The Montopoli site, a reference Local Fauna in the Pliocene and Pleistocene European Large Mammals Biochronology, first discovered by Giovanni Capellini (1833-1922)

The Italian paleontologist Giovanni Capellini (1833-1922), internationally renowned for his studies on cetaceans, was the first to discover one of the most important sites for European land mammals biochronology of the Pliocene and Pleistocene, Montopoli (Pisa province; Tuscany). Excavated during the second half of the nineteenth century by the Swiss paleontologist Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major (1843-1923), the fauna from Montopoli differs greatly from the older sites of Italy and Europe. The presence of taxa adapted to more open country environments, typical of arid and progressively cooler habits, contrasts with the faunas of the Early Villafranchian (generally characterized by wooded, tropical/subtropical taxa). This difference led several scholars to regard the fauna of Montopoli as the base of the Middle s. The present study aims to investigate the relationships, in terms of similarity/differences, between the faunal association of Montopoli as compared to other Pliocene and Pleistocene ones from the Old World. Toward achieving this objective we used generic-based resemblance indices and permutative clustering methods attested in literature for their discrimination power. The results of our analysis strengthen the interpretation of the pivotal importance of the faunal association of Montopoli, not only at a regional level but also within a pan-Eurasian Pliocene and Pleistocene framework.