The carnivorans from Cava Monticino (Faenza, Italy; Messinian) revisited

ABSTRACT

Among the vertebrates found at Cava Monticino, carnivorans are by far the most abundant of all the large mammals. Five different taxa were recovered: one felid, two hyaenids, one canid and one mustelid. The small-sized felid remains can be attributed to Felis christoli and seems to represent one of the earliest records of a true member of the genus Felis in Western Europe. Hyaenids at Cava Monticino are represented by the large wolf-sized and cursorial Lycyaena cf. chaeretis, and by the peculiar small Plioviverrops faventinus, the most abundant taxon of all. The latter is one of the most derived species of the genus and the last to appear in the fossil record of these mongoose-like hyaenids. The medium-sized canid recorded at Cava Monticino, Eucyon monticinensis, represent one of the oldest, certain record in the Old World of the genus Eucyon. It was a mesocarnivorous species that preyed on small vertebrates (abundantly recorded in the area of Cava Monticino during the Late Miocene). Lastly, mustelids are represented by the large relative of the extant honey badger, Mellivora benfieldi, whose record at Cava Monticino represents the northernmost record of the species and, presently, the only record of the genus outside of Africa.

KEYWORDS:

• Felidae
• Hyaenidae
• Canidae
• Mustelidae
• Late Miocene
• Messinian

Acknowledgments

We are deeply indebted to Antonio (“Tonino”) Benericetti for his passion and heartful dedication to Cava Monticino paleontology, to Marco Sami and Enzo Bagnaresi (Museo di Storia Naturale di Faenza) for access to collections under their care, and to Piero Lucci and Massimo Ercolani (Federazione Speleologica Regionale dell’Emilia-Romagna) for the encouragement in starting a revision of the Cava Monticino fauna. We thank Prof. J. Morales for his contributions in the advance of Vertebrate Paleontology. This contribution is framed within a wider project on late Neogene vertebrate evolution at the University of Florence (coordinator LR).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The present manuscript has been conceived and prepared during aVisiting Professor fellowships at the Earth Sciences Department of the University of Florence awarded to JMM in May–June 2021. This work has been also funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación-European Regional Development Fund of the European Union (CGL2017-82654-P, AEI/FEDER-UE) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (CERCA Program). JMM is amember of the consolidated research group 2017 SGR 116 (AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya).