Early Pleistocene

Faunistic analisys of vertebrates from “las toscas del Río de La Plata” (Buenos Aires, Argentina): a palaeontological site in disappearance

by Leopoldo Soibelzon

At the coast of the río de la Plata in the Buenos
Aires city lies a classic paleontological site, known as... more At the coast of the río de la Plata in the Buenos
Aires city lies a classic paleontological site, known as “toscas del Río de La Plata” or simple as “las toscas”. It has
been studied for over 120 years and, although it has been widely spread, today is only possible to observe it
during low tide. For this reason, most of the available materials are those collected during the first half of the
XXth century, and that so far have only been incorporated into scarce taxonomic reviews. Among the fossils
collected in “las toscas” highlights Glyptodon munizi Ameghino, Neosclerocalyptus pseudornatus Ameghino,
Mesotherium cristatum Serrés, Arctotherium angustidens Gervais y Ameghino and Theriodictis platensis
(Mercerat); all are exclusive species from the Ensenadan Stage (early to -middle Pleistocene). The sediments of
“las toscas” were deposited during times of normal polarity, more precisely during the “Jaramillo” event (Chron
C1r1n, ca. de 1 Ma). Faunistic evidences (e.g. Tolypeutes, Catagonus) allow to interpret “las toscas” as an open
environment with dry conditions and probably colder than the present.

Fire and vegetation change during the Early Pleistocene in southeastern Australia

by Kale Sniderman

Early Pleistocene vegetation change in upland south-eastern Australia

by Kale Sniderman

Climate and vegetation in southeastern Australia respond to Southern Hemisphere insolation forcing in the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene

by Kale Sniderman

Stratigraphical and palaeontological data from the Early Pleistocene Pirro 10 site of Pirro Nord (Puglia, south eastern Italy)

by Simone Colombero

Homo erectus aux portes de l’Europe. Découvertes d´hominidés de 1,75 million d’années à Dmanisi (Géorgie, Caucase).

by Olaf Jöris

Gabunia et al. 1999: L.K. Gabunia / O. Jöris / A. Justus / D. Lordkipanidze / M. Nioradze / A.K. Vekua (avec coll. à S.C. Anton / G. Bosinski / R.C. Ferring / G.M. Majsuradze / A. Muschelisvili / C.C. Swisher III / M. Tvalcrelidze), Homo erectus aux portes de l’Europe. Découvertes d´hominidés de 1,75 million d’années à Dmanisi (Géorgie, Caucase). L’Archéologue 38 (2000), 46-50.
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„Sub radice tempus iacebat“ - Unter der Wurzel liegt die Zeit.

by Olaf Jöris

Justus / Jöris 1999: A. Justus / O. Jöris, „Sub radice tempus iacebat“ - Unter der Wurzel liegt die Zeit. Antike Welt 30/6, 615.
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Neue Urmenschen-Funde aus Dmanisi (Georgien, Kaukasus).

by Olaf Jöris

Justus / Jöris 1999 (Hrsg.; unpubl.): A. Justus / O. Jöris, Neue Urmenschen-Funde aus Dmanisi (Georgien, Kaukasus). Begleitende Presseinformationen anlässlich der Vortragsveranstaltung am Dienstag, den 28. September 1999, 19:00 Uhr im Museum für die Archäologie des Eiszeitalters, Schloss Monrepos, Neuwied.

Homo erectus bereits vor 1,75 Millionen Jahren an den Schwelle Europas?

by Olaf Jöris

Justus u.a. 2000: A. Justus / O. Jöris / M. Nioradze, Homo erectus bereits vor 1,75 Millionen Jahren an den Schwelle Europas? Archäologie in Deutschland 2/2000, 12-16.
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Earliest Pleistocene Hominid Cranial Remains from Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia: Taxonomy, Geological Setting and Age.

by Olaf Jöris

Gabunia et al. 2000: L. Gabunia / A. Vekua / D. Lordkipanidze / C.C. Swisher III / R. Ferring / A. Justus / M. Nioradze / M. Tvalchrelidze / S.C. Antón / G. Bosinski / O. Jöris / M.-A. de Lumley / G. Maisuradze / A. Mouskhelishvili, Earliest Pleistocene Hominid Cranial Remains from Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia: Taxonomy, Geological Setting and Age. Science 288, 1019-1025.

New Findings of the Remains of Fossil Man from Dmanisi.

by Olaf Jöris

Gabunia et al. 2000: L. Gabunia / A. Vekua / D. Lordkipanidze / G. Bosinski / R. Ferring / O. Jöris / A. Justus / A. Maisuradze / A. Mouskhelishvili / M. Nioradze / D. Sologashvili / C. Swisher / M. Tvalchrelidze, New Findings of the Remains of Fossil Man from Dmanisi. Dziebani 5, 5-14 [in Georgian].
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Gaudzinski, S., 2004. Subsistence patterns of Early Pleistocene hominids in the Levant - Taphonomic evidence from the ‘Ubeidiya Formation (Israel). Journal of Archaeological Science 31, 65-75.

by Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser

This paper reports the results of a taphonomic analysis of 17 faunal assembiages from archaeological horizons of the... more This paper reports the results of a taphonomic analysis of 17 faunal assembiages from archaeological horizons of the Early
Pleistocene ‘Ubeidiya Formation (Israel), focussing in particular on two representative assembiages (I-I5LFII-16 and 11-23).
Cut-rnarks on bones show that hominids interacted with the fauna and point to meat exploitation. In contrast, traces for marrow bone breakage were not observed. The absence of marrow processing at ‘Ubeidiya provides a marked contrast to the bone marrow focussed subsistence based on scavenging proposed by sorne researchers for African early horninids, and this question is discussed in a broader context.
lt is concluded that hunting of medium-sized mammals was probably one of the subsistence strategies available to Early
Pleistocene Levantine hominids.

ATHANASSIOU, A. (2002). A new gazelle species (Artiodactyla, Bovidae) from the Late Pliocene of Greece. Annales Géologiques des Pays Helléniques, XXXIX (A): 299-310.

by Athanassios Athanassiou

A new gazellin species, Gazella aegaea n. sp., is described in the present paper. The studied specimens come from the... more A new gazellin species, Gazella aegaea n. sp., is described in the present paper. The studied specimens come from the localities Sesklo (Magnesia, Thessaly) and Vatera (Lesbos Island). The species is characterised by large size, horn cores with rugged surface and elliptical cross-section, strong and plicate sutures and large, triangular shaped supraorbital foramens. Stratigraphically it is confined to the biozone MN17 (Late Pliocene).

RIVALS F., ATHANASSIOU A. (2008): Dietary adaptations in an ungulate community from the late Pliocene of Greece. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 265 (1-2): 134-139.

by Athanassios Athanassiou

Publisher's site: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.05.001

PDF available on request

The dietary morphological methods of mesowear and microwear were applied to ungulates of the Late Pliocene fauna of... more The dietary morphological methods of mesowear and microwear were applied to ungulates of the Late Pliocene fauna of Sésklo (Thessaly, Greece). The results provide evidence for the predominance of open grassland in the area, as the most common species, Equus stenonis, was a strict grazer. The rare cervid cf. Croizetoceros ramosus was the only browser. The antelopes (genera Gazella and Gazellospira) yielded discrepant microwear and mesowear results. This is interpreted as an indication of regional or seasonal dietary resource differentiation, inferring that the antelopes were probably mixed feeders that grazed occasionally or periodically.

ATHANASSIOU A. (2006): Reghínio, a new mammal locality from the Plio-Pleistocene of Central Greece. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte, 2006 (2): 116-228.

by Athanassios Athanassiou

A new fossil mammal locality, situated in Lokrís, Central Greece, is described in this paper. It was tracked down in... more A new fossil mammal locality, situated in Lokrís, Central Greece, is described in this paper. It was tracked down in fluvio-lacustrine sediments in the area of the village Reghínio. The fossil mammal remains comprise a partially preserved large cervid skull, as well as elephant tusk parts, which are referred to Eucladoceros sp. and Mammuthus cf. meridionalis respectively. Based upon the up to date available material the locality can be dated to Late Pliocene – Early Pleistocene.

DE VOS, J., VAN DER MADE, J., ATHANASSIOU, A., LYRAS, G., SONDAAR, P.Y. & DERMITZAKIS, M.D. (2002). Preliminary note on the Late Pliocene fauna from Vatera (Lesvos, Greece). Annales Géologiques des Pays Helléniques, XXXIX (A): 37-70.

by Athanassios Athanassiou

A preliminary description of the fossil vertebrates from six sites in the surroundings of Vaterá on Lesvos is given.... more A preliminary description of the fossil vertebrates from six sites in the surroundings of Vaterá on Lesvos is given. Characteristic elements from the richest site are: a giant turtle, Paradolichopithecus arvernensis, Nyctereutes megamastoides, Meles thorali, cf. Anancus arvernensis, Equus cf. stenonis, Dama cf. rhenana, Mitilanotherium cf. inexpectatum, Gazella cf. bouvrainae, Gazella aff. borbonica and Gazellospira cf. torticornis. The other sites yielded poorer, but otherwise similar faunas, with in addition: cf. Mammuthus meridionalis, Stephanorhinus cf. etruscus and better material of Anancus arvernensis. These faunas are considered to be Late Pliocene in age and comparable with the faunas of Vólax, Dafneró and Sésklo (Greece).

ATHANASSIOU, A. (2001). New data on the Equus stenonis COCCHI, 1867 from the late Pliocene locality of Sésklo (Thessaly, Greece). Geodiversitas, 23 (3): 439-469.

by Athanassios Athanassiou

Publisher's PDF at
http://www.mnhn.fr/publication/geodiv/g01n3a8.pdf

The equid material from the late Pliocene locality of Sésklo (Thessaly, Greece) is described and compared in this... more The equid material from the late Pliocene locality of Sésklo (Thessaly, Greece) is described and compared in this article. It belongs to a large and fairly stout Equus stenonis form, which shares many morphological characters with the species samples from Saint-Vallier, La Puebla de Valverde and Olivola, as well as with already known Equus stenonis samples from other Greek localities (Dafneró, Vólax). Its main features are the big skull and
limbs, the short protocones and the very simple enamel plication in the teeth. Large sized and relatively robust stenonid horses are common elements of the late Pliocene faunas of Greece.

ATHANASSIOU, A. (1994). First results of the palaeontological study of the fissure fillings in the area of Halykes, Magnesia. Bulletin de la Société Spéléologique de Grèce, XXI: 318-329.

by Athanassios Athanassiou

In this paper a fossil fauna found in Mesozoic marble fissure fillings is described. The locality was found by Dr. G.... more In this paper a fossil fauna found in Mesozoic marble fissure fillings is described. The locality was found by Dr. G. Theodorou, who collected the first material. The fauna consists of Micromammals (Leporidae and Arvicolidae) and big Mammals (Elephantidae, Bovidae and representatives of the genera Equus, Canis and Panthera). A brief description of these findings is given, with emphasis on the carnivores. The locality is considered to be of Lower Pleistocene age.