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Bianucci, Giovanni; Landini, Walter
(detail)
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2003 |
Metaxytherium medium (Mammalia: Sirenia) from Upper Miocene sediments of the Arenaria di Ponsano Formation (Tuscany, Italy).
Riv. Ital. Pal. Strat. 109(3): 567-573. 5 figs. 2 pls. Nov. 2003.
–Describes the first Mioc. sirs. from Tuscany: skull roofs, jugal, squamosal and scapula fragments, humeri, vertebra fragments, and ribs. These are considered early Tortonian in age (10.5-8.14 Ma).
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Bianucci, Giovanni; Carone, Giuseppe; Domning, Daryl Paul; Landini, Walter; Rook, Lorenzo; Sorbi, Silvia
(detail)
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2008 |
Peri-Messinian dwarfing in Mediterranean Metaxytherium (Mammalia: Sirenia): evidence of habitat degradation related to the Messinian Salinity Crisis. In: N.T. Boaz, A. El-Arnauti, P. Pavlakis, & M.J. Salem (eds.), Circum-Mediterranean geology and biotic evolution during the Neogene Period: the perspective from Libya.
Garyounis Scientific Bull., Special Issue 5: 145-157. 4 tabs. 1 fig.
–Summ.: [G. Carone], Bol. Gruppo Paleontologico Tropeano 10: 3-5, 5 figs., Dec. 2004.
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Bianucci, Giovanni; Gatt, Michael; Catanzariti, Rita; Sorbi, Silvia; Bonavia, Charles G.; Curmi, Richard; Varola, Angelo
(detail)
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2011 |
Systematics, biostratigraphy and evolutionary pattern of the Oligo-Miocene marine mammals from the Maltese Islands.
Geobios 44(6): 549-585. 28 figs. + 7 tables in online supplementary material. DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2011.02.009 Nov./Dec. 2011.
–Indet. sirs., 550-551, 555-556, 558, 560, 574-577, 579-581.
ABSTRACT: An overview of the upper Oligocene-upper Miocene marine sediments outcropping in the Maltese Islands provides a detailed stratigraphical setting of several marine mammal assemblages. The studied fossil material collected within the entire sequence, is now kept in the National Museum of Natural History of Mdina (Malta). Nannoplankton analysis of some selected sections, where mammal remains have been discovered, is also undertaken. The fossil marine mammals, consisting mostly of isolated ear bones and teeth, are referred to cetaceans (both mysticetes and odontocetes), sirenians, and pinnipeds. The cetacean record evidences an evolutionary pattern that agrees with the Oligo-Miocene general trend, characterized by the progressive rarefaction and disappearance of archaic families (squalodontids, waipatiids, and, maybe, mammalodontids), and by the appearance and diversification of the extant families represented within younger strata (kogiids, pontoporiids and ziphiids). Pontoporiids, waipatiids, and tentatively mammalodontids are here reported for the first time in the Mediterranean, while the kogiid record represents the only sure Miocene evidence of this family in the Mediterranean. The geographical distribution of the mammalodontids and the waipatiids, based on the Maltese and extra-Mediterranean records, supports an open communication between the Proto-Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific during the late Oligocene. Sirenians are represented by several dugongid pachyosteosclerotic rib fragments, collected from upper Oligocene through upper Miocene sediments. Pinnipeds are represented by a femur fragment from the Serravallian, referred to an indeterminate monachine, a phocid subfamily already reported from the Mio-Pliocene of the Mediterranean.
RÉSUMÉ: Une vue d'ensemble des sédiments marins de l'Oligocène supérieur-Miocène supérieur affleurant dans les îles maltaises, complétée par une analyse du nannoplancton de quelques coupes sélectionnées, fournit un cadre stratigraphique détaillé pour plusieurs assemblages de mammifères marins, connus sur la base de restes fossiles collectés tout au long de la séquence et conservés au Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle de Mdina (Malte). Les restes de mammifères marins, consistant principalement en os de l'oreille et dents isolés, sont raportés aux cétacés (mysticètes et odontocètes), siréniens et pinnipèdes. Le registre des cétacés montre une évolution des faunes en accord avec la tendance générale pour l'Oligo-Miocène, caractérisée par la raréfaction progressive et la disparition des familles archaïques (squalodontidés, waipatiidés et, peut-être, mammalodontidés) et par l'apparition et l'augmentation de la diversité des familles modernes, présentes dans les strates les plus récentes (kogiidés, pontoporiidés et ziphiidés). Les signalements de pontoporiidés, mammalodontidés et waipatiidés sont les premiers pour la Méditerranée, alors que l'identification d'un kogiidé est la seule preuve tangible de la présence de cette famille dans le Miocène de Méditerranée. Sur la base des identifications maltaises et extra-méditerranéennes, la distribution géographique des mammalodontidés et des waipatiidés soutient l'hypothèse d'une voie de communication entre la Proto-Méditerranée et la région indo-pacifique au cours de l'Oligocène supérieur. Le registre des siréniens consiste principalement en plusieurs fragments de côtes pachyostéosclérosées de dugongidé, collectées en continu dans les sédiments de l'Oligocène supérieur au Miocène supérieur. Les pinnipèdes sont représentés par un fragment de fémur, daté du Serravallien, rapporté à un monachiné indéterminé, une sous-famille de phocidés déjà signalée dans le Mio-Pliocène de Méditerranée.
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Tinelli, Chiara; Ribolini, Adriano; Bianucci, Giovanni; Bini, Monica; Landini, Walter
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2012 |
Ground penetrating radar and palaeontology: The detection of sirenian fossil bones under a sunflower field in Tuscany (Italy).
Comptes Rendus Palevol 11: 445-454. 7 figs. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2012.04.002 Available online July 19, 2012.
–French summ.
ABSTRACT: The application of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) in vertebrate palaeontology is very rare. We describe the discovery of an Early Pliocene sirenian skeleton detected by GPR in a locality near Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy). The specimen represents one of the most complete skeletons of Metaxytherium subapenninum (Mammalia: Sirenia) ever found in the Mediterranean area. Using a monostatic antenna of 200 MHz, this non-invasive technique allowed us to detect most of the bones of the skeleton (skull, mandible, vertebrae and ribs) revealed in a distinct zone reflecting the electromagnetic waves. Other bones were found in correspondence with some smaller reflective zones of high back-scattered energy. Each bone was located in a grid system to compare its position with the spatial distribution of reflective zones. We are confident that the positive outcomes experienced in this work will encourage the use of GPR for future field research in vertebrate palaeontology.
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Bianucci, Giovanni; Pesci, Fabio; Collareta, Alberto; Tinelli, Chiara
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2019 |
A new Monodontidae (Cetacea, Delphinoidea) from the lower Pliocene of Italy supports a warm-water origin for narwhals and white whales.
Jour. Vert. Paleo. 39(3): e1645148 (10 pp.). Cover illustration & 7 figs. + online supplemental data. "May 2019" (publ. online Aug. 22, 2019).
–Describes the cetacean Casatia thermophila, gen. et sp. nov., from lower Pliocene (lower Zanclean, 5.1–4.5 Ma) marginal-marine deposits of Arcille, Tuscany (central Italy). States that 5 skeletons of Metaxytherium subapenninum were found in the same deposit, including one from the same horizon as the cetacean holotype (2, 6-8).
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Pandolfi, Luca; Collareta, Alberto; Bianucci, Giovanni; Contessi, Michela; Rook, Lorenzo; Sorbi, Silvia
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2022 |
A large tusk of Metaxytherium (Dugongidae, Sirenia, Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Montebamboli (southern Tuscany, Italy): evolutionary and paleoecological implications.
Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana 61(2): 159-166. 4 figs.
–ABSTRACT - An isolated large tusk, belonging to the historical finds of the Collezione di Geologia "Museo Giovanni Capellini" (Bologna, Italy) and originally identified as belonging to a hippopotamus, is here described and reassigned to the genus Metaxytherium (Dugongidae, Sirenia, Mammalia). According to the museum label, this specimen originates from the now-exhausted lignite deposits of Montebamboli (Tuscany, central Italy); the latter are late Tortonian to early Messinian in age and were deposited in a lacustrine environment. The Montebamboli tusk displays strong similarities with an elderly Metaxytherium subapenninum specimen from the Pliocene deposits of Bra (Piedmont, northern Italy) as well as with an isolated Metaxytherium tusk, now apparently lost, from Miocene deposits of Son Morelló (Mallorca, Spain). The Late Miocene occurrence of a large-tusked Metaxytherium in the Mediterranean Basin calls into question the anagenetic trend previously proposed for the Euro-North African species of Metaxytherium, thus also stimulating further research on the intra- and interspecific tusk size variability within this lineage. Furthermore, this specimen represents the first record of a marine species from the lignites of Montebamboli, indicating the proximity of marine settings.
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Bibliography and Index of the Sirenia and Desmostylia 