycterocetus in the North Atlantic, we believe its rare presence in the Mediterranean as occasional and due to a certain degree of interchange between the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic cetacean fauna during the Miocene. © 2004 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved
Makaira nigricans Lacèpede, 1802 (Teleostei:Perciformes:Istiophoridae) from the Pietra Leccese, Late Miocene, Apulia Southern Italy
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