The wolf from the Middle Pleistocene site of Ostiense (Rome): the last occurrence of Canis mosbachensis (Canidae, Mammalia) in Italy

ABSTRACT

The phyletic relationship between Canis lupus and the Early-Middle Pleistocene Canis mosbachensis is widely accepted among scholars, although the taxonomy of several European fossil specimens is still debated. In the last decades, many studies focused on the evolution of Pleistocene wolves have been proposed considering new materials as well as specimens belonging to historical collections. The canid remains recovered during the last century and housed in museums, undoubtedly represent a valuable source of biometric and morphological data which require, in some cases, an updated review of the fossil material. Indeed, cases of stratigraphic and taxonomic misinterpretations represent a potential loss of information for understanding the palaeobiology of these iconic predators. Here we provide the first updated description of the specimen belonging to the collection of the Italian geologist and palaeontologist Alessandro Portis dating back to the early last century. Previously reported as Canis lupus, the cranium from the historical excavation of Ostiense palaeontological site (Rome, Italy) is ascribed to the Early-Middle Pleistocene wolf Canis mosbachensis. Moreover, the reassessment of the stratigraphic and geological data of the Ostiense site led to consider the studied specimen as the last occurrence of the Mosbach wolf in the Italian fossil record.

KEYWORDS:

• Biochronology
• carnivorans
• biometry
• historical museum collection

Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to Prof. Michele Lustrino, director of the MUST (University Museum of Earth Sciences) of Sapienza, University of Rome. We also thank Linda Riti for the technical assistance.

BM is thankful for granting access to the material, the kindness and availability of Maria Carmela Del Re (Paleontological Museum of the University of Naples Federico II); Addolorata Mazzotta and Carlo Viva (Technical Commercial Institute ’Galilei-Costa’); Marco Pavia (Paleontology Museum of the Turin University). In addition, we thank Jacopo Conti, Alessio Ianucci, Ilaria Mazzini and Flavia Strani for their useful suggestions and support. We are sincerely grateful to L. Werdelin for his critical reader of the manuscript and many useful suggestions.

Finally, we wish to thank the editor Gareth Dyke and two referees for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Sapienza University of Rome ‘Grandi Scavi’ 2016-2017-2018-2019 grants (principal investigator RS).