Paracamelus (Mammalia, Camelidae) remains from the late Messinian of Italy: insights into the last camels of western Europe

Abstract

In this paper we describe fossil remains of an indeterminate species of the genus Paracamelus (Artiodactyla, Camelidae) from the Messinian post-evaporitic deposits (5.55–5.40 Ma) of Verduno (Piedmont, NW Italy). Camelins dispersed into Eurasia from North America in the late Miocene and almost instantaneously spread in western Europe and Africa. The size and morphology of the fossils found at Verduno are consistent in with those of Paracamelus, the earliest Old World camelin. Up to now, the only fossil camels recovered in the Neogene of Western Europe have been found at Venta del Moro and Librilla in Spain at 6.2 Ma. The remains from Verduno represent the first evidence of a camelin in the Neogene of Italy and they considerably expand the paleobiogeographic range of the Old World early camelins. The presence of a camelid at Verduno reinforces and confirms the importance of the fossiliferous deposits of NW Italy in defining the complex paleobiogeographic patterns of Europe during the Messinian, at the end of the Messinian salinity crisis.

Keywords:

• Camelini
• faunal dispersal
• Eurasia
• Messinian

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank P. Mazza (Firenze), G. Bardelli (Milano), and E. Gavetti (Torino) for allowing access to recent material of Camelus. We are grateful to E. Maini and B. Abuhelaleh for providing comparative illustrations of dental and skeletal remains of modern camelins. We are deeply indebted with D. Kostopoulos and V. V. Titov for providing us illustrations of scapulae of Neogene giraffids and camelids. We want to thank M. Damiani for his help during the study of the fossil fauna from Verduno. We also are grateful to the late C. Preacco and L. Ferrero (Soprintendenza Archeologica del Piemonte) for their support with the authorisations and to the people who help during the field-works, particularly to G. Pavia and P. Giuntelli who found the Paracamelus canine. C. Buonsanto realized the drawing of the pyramidal. We are very grateful to three anonymous reviewers that considerably improve our manuscript.