The early Middle Pleistocene large mammal faunas of Italy: An overview

During the last decade new finds have increased our knowledge of the Middle Pleistocene mammal faunas of the Italian peninsula. We provide an updated framework, mainly based on the large mammals, highlighting some peculiarities of the Italian faunas. The early Middle Pleistocene faunas had been placed in a detailed scheme. These faunas are partially referred to the middle and late Galerian, and the validity of the different faunal units (FUs) is discussed. The main open questions arising from the recent discoveries are briefly pointed out. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved