Bollettino della SocietePaleontologic a Italiana

Pubblicatosotto gli auspici del ConsiglioNazionale delle Ricerche

Volume42rr.312003

MIJCCHI MODENA 302 G. IVAPOLEOM et al. 'l-he Faella clay pi, (Albianelli et al., 200L). Moreover, Polarity FaellaSection mosr of in. W fossils are sited in the MS, thus favourila ,h.: presentaim of numerically dating.the classicalfindings of the past rwo centurles stored in the NHMFU Zollectioni by the chronostratigraphy revised by Berggren et al. (1995) and based on the Geomagnetic FJlatiry Time Scale (GPTS). The Pre- sent work intends to illustrate the new magne- setting of the UV sedimentary/ tochronologic . sequence contalnlng ih. late Villafranchian faunal dated ,h: changesof the fossil mag- assemblages, .bt netic vector through its short interval of continuous deposition^ in the MS lacustrineand palustrineseries. The first profile was reconstrucfed in the basal .F( silry sequence(Torre et al., 1993), by_assemblin g a d few short sections as usual for natural exposuresin such soft and flat deposits,but soon aidedby the ones J produced by quarryitg operations for the c\yf € F{ bxploitemeni at-the Maiassiho pit. The besl profile o *is produced for nearly 80 m (Te1t-fig l), by quar- ryinfi the Pratigliolmi clay pit in the Faella territory r.950 (Texl-fig. 2), r{at cuts al.nort the whole MS except a few -eiers on its extremes, and this serieswill be often reported here as the Faellamagnetostratigraph- rc ryPe secilon. This high resolutiondating was alsoapplied to the early Villaflanchian sequence- (Albianelli et al., 1997),

and is now being carried out on the Post- I I TheGalleria Tasso Section Villafranchian short- sequence (Albianelli et al., in -I preparation),with the ti- of producing the magne- B tochronoloeic reference for other intramontane sequen.., oT the Apennine basins(Sagri et al., 1994). They could "rr,r-. a new arrangem.nt by correlation *it( the W magnetostratigrapKy,the fiist calibrated ) successionand the one with the earliestterms (Torre et al., 1996). A straight confirmation of thesedates was sequencesoutside the produced by the continental 'West UV. The Lower Valdarno one, from Florence, has yielded rwo short profiles confini.g the lglg sequenceof shallow marine depositsreconstructed by - the magne- Behvenuti et al. (1995), and dated nearly 300 ky i; Text-fig. I View of the sections used to construct-fhe tostratigraphic profile of the MS. A) Faella pi,t the latest Gauss (Albianelli et al., unpublished data), section?uiing the clay quarrving: the lower Part is 35 up to the Montopoli fauna dated 2.58 Ma (Lindsayet m thick, the'upper i8' n',, ih.'t.t'.tlts of the paleo- al., 1980) at the Gauss/Matuyamaboundary. magnetic surveysare also reported by their sideswith A larger interval was recorded in the lacustrine the''Olduvai magnetozones. B) Tlre Galleria Thsso the lining of the railway sequenceof Valtiberina (i" the upper Tiber Valley), section open to construct tunnel, niar the Thssocreek fbr a 32 m thickness. ca. 100 km South from the W. Its continuous basal sequencelasted more than 600 ky, when it was inter- rupt.d by the severetectonics of'the Apennine uplift th"t prod,rced a master fault of the basin and the iilt- calibration can correct the high uncertainty of such a i.g of the claybeds by negly 30". Th.. deposition of dating by adding a high resolutionto it (Napoleone thE sequencetook place during 290 ky in the latest et al..,submitted). Gaussand more than 400 ky until the post-Reunion Matuyama chron, beginning ar 2.14 Ma (,\bbazzi et PREVI ot t HE u P P E R al., 1997; Pontini et al., 2002). Yf*f^[R'L"ttt'Nftr A correlation of recent findines from North of A outline of the UV sequence Rome was done with the UV fauna of late .g:ochronological Villafranchian, basedon the biochronologic point of contarnlngthe vertebratefaunas will be resumed,and view (Mazzini I. et al., 2000); actually, the Present its datesreviewed in order to illustrate the resultsof MAGAIETOCHRONOLOGIC DATING OF L. VILLAFRANCHIAN VERTEBRATECOL, 303

Text-fig. 2 - Topographic setting of the areanear the Faella village, where the ref- erence secnon for the magnetic stratigraphy of the Montevarchi Succession is fixed at the Cava Pratigliolmi-of clay pir. Some the oldest and newest fos- sil sites are located in its area: Cocchi's col- lection of 1862 was retrieved at the foot of the Monte al Pero hill close to the Faella creek, while on its top Nestis Rhinoceros was located, while the Poggio Rosso Locdiry of 1995 is the largest fossil assemblage ever collected in the Muse- um record.

the magnetochronology applied to the Museum col- sites in Tus cany,although many findings lack the ref- lections,from the oldestones of rwo centuriesago to erenceof a firm topographical or stratigraphicalposi- thoseof April 1999 and January 2000 (Napoleone& tion. Biochronoloeicalaffinities of faunascollected in Azzaroli, 2002). The W fossil collections formed a various sitesof the\orthern Apennines were used for relevant nucleus within the findings which gave ori- dating"fitrt their associations,whose basic characteristics ein to the institution of the Museum, at the end of were described by Pareto ( I 865, in Azzaroli, itr. 17 hundreds (Cioppi, 1999). From the first W 2001). A complete assetof thesecharacters provided catalogue of 356 specimens compiled by Filippo the Villafranchian Stage(Azzaroli, 1977a),which was Nesti in 1845, the fossilsnow consistof nearly 4,000 used for the Italian faunasuntil a new chronological specimens,in a collection harbouring over 20 thou- framework For Mammal Neogene (MN) Ag. sand specimens,which have not yet b"eenfully insert- Classificationof the European faunaswas introduced ed in the automated GEF catalogue(Cioppi et a1.,, (Mein, 1990). 1996). Such a development took place thanks to the For the Villafranchian part, six groups were estab- contribution of gifts by amateur-collectors to the lished in Faunal Units (FU). The tiversa FU is the "Grand Museum sincethe Duke age"of late l7 hun- earliestof the MN 16, later divided into MN l6a and dreds,and to recent recoveriesby the Museum. While MN l6b by Azzaroli, and representsthe base of the the acquisitionsof the last 100 yearsdo not exceed Villafranchian. In the UV the Castelnuovo dei 30o/oof the Museum patrimony, the bulk of the old Sabbioni local fauna is referred to this unit. It collectionsformed the basefor the ordination of the includes fossils from the old lignite mines and clay W faunas in the biochronological system (Azzaroli et quarries(among which are thoseof Gaville,Tegolaio, al., 1992). Then, the biostratigraphical correlation Montetermini, and the large one at Santa Barbara), was attempted in order to integrate a regional classi- on the left bank of the Arno river. The next middle fication of the European faunas in the chronostrati- Villafranchian is formed by Montopoli FU from the graphic system,and finally magnetic stratigraphy has Lower Valdarno (the unit MNl6b), Saint Vallier FU provided the geochronology of the sedimentary from Franceand Costa San Giacomo FU in central sequencesand of their fossil content by assigning Italy, which are not representedin the UV. Then, the them a numerical ase. Olivola FU from northern Tuscany (.t. 100 km These stepsin Jating the UV history emphasize North from the UV) marked the onset of the late the role played by the MNHFU collectionsof verte- Villafranchian and is first representedin the UV by bratesin focusingthe studieson the basin evolution. the Matassino fauna, in the clay pit near Figline (Text-fig. 2). It may be pointed out that the age of n) BTocHRoNoLoGICALsuccESSIoN oF FAUNAS this fauna was initially equatedto that of the Olivola FU and then assumed shortly younger (Azzaroli, Chronoloeical classificationof faunasin the intra- 1983). Most significant,in fact, was seenin the UV monrane PliolPleistocenebasins and littoral deposits the association-of Equus stenonisand E. stehlini all of the Apennines and lowlands receiveda fundamen- through the MS, while the latter speciesis lacking at tal contribution from the UV collectionsand other Olivola (Azzaroli, 1950), and other speciesof Olivola 304 G. MPOLEONE etal. were present at St. Vallier and not in the UV. The netic vector, which is worldwide acti.g for each time Villafianchian ageends in the W with the ThssoFU, interval during a geomagneticepoch and successively collected in the irea of the Thssovillage, and contin- changes, thus- mlkittg ihe polariry,.,sequel... This ues in the Italian peninsula with the Farneta FU and sequencerepresents the continuous flow of the geo- Pirro FU, as lately reviewedby Azzaroli (2001)- logi. time -."r,,rred in years, since the record of'the manne magnetlc anomalies and each one of its B) BrosrnertcRAPHICALRESoLUTIoN changet ptoluced a polariry event defined within few tho,ri"ttd y."rs. Therefore, the UV faunas calibrated The need to insert the FU from continental to such a- time scale were recently correlated with sequences into chronostratigraphy had always those from India (rMzaroh et al., 1997), since the lat- oro-pted studiesto searchcommon elementsto link ter had also been calibrated by magnetic stratigrlptry biochronological and biostratigraphical classifica- (Azzaroli 6{ Napoleone, I 981). Calibration of the tions. The iilfluence exerted bi Gignoux since the W faunal associations(Torre et Al., 1993; Albianelli early 19 hundreds was fundam.ttt"f itt finding ,lt. et dl., 1995; 1997; 2002) correlates the early besi Italian Plio-Pleistocene sites for fixing the Villafranchian fauna of the tiversa FU with the Thtrot stage in the Himal ayan sequences,while the Neogene stratorype_s.In contrast, more recent ry:ly- ^ seswere partial and scanry (Azzaroli & Berzi, 1970; late Villifranchian containing the faunas of Ambroseiti et al., 1972; Azzaroli, 1977a;1983; Torre, Matassino, Faella, Poggio Rosso, Casa Frata, and 1987). In former years, the onset of the late Tasso is correlated i"-ith the Pinjor. The Plio- Villafranchian was aisumed coincident with that of Pleistocenebound ary in India is localized within the the Pleistocene, and this induced to correlate latter. biochronologic events with the biostratigraphical ones by equating their ages.The Olivola FU was cor- MAGNETIC PROPERTIESOF THE UPPER related wiih th{ Globigiina cariacoensisbiozone (D. LACUSTRINEROCKS Giuli et al., 1983; 1986). This brought to place also the first UV faunal Magnetic stratigraphy,based on the successionof assemblage oI late Villafranchian, the Matassino the -"lgt.tic pol".Iry^events, leads to the correlation Localiry 1o a younger age in the early Pleistocene, of thesJ chrottottt"tigraphic agesto the GPTS dates. thus moving the Thsso FU to an eve.nyounger age. It marks the current ph"t. in" the reconstruction of The Thiversa FU indeed was correlated with the the evolutionary mod-el of the UV, which ryas based the biochronological successionof terrestri- Globigerina_Puncticulata biozone of the middle before on PliocJne, after the Montopoli FU was dated at the al faunas.The magnetic stratigraphy of the MS cycle beginnittg of the Matuyama chron (Lindsay et al., has been defined- after analysi"g the various rock I 9i0), *hi.h also marks the bound ary of late rypesof the lacustrine and palustrit. facies,includi"g Pliocene with the middle Pliocene. Durin g 20 years th. sandy layers embedded in them by channelled of attempts (|uzaroli, I977a; Gliozzi et al., 1997), depositt itt the meandering of the Arno river. Their such a .htotostratigraphic setting of the W could magnetic properties were examtned by lhq experi- not be stringent, as"the response"ofthe continental ments carried out in the PalaeomagneticLaboratory habitat (andlits Olivola-like fauna) to the transition of the Swiss Federal Institute oT Technology ill various from the Pliocene to the Quaternary represented a Zurich, and were reported on during the rather tenuous turnover for the mammalian faunas occasionsmentioned in the referencesllready quot- (Azzaroli, 1983; 2001; Torre et al., 2001). However, ed. The magnetic properties of the rock ryPes ttty. the Villafranchian events recorded through the UV been e-phaiized in eath occasion when dat^esof the basin fill may be now correlated with the biostrati- W seri-eswere discussed, as evidencing a good graphic zonaiion by means of the chronological asset recorditg of the original. magqetic vector. In the Pre- another example of the prominent [ro"ided by the GPTS magnetochronology--of sent case Presence (n.rggren et it., l?95). Alro the glo5al distribution of magnetite as the main carrier of the primary .mag- the iia-malian faunas has been updated and their neuzauon of these continental sediments is shown classificationsin different sequencescorrelated with (Text-fig. 3), while a -cgmpl.te-UV account to illustrate the GPTS magnetochronolory have recently been differenl tock .yp.s of the seriesis reported else- reviewedby Lindsay (2001). where (Napoleone et al., submitted). Two rypical faciesof the MS are rePresentedat the (samples C) MnCNETOSTRATIGRAPHICALCALIBRATION Poggio Rotso Localiry, +q clayey.Ascione p{1 .Z and PR l0) and the sandy Oreno (samples The possibiliry of closely correlating sedimentafy PR12 and PR 17.6). In particular, the fossil deposit sequencesof different facies, and even at great dis- was embedded in a coarie sand with minute gravel, to the one described by Nesti for his tan.es, developedwhen the magnetostratigraphiccri- similar " terion was intioduced. In the lalter, the coirelation of Rhinoceros of Monte al Pero recoveredin the snnsi- sequencesis made through a guide fossil, the mag- no" coarsesand (Napoleone et al., 2001"), which is MAGNETOCHRONOLOGICDATING OF L. VILLAFRAN C H IAN VERTE B RATE CO LLECTI ONS 305

N; Up w; Up PR 7.2 % NRM 100

N 50 : 5e-03 A/m NRM : 8.16e-04

Div. : le-02 A/m 400 600 200 400 600 NRM : 1.08e-03

Up PR 12.0 % NRM PRI7.6 AF r00

N Div. :1 .0e-3 A/m Div. : 2e-03 A/m 50 NRM :3.34e-O4 NRM :4.62e-04 Z

200 400 600 80 r20 r60

Text-fig . 3 - Rock-magnetic properties, summarised by the pattern of vector diagraTs s_hl rock ryp; in thi profile of the Poggio Rosso Localiry. The lowest sainple (PR 7.21 is from strat,t- level of the fossil site, and-followed by that from the sand (PR l0) of the channe, " sinrilar to the sAnsino"sand of the fossil level. The next one (PR 12) is from the clay silt. "C "C thermal rrearment up to 580 and 620 (in the diagrams to the right-hand side), to wl almosr complete.ly distroyed. The directions (in the Zijderveld diagram-sto the left) show tll pnmary magnerization to the origin, as not having been affected b/important overprints. Tl is d.*ignerted under alternatin[ fields (af) ,rp tJ 160 mT (milli-Tesli). Dots are in the hor tical pla"ne.The 22 m section rec6rded only a hot-al magnetization and is correlated with t Faella standard section.

also known as the most common deposit in the MS arrangesthe W fill in a stratigraphic seriesaccording sedimentscontaining fossilbones. The rock rype clos- to thE magnetochronologi."l"r.heme of Text-fig. {. esr ro it is sample PR 10, while the three other sum- The new Conditions of the numerical datings there marize most of the range in which the rock magnetic displayed, requlate the chronostratigraphical assetof properties are quite similar, indicaritg. magnetite as the faunas in"the NHMFU collectiois,^in the follow- the-dominant carrier of the magnetization. This was i.g scheme. confirmed by the Lowrie's procedures of three-com- ponent saturation and demagnetization, which yields MAGNETOCHRONOLOGYOF THE MONTEVARCHI tn. same low coerciviry of t'-hebasic minerals and a SERIESAND ITS FAUNA blocking temperature at mainly that of magnetite."sample The ch"aracteiistic directions of each MS In the second lacustrinedeposition, the MS units yielded the overall polariry sequence, which re- mainly formed by silt and t"td, rich faunas are repre- 306 G. IVAPOLEOIVEer rtl.

Cialleria C'ava Faella Vrica Tassg Faella conlposite stratotype litholoSr l\{ a nl It0 Il0 Text-fig.4 - Magnetochronology 207 \'-* of itr. Montev"r.li 10.1 A t t itrtl li's Succession,the middle ,' llllt4 sedimen tary sequence 102 elephant t .796 i-j Pi P of the W from which tusk most and richest fbssil te5 130 fhunas were retrieved Ncsti's (modified, after Napo- le2 .j l.ril5 Rhintl leone & Azzaroh, l\' -* 2002). The calibration t r20 to the GPTS is at the t- | | | ------Olduvai chron, by Z ('asa 1.n50 t9/\ which also the P/P -- | 7t{ - :f lirata boundary stratotype n1 2 I ll * ll0 was recently fixed at z tJ- Poggio the Vrica section to date 1.796 Ma (Van I 7{l - !.) Rrtsso -ElEtll ; 3-l Couvering, I 997). -'.-- 100 The profile from the a 1.9(x) .t; ,\) Faella clay.pit section i is composite fbr the latest Olduvai portion J 90 and shows the split as in the stratorype(nro- dified, aher Albianelli -lJ et al., 2002). Repre-. ri0 l.* t.e50 sentativespecimens of -J N'latas- -t! the Faella collection., sino grouped' as the Faella l.l3 lmf (Napoleone E{ lt-) (r t! Azzaroh, 2002), are positioned in the pro- i hle of the Cava Fiella pit section fbr nearly 200 kv.,'/ On the com- I{cr crsccl Sarrcl Silt C'lay po larit y' posite profile o[ the Faella and Thsso sec- Iil,llli?i -Peatr'('r') Sundr,'Silt tions, some of the main fossil sites from Fossil sites in the Faella section: l) Faella old collection; 2) Sr.rsstro:,:ii: the MS arepositioned, and correlated with 3) Equus stenonis:4) Archidiskotlon meridionalis;5) Euc'ladoc'erosdicranios. Vrica stratorype profi le 6) Pseutlodumcrnestii: l\ Leptobos etnrsctts. for the P/P boundary to which also the con- I-V: Some of the Mammal Localities of the Montevarchi series,referred to the tinental series is cali- Faella profile. brated.

sentedin severalsites and referenceto them is made biochronoloeicaldatins was first basedon the affini- through catalogueinformation. The most significant ry with the 6li,rola fru"na,which in turn marked the colleclions are-those oF Matassino, Casa Fiata and onset of the Late Villafranchian,and thereforeclassi- PoeeioRosso, recovered in 1964-68, 1978 and 1995, f red as the earliest fauna in the UV late ..r["..,ively, while the oldest ones are Faella and Villafianchian. As afbresaid,the latter was considered -hiso, whose earliestfbssils were retrievedsince the the beginning of the Pleistocenebefore its boundary secondhalf of I 7 hundredsand beginningof I 8 hun- had b.?n fi*e? in the Vrica stratorype and calibrated dreds,,respectively. to 1.796 Ma (Van Couvering, 1997). The initial affinity of the Matassino fauna with Olivola was I - MnTASSINo thereafterdisreearded, and the former one considered sliehtlvposteriJr to the latter (Azzaroli,l9B3). Then, This fauna (267 file cards in the GEF catalogue) its'-biochronological- position was further rejuvenated consistsof 13 species,the most common of which is by Gliozzi et al., (19 97), being placed midway Leprcbos etrttsuts, with 3lo/o olt specimens. Its berween the ages of Olivola and Ta.ssofaunas, and MAGNETOCHRONOLOGICDATING OF L. VILLAF RANC H IAN VERTE B RATE CO LLECTI O NS 307 eventually fixed proximal to the Thsso FU (Masini et one & Albianelli, 1998). The Poggio Rosso fauna, dl., 1998). The l"t.st figure, by Torre et al. (2001), already dated within 15 ky accuracy,in the Olduvai groups all faunas closer to the Plio/Pleistocene chron (Napoleoneet a1.,2001b),has now beenmore 6or'rtrdary. In contrast, the Matassino fossil deposit is accuratelyplaced at 1.87 + 0.005 Ma (Napoleoneet contained in the upper part of the Terranuovasilt - the al., in manuscript). MS lower unit - and is now calibratedto the onset of the Olduvai chron ar 1.95 + 0.005 Ma (Text-fig. 5), 4 - F IELLA while it had been previously misplaced in proximiry of the end of the polariry zone (Torre et al., 1993). The Faellafauna (29 GEF cards)is quite diffcrent This date actually is 150 ky before the P/P boundzrft from the previous localities, as the old collection of which implies a cha5rgeof qy geochronol- 13 specimens,assembled during one century until ,deep. Ih. o{y, moving back all (ancient and new) collections to the second half of the l8 hundreds, was made with old.r dateslCioppi & Napoleone, 2001; Napoleone specimens not precisely located, but whose prove- et al.,200lb). nance was reported from the area around the Faella village.All the new oneswere recoveredin the section 2 - CnsA FRArA of the Pratigliolmi claypit and mostly in well located places (Text-fig. 4). The collection consists of l0 The faunal associationof Casa Frata ( 1 I 5 GEF species,of which Leptobosetruscus represents 4 5o/oof cards) was largely brought to light in 1978 and the total. The l3 specimensof the old collection,r€p- refemed to thJ late Villafranchiail (Borselli et al., resenting 7 species,were considered by Azzaroli to 1980), successiveto the Olivola FU (De Giuli 6{ have been retrieved on the surface, from the shallow Masini, 1986). The site is lithostratigraphicallyhigh- MS levelsin the Faellaarea, i.e. in the Oreno sand, er than that of the Matassino fauna, being in the and thereforedated as the youngestones. The 16 new upper MS, &t the boundary berween its middle and specimens were acquired in the last 35 years, all upper units. Moreover it was also believed younger recoveredfrom excavationsin the Faella section and thin most W finds, although has not been further mainly from the intermediateand basalpart of the pit studied and its direct calib."iiott is not yet available. (Napoleone &. Azzaroli, 2002). Moreover, the latest Its position is placed in Text-fig. 4 just above the findings added to the collection in April 1999 and Ascione clay, and calibrated in the Faella magne- January 2000 were retrieved at the level of the Faella itt tostratieraphicsection. However, the correlation oT creek, i.e. at the same level of the Casanuovasite of Faella,and with site witH th. magnetic rype sectionof Cocchi's recovery in 1862, xt the base of Monte al Faellacollection, the youngest representativesof the Pero. The high-resolution lithostratigraphic profile 6elo*, are already the strongest means to be disc.-ussed enhanced a magnetic polariry sequence correlated down its position to a much lower level than to pull with the whole Olduvai chron (Albianelli et al., thai based on th. biochronological a1e, which is 2002), which in the GPTS scaleextends 180 ky, and assignedclose to that of the ThssoFU (seelater). The further 40 ky prior to it considering that the recent represented species are 17, predominant among findings mostly came from the 15 m section below which is Equus steltlini, with 27o/oof specimens. the baseof the Olduvai. The of recent specimensfrom 3 - Poccto Rosso availablepositions the catalogueare often within 1 m accuracy,which yields dates with better than + 2 ky accuracy; when Collected in 1995 and now being catalogued they are for some specimenswith + 5 m incertitude, (with 560 file cards by the end of 2000), this fauna the datesbecome accurateto + 15 ky, and with + 10 came from the new section opened in the clay pit m (almost the thickness range of the MS lithostrati- abovethat of Matassino and at a level bed 30 m high- to + ky. The upper sedimentary er than the Matassino fossil site (Mazzini M. et al., graphic units) 30 2000). It comprises more than one thousand speci- unit, the Oreno sand, is thicker but doubtfully covers mens, whose essential elements indicate a late a time span larger than the other units; meanwhile, Villafranchian xBe, even if detailed biochronological the incertitude in positioning the fossils has been (Napoleone data are not yet available but only preliminary taken to a cautio nary level of t 50 ky & excerprs were announced (Torre et al., 1999). The Azzaroli, 2002) although this error bar may be palae-omagneticanalysis carried out in its 22 m long reduced applying the accumulation rates calculated i*porr'tt. Iho*ed a single normal polariry, which wai after the cyclostratigraphyof the palaeomagneticvec- referred to the Olduvai chron. However, recent mag- tor (Napoleone et al., 2002). netochronologic datitg of the MS, alsowith the con- Correlation with the Matassino section, and its tinuous cyclo-stratigraftri. analysis of the magnetic faunal deposit dated at the onset of the Olduvai, record in the Faellasection, enhanceda steadydepo- allows to recognize these lower Faella specimens as sition rate basedon the astronomical precessionand the first ones of the late Villafranchian fauna in the obliquiry cycles,for a time span of 220 ky (Napole- UV, 200 ky prior to the Pleistocene. 308 G. NAPOLEONE et al.

5 - Tnsso idence built on top of the Sammezzano hill (Cioppi et al., 2001). Th e areais devoid of useful exPosures The Thssofauna (205 GEF cards), acquired for its for palaeomagnetics,but the occurrenceof the Oreno second half in 1882, is the most varied, with 23 unii may be llkely inferred only for the hilltop, while species,among which the deer Pseud.od.amanestii Pre- the ,o..i-ens of this small assLmblagett. of various dominates witl over 30o/ospecimens. Localities relat- ases.^Theyoungest ones could be ,to"tolder than the ed to the Thsso creek and Thsso little town are also o"n., of the Faellaold collection, but for the others the varied (Il Tasso,Le Strette al Thsso,S. Maria al Thsso) misleading indication of ear_lyor even middle and all sites belong to the MS higher sandy unit of Pleistoceneis here rejected. In fact, the AnAncus,the Oreno. The wholeiollectiotl, however, provided the Meganthereon cultidens Cuvier, 1824, and the M. basesto define the Thsso FU. But, contrary to the neslianusFabrini, 1890, were collectedin a small out- Faella collection, magnetostratigraphicaldating for it crop of middle Pliocenesands on the left bank of the is not availablein a long nor in a continuous outcrop, Arno river, on front of the villa. and its biochronologicil position was equated to that Two other important recoveriesmay be recalled, of Casa Frata. In tli. pt.t.ttt calibratioh, the Oreno the Hystrix etrusia Bosco collected at Le Strette al sand of the Faella "t." is partly placed in the late Thssoand supposedlydated by Azzaroli( 1998) to the Olduvai, and the old collection of the Faella fauna end of the Oldu"ai, and the elephant largetusk recov- contained in the Oreno sand is dated to the end of ered in 1975 by De Giuli and Azzaroli at 205 m level, the chron and very close to the P/P bound a!y. Alto c . 20 m above Azzaroli'sElephant and ca. 2 km far- the Casa Frata Localiry lies in the lowermost levels of ther to the'West. As in the correlation made for this the Oreno sand, at the contact wih the Ascione clay, latter with the Faella rype section, also the Present thus yielding an ageolder than the Faellaearly collec- tusk may be assigned"ota an age close to the Faellaspeci- tion. nr theTattoTu is made of specimensfound in mens f.o- the collec"tion and shortly younger, the Oreno sand, possibly at a shortly higher position and its position in Text-fig. 4 accordingly marked. in the sequencethan the Casa Frata fauira, "[so their Ho*errer, its palaeontologiJal charactersT.d Azzaroli date may be shortly younger, at most by few tens of (1977b) to considering thit elephant transitional to ky. It remains anyhow very close to the younger dates the ones of the FarnetJFU, the associationfollowi.g of the Faella specimens,its extent in the Quaternary the ThssoFU and not representedin the W. being drastically lowered towards its earliest begin- ning, for a delay of occurrence from the Matassino AGE INTERVALSBET\yEEN FAUNALUNITS fauia of nearly 200 ky. The conclusive positioning of the Thsso FU in The new chronostratigraphicasset of the UV sed- Text-fig. 5 is near th. top of"the Oreno unit, for a imentary units is no* "rrE-bl.d, the first sedimenta- seriesJf r."tons which nfeded to be discussedelse- ry cycle havins been calibrated (Albianelli et al., where (Napoleone et al., submitted). Here, the time l'997) and the iititd one just completed (Albia nelli et span encloJed in this association is emphasized to dl., in preparation). It is here representedfor 1.5 my r"nge from the Hystix of Le Strette al Thsso (Azzaroli, in Tex;-fig. 5, while all data on their Villafranchian 1991), in the lower Oreno and thus in the late faunas -iy be recalled in the index cards ot the GEF Olduvai before the P/P boundary.The biochronolog- catalogue..The magnetostratigraphicdates are given ical ageof the severalold specimensof HippoPotamus, by valuesin number of years,qtd the time sPanseP- Each fossil d-epositis thus which were no longer"they found in any'reach W site, Pose^ a ai"ting them is evid.tt..d. definite proble-' possibly the latest the tJmporal barycenter in the biodiversification Villafranchian at the Jaramillo chron (1.05 Ma), xS steps, beginnitg with the fauna associatedto the Ma, will be discussedin a forthcoming PaPer. tiversa FU ceriteredon the date of nearly 3.I the contact of the lignite with the overlyitg Meleto 6 - SppnRArES clays in the Castelt,r6,nodei Sabbioni Seiies."Thelat- ter unit ends 60 ky prior to the Gauss-Matuyama Several findings of lesserrelevance, but worth to boundary of 2.58 Ma), which was found in the Lower be mentioned, arEin the condition of possiblybeing Valdarno to lie underneath the fossil site of the FU, a fundamental step marking the tran- positioned in _theupper lithostratigraphic unit. The Montopoli ithinoceros of Nest^i'and the Elep'hant of Azzaroli sition from the early to the mid Villafranchian. The were alreadyreported, with positions reconstructedto followi"g Olivola FU is not calibrated with .magne- the baseof-the-Oreno sand-Noteworthy is to look at tostratigraphy, but its date inferred as pre-Olduvaian, the small group of 13 vertebrate specimens in the with an upper limit not younger than 2.0 Ma, i.e. palaeontolSgicalcollection of moie than 13.500 200 ky bef"ie the PIP bo.thdari: and a lower limit ca. inrr.rr.brate" specimens assembled by Marchioness 300 ky before it, accorditg to the discussions-rePort- Marianna Paulucci in late 18 hundreds and donated ed in Cioppi 6( Napoleone (2001) and Napol eoneet to the Museum. These few mammalian specimens al. (2001b). Finally the ThssoFU, also not directly were mainlv collected after she moved to the new res- calibrated, is post-Olduvaian only for part of its MAGNETOCHRONOLOGICDATING OF L. VILLAFRANCHIANVERTEBRATE COL 309

GPTS BKsA.tses {,) UpperValdarno 'i: C) Chrons C€ sequence (Ma) t! F a C I r.2r l-r) t+t E J ()a.) -n c.) 6 :0 () Ascronc C2n € a ('lal o Valtiberlna (- r .95 q) 0m 2 sequence t- r(, tr ,7) ''l c.) r l' v Rena I R t-Ll Bianc n sand C2r zd) -{d r\ \'./ t! _: 2r o ci U Lower C) a )-( 0) d O Valdarno efi (- m c) 2.s8- ) o h 2.64 a 5 d C) r00 a t-{ 'I) ^ o U v tJ'{ l-: C2An - I \-' r-a F o \J +) o-; q) 50 >. - J n 0) I 3.44 ; r t) i'=a-l K a I 3.1r € 0m n :J 2 T3.22 r M = l 3.33 Y. l- O- \-/' a Bedrock

Text-fig. 5 Magnerochronologic composite sequenceof the Pliocene sediments in the W (modified, aft, RefErenceis madeio the GPTS usid by Berggren et al. (1995). Its longer slice is in the lacus continuous section (modified, after Albiane ili tt al., 1997), containinf the fossils of the eat Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni (1). No finds are reported until the end of theie lake deposits at2.64 Valdarno earlier continental episode (2) dated at 2.8-2.9 Ma, and the upper one with the Mc The second lacustrine sequence of Montevarchi contains the new fauna representing the c Faella referencesecrion of Text-fig. 4 (modified, after Albianelli et a1.,200i); th. Mitassin, (6) tial Olduvai and the overlying Pofgio Rosso site il ?0 m higher, while the fauna of the Fa out the ca.70 m of the sectiSn. fH. Casa Frata local fauna rs posluoned at the base of the , far from it is the argued location of the Thsso FU (as discussed in the text). The compositr of the Lower Valdarno and that of the Tiber valley are shown for their recording of the Gar

assemblage,although its biochronological age of late ments, until the earliestlacustrine facies began, is less Villafranchian is believed quite younger than Th.sso. than 200 ky; the latter commenced with nearly l5 m Thus, a list of datesis now availablefor the main of basal clays which lasted less than 100 ky in the events.The duration of deposition of the oldest sedi- magnetostratigraphicprofile (Text-fig. 5), and were 310 G. NAPOLEONE et al. soon followed by the fossil bearing levels overlyilg A block diagram may illustrate the results dis- the lignites. From this date, 3.08-t 0.03 Ma, the cussedso far, directly coirelating the magnetostrati- lacustiinedeposits lasted with a continuous sedimen- graphic disposition of the fossil siteswith the GPTS tation of the Meleto clay until the latestGauss, 60 ky L i calibration to the numerical time scale(Text-fig. before the Gauss/Matuyama boundary dated 2.58 6). The availablematerial for dating the history of the Ma. No fossilswere there found, and the next date W sedimentarysequence, until retently consistedof was provided by the Lower Valdarno site of the the time series made by the discontinuous faunal Montopoli FU retrieved just above the polarity events,organized in the Villafranchian biochronolog-^ change, and thus dated 2.58 Ma. In the remaini.g ical seq,teice,and now alsoby tfre continuous flow of Matuyama chron no faunaswere found in either one the mignetic stratigraphy..Th: latter is basedon the of the Valdarno basins,until the next W fauna was magneuc events,thi polariry changes,which describe classifiedby its affiniry with Olivola, another FU out the.'history of the eaith's geomagietic field, and on of the UV,-in northern Tuscany.The date inferred for the continuous changesot'"the m"agneticfossil vector Olivola has been discussedin the previous chapters, recorded durittg the treposition of"the UV sequence. biochronolbgy and magnetochronology and placed some 500 ky after !h. JvlonloPgli. FU, Altogether, while the next FU is dated shortly after the Olduvai contiibute to date the f6ssil record with the highest magnetochron.The time span from Olivola is nearly resolution, since the magnetostratigraphy provided 30d' ky, and is the only one measuredso far in the the calibration of the former. This numerical dating Villafranchian faunasof Italy shorter than 500 ky. of the fossil specimensmay now enrich also for the It may be remarked that all the previogs FU have old collectioni in the Museum catalogue,which usu- the biochronological intervals berween them dated ally. lack the referenceon their ages as the accurate with ,hg magne- posrtron was not reported for rnoi. than 70o/oof the directly in the UV or by correlation'When, ^finds. tozone seguence of the UV. on the other The UV seriesbecomes, therefore, tightly cor- hand, the biochronological intervalsare characterized relatablein severalexposures by their magnetostrati- by gradual transitions 6er*een Faunal Units, they no graphicdates, and the catalogueindication of the area lon[er have a temporal barycentrum and the evolu- i"hir. the collections were recovered can receive a tioriary.stepsmay 6e d19{ o.nl1with a more detailed much more defined time constraint to the ageof the masne,,. ,tr"tieiaphv. This is ih. casewith the vari- fossilsites, and organisedin stratigraphicsuccession. o,rr"Uv local ff,tt"t'with Olivola affiniry, which are all contained in the MS until the ThssoFU, an inter- SUMMARYAND CONCLUSIONS val berween the rwo uncalibrated faunal units span- ning from a lower limit earlier rhan 2.0.0ky before the The integration of the firmly establisheddata of P/fi bound ary to soon after the Olduvai end. The the magnetoitratigraphic new criteria with the previ- agesof the MS local faunas in this way range from a ous clissificationi of depositional events may be rither limited time younger than the Olivola FU to stressedas a maior resultof the presentchronological shortly before the ThssoFU, i.e. they sPan the range outline. The faunas are mostly dated across the of datesalready measured at 1.99 to 1.77 Ma in the Olduvai chron (1.95-1 .77 Ma) and with a few thou- Faellasection. The short remaining gap with the con- sand years accuracy. those of speci- fining FU of Olivola and Th.ssotigf,tl"s -faunas, therefore any The poorest datings, for instance possible diversification of these which is in mens labelled with a provenancefrom an areaof the h., poorly marked, within the dates of the Faella UV (e.g., Le Ville, Th.sso,Faella, Sammezzano, etc.), magnetochronologic standard and with its accuracy. and baiely assignedin the catalogue only an age.as On"such bases,thE main faunal associationsconfined Pleistocene,or at most early Pleistocene,may noy be in the latestinterval of the UV seriesbecome the best converted into a numericai date in the period of the stratigraphically defiled, within the Villafranchian Olduvai chron, with a low degree of accuracy but continental basins of Italy, and both collectio! rypes reaching in the worst casesless than + 50 ky. It in the MNHFU attain a high accuracy.A few ky'^ improvJs by more than one order magnitude the ages^ accuracy is in fact reached b; the ones'for which reported in the catalogue,while most specimensof reliable-locationcan be reconstructedfrom catalogue th^eold collectionsmay reachaccuracies of t 30 ky to information, or of a few tens of ky for the others with + 10 ky, comparedwith the millennial scalewhich is more uncertain positions. However, also the latter are reachedfor re.ent findings. dated with an accuracyof at least one order magni- The list of dates f6r the earliest fauna, the tude higher than the previous ages,which were indi- Castelnuovodei Sabbioni, beginswith the baseof the rectly Jorrelated with biostrat"igraphy, as the MS Villafranchian 2p€, at 3.08 t-00.3 Ma. Most collec- fr.tr" assignedto the early Pleist"o..t.. This leads to tions were fou.Jin the sedimentsof the secondcycle a hieh-resolution time series for all Villafranchian and their faunal assemblagesare now disposed in faunls, which is fully apt to provide the sequenceof stratigraphicorder. Matassifrois placed at th. onset of dates for the cataloguedspecimens, and enrich their the Olduvai chron of 1.950 t 0-005 Ma, and Poggio GEF cardsbv this numerical datum. Rosso at 1.870 + 0.005 Ma. Casa Frata is not MAGNETOCHRONOLOGICDATING OF L, VILLAFRANCHIANVERTEBRATE COL. 3l l

Text-fig. 6 Block diagram representing the flow of successive phases to DATING THE UPPER VALDARNO reconstruct the stratigraphic SeoIMENTARY SEQUENCE sequence of the Upper Valdarno sedimentary history, dated by the faunal and mag- netic polarity events there recorded. The former are repor- BIocHRONOLOGY MacNETOCHRONOLOGY ted in the automated catalogue bv collections with exact strati- graphic indication or mostly iuithout it, and ordered in th'e Old flndings lacking Old findings w,ith Magnetic- Magnetic biochronological scale.The lat- accurateStratigraphical accurateStratigraphical polarity cyclo- ter make the present time scale, Indications indications&Recent Stratigraphy stratigraphy whose requeh.. of magnetic z: a- :c'-e database findinss reversalsconstitutes the firnda- mentals of the GPTS used for geochronology, by a constant iime flow (in Ma). The GEF catalogue database will be the First implementationof the Presentupdating & Integration first ftcipient of each dating GEF Cataloguedatabase of the GEF Cataloguedatabase refinement supplied to the fos- sil collections.

explored yet by magnetic stratigraphy but its recon- can be emphasized.They are improved with the fun- structed lithostratigiaphic position yields a date very damental value of the numerical dating, and the role closeto the latter, Ilo- its torrelation with the Faella of the Museum as the depositary of a firmly estab- rype section, while for the same reasonalso the date lished tradition is confirmed, together with that of an of the Th.ssofauna is inferred as not much younger active proponent of further research..,.b.to,rgha con- than | .75 Ma. For caution, the highest uncertainry nnuous use of its collectionsfor sensibilizationof vis- value may be considered + 50 ky around this date. itors and knowledge of scholars.Other classicalcol- The Faelia small assemblageis "h exception, as the famous museums be dated in a simi- lections of T"y distribution range of its specimenscovers more than lar way when a magnetostratigraphic series may be 220 k;' and contains almost all the stratigraphic provided for the arels of provenanceof their fossils. excursronmarked by the previous localities. The classicalareas of vertebrate fossil-bearing forma- From the above range of dates produced for most tions of Thtrot and Pinjor of India were dated to the may fossil finds of the Museum patrimony, it be late Pliocene and early Pleistocene,and their large collections have shared the emphasized how the old collections stored in the museums of India and of great provided by their magnetostrati- improvements London are now better placed in such a time span. [raphic iating, also the classiial faunasLeing lgw irtbd with an accuracy comparable with that bf the recent finds. More than 70o/oof the collections were AKNO\TLEDGEMENTS acquired over one century xgo, and for the same 'We to E. Cioppi for providing us all the amount they are cataloguedwithout an exact location are deeplygrateful materialfrom the Museum catalogue,and M. Magi for the help in the computerized GEF system of the Museum. in the field work in samplingand surveyingthe sedimentary struc- Rare exampiesof old recoveriesalso led to the recon- rures.The magneticmeasurements were carriedout at Zurich in struction of the position of the fossil finds with the the ETH Laboratories,for which we expressour greatestthanla; highest accuracy. One occurred for Nesti's Rhino- with F. Heller we had fruitful discussions,and continuousadvises work ..ior of l8l 1, whose location near the hill top of were friendly given by him. The financial support flor this was provided by granting from the Universiry of has been recon- generously Monte al Pero was described and FirenZeto G.N. and researchfellowship for A. Albianelli. structed with a t 3 m accuracy.The site is dated 1.83 + 0.01 Ma by the magnetostratigraphicseries there REFERENCES measured, "ti correlat".a with th"e."libt"ted one of the facing Faellarype section. Another one was rePre- AgsAZzt,L., At-ghNELLI,A., AvgnosETTI, P.L., ARGtNtt, P., sentedb/the welidefined findings of Cocchi in 1862 BnsrLtct, G., Br,RtlNt, A., GENttLt, S., MASINI, F., (which ["r., went unfortunatel/lost) at the base of NnpolEONE,G. E{ PoxttNI, M.R., 1997, Paleontological and sedimentologicalrecords in Pliocenedistal alluvial fan Monte al Pero and on the Faella creek, at a the same depositsat Cava Toppetti (Todi, central ltaly): Boll. Soc. stratigraphical level very close to that of the recent Paleont.Ital. , 36: 5-22. recovenesat the base of the Faella section, reachi.g AIBnNELLI,A., BEnrtNI,A., MnGI, M., NnpolEoNE,G. & the Faellacreek, with a date of 1.990 t 0 .002 Ma. Sncru,M., 1995, Il bacino Plio-Pleistocenicodel Valdarno As a conclusive remark, the relevanceof the scien- Superiore:eventi sedimentari, paleomagnetici e paleoclimati- tific patrimony of the Museum classicalcollections ci: Il Quaternario,8: I l-18. 312 G. NAPOLEONE et al.

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