Early Pleistocene birds from Pirro Nord (Puglia, southern Italy)

摘要

The bird associations of various fissure fillings of the Pirro Nord karstic complex are examined here. They have been collected during several field campaigns developed starting form 1969 until 2006 and are here examined and described in detail. More than five hun dred of bones have been examined and they belong to 43 taxa, three of them extinct (Perdix aff. Perdix palaeoperdix, Palaeocryptonyx donnezani, Corvus pliocaenus). The great diversity of the Pirro Nord fossil assemblages allow us to give indication about the palaeoen vironment of the area during the Early Pleistocene. In fact the Area of Pirro Nord was characterized by a landscape mosaic of open dry areas with low vegetation alternate to aquatic environment and rare rocky areas and woodlands. In addition some indications about the biochronological significance of the Pirro Nord birds are given, as this represents the first occurrence of some species.