Rivist.r ìraliana di PrleontoloEra e Stratigrafia Settembre 2001

NOTA BREVE-SHORT NOTE

THE FOSSIL VERTEBRATE DATABASE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF AND HIGH-RESOLUTION MAGNETIC STRATIGRAPHY IN THE UPPER VALDARNO BASIN, AS A CLUE TO DATE OLD COLLECTIONS

2 ELISABETTA CIOPPI I CE GTOVRNNI NAPOLEONE

Receioed. Febrwar lA, 2000; accepted October 1 1, 2A00

Key-words: Fossil vertebrate collections, Data base catalogue, sparse assemblages. The Tasso Faunal Unit, assembled in the UY is Magnetostratigraphic geochronologl-, Mid-Late Plìocene, Upper Val- assigned to the Pleistocene, yet to be clarified by magnetostratigraph- darno. Norrh.rn Apennine.. ic data. This calibratìon of old, poorly timed faunas was greatly facili- Riassunto. La sequenza del Villafranchiano in Italia venne fissa- tated by the computer-automated catalogue of the Museum. The pos- ta per una parte abbondante sulie associazioni faunistiche prolenientì sibility of numerous feed-back controls enhanced any contradictory dalle collezioni del Museo di Soria Naturale di Firenze. Lc antiche information in fossil collections and made them most fruitful for pale- collezioni del Valdarno Superiore (VS) contengono per 1o più raccolte omagnetic calibration: the Faella fauna and the Faella main outcrop are di fossili di provenienza stratigrafica indeterminata, o con qualche pos- the ones that will be first reexamined. It is ìn fact now evidenced the sibilità di ricostruire la posizione dalle condizioni geologiche dei din- potential role of the catalogue for accomplìshing the calibration of old torni. La recente ricostruzione map;netostratigrafica della sequenza findings timed around the Olduvai chron, with an accuracy depending sedimentaria del VS ha permesso di riferire i reperti più antichì a ca. 3.0 on the available record of their inferred stratigraphic level. Numerical Ma nel Pliocene medjo e quelli più recenti (finora) dei siti di Matassi- dates will make the old collections comparable îo the new ones, as no e Poggio Rosso ed altri della serie della Successione di Montevarchi, both fitting into a comprehensive framework of faunal chronologies, a ca.2.0-1.8 Ma ìn corrispondenza del crono Olduvai che m:rrca il sedimentary evolution of the UV basin, and development of the Plio- Pliocene finale. Gli ultimi reperti del Villafranchiano del VS costitui- Pleistocene climate changes. scono I'Unità Faunistica Tasso e sono assegnati al Pleistocene infe- riore, ma non sono calibrati con la magnetostratigrafia: tale cali- brazione diviene ora possibile anche per le collezioni antiche e mal datate, ed è facilitata dalle informazioni controllabili con l'automatiz.- Introduction. zazione del cataloso del Museo che fornisce una serie di controlli incrociatì di rapida effettuazione. In tal modo, la fauna di Faella e la The first fossil collection of the Natural History sezione di Cava Faella sono state le prime ad essere controllate, quan- Museum of Florence was catalogued in 1845 with the do è risultata chiara l'ìmporatanza del ruolo che il catalogo può rap- 356 finds from the Upper Valdarno (UV) vertebrates presentare, specialmente per le collezioni di età vicìna all'Olduvai, (Azzaroli et a|.,1992). While the collection continued to poiché in questo intorno sono raggiungibili gradi di definizione estremamente elevati. La datazione numerica è in grado di permettere grow, its main purposes remained since focused on risoluzioni comparabili tra le vecchie e le nuove collezionì giacchè determination of taxa and exhibition of the best sam- entrambi i tipi di reperti si inquadrano in uno schema unirrrio rappre- ples, and minor attention was payed to their geograph- sedimentaria deì sentato dalla cronologia delle faune, dall'evoluzione ic and stratigraphic distribution. In the mean time pale- bacino e dallo sviluppo delle variazioni clìmatiche regolato dalla scan- the sìone dei ternpi della magnetostratìgrafia. ontologists, sedimentologists, and geologists found UV an apt site for development of their theories in Abstract. The well established biochronologic sequence of the reconstructing bulk structures (Meria, 1951) and sedi- Villafranchian Stage in is mainly based on {aunal associations mentary evoiution of subsiding basins (Sestini, 1936). from the Upper Valdarno (UV), mostly collected since the late 18 hundreds, and housed in the Natural History Museum of Florence. Aì1 reconstructions of that evolution (Fig. t) directly The old collections were assembled from mostly unidentified strati- involved the biochronologic succession of the fossil graphic levels, and their position possibly reconstructed from the sur- remains assembled in the Museum collections, last for- recent magnetostratigraphic assess- rounding geologic features. The malized in the Villafranchian Stage by Azzaroh (1,977) ment o{ the sequence marked the earliest finds at about 3.0 Ma in the age classifi- mid Pliocene. The end of the Pliocene was recorded by the Olduvai and defined in the Mammal Neogene (MN) magnetochron, in the Matassino and Poggio Rosso sites, and by other cation for the Western Europe.

1) Museo di Storia Naturale, Sezione di Geologia e Paleontologia, Università di Firenze, Via La Pira 4, I 50121 Firenze, e-mail: [email protected] 2) Dipartimento dì Scìenze della Terra, Università di Firenze, Via La Pira 4, I 50121 Firenze, e-mail: [email protected] 298 E. Cioppi € C. Napoleone

Fig. 1 - Geologic sketch map of the Northern Apennines, and tectonic setting of the exten- sionai basins along the belt, since the Late Miocene (rr-rostly marine basins, in the western areas), and Pliocene and Pleistocene (continental basins, to the east). The N\f- SE trend is their typical fea- ture (Modified, after Martinì Er Sagri, 1993). The conti- nental basins were generally activated in more recenr :rges, their deposition having started since the Gauss Chron.

New initiatives involved three separate aspecrs: aI. (1997), begins with the Faunal Unit (F.U.) of tiver- 1 - Development of the computerized data-base sa (near Asti, north-wesrern ltaly), which in the UV catalogue for the more than 2O,O0O individual fossil ver- lacustrine sediments is represented by the local mammal tebrates in the Museum (Cioppi et aI., 1996) which per- fauna (l.m.f.) of Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni in the mits automated extraction of data frorn the entire collec- homonymous sequence (Fig. 2). tion, and provides a ready means of integrating new finds The following F.U. of Montopoli (in the Lower such as those retrieved from the Matassino clay pit in Valdarno, downstream from Florence) is not represenr- 1964-65 and Casa Frata in 1928 (Borselli et al., 19gO), and ed in the UV but has a key position in the Museum col- the latest one ar Poggio Rosso in 1995: sites precisely lection. Also the nexr Sr. Vallier F.U. and Costa S. Gia- located and completely excavated (Mazzini et aI., 1.999). como F.U. are not represented. The new mammal unit 2 - Assessment of the magneric polarity srrarlgira- showing a major faunal turnover is the Olivola F.U. phy for the UV conrinental sequences, first tested on (established from the Olivola Locality in the norrh- the sediments containing the Matassino deposits (Torre western ), which n-rarked the onset of the late et al., 1993), and then extended down to the lower Villafranchian: in the U! its affinities with the Matassi- sequence ar the onser of the sedimentation; now the no l.m.f. were recognized by Azzaroli (1977). entire UV sequence rs going to be analysed, in order to The last F.U. is that of Tasso, esrablished in the accornplish the other major goal of extending it to the UV by the old findings and roughlv reconstructed by whole 1.5 my rimc span rhere recorded. inferences from the geologic notes on the catalogue; it 3 - Continued discoverics of fossil deposits, mosr- was collected frorn various localities in the upperrnost ly made by amateurs, witl.r 'u'hom a more than 2O year levels of the Montevarchi sedimenrary sequence, but collaboratior-r provided quick information and help in mostly in unidentified positions. The fossil deposit dis- identifying and re covering important finds thar in rccenr covered in 1978 ar Casa Frata (Borselli et a1., 1980), was years mainly came from the clay pits used by brick fac- thought to conrain close affinities with the Tasso F.U. tories and for lignite exploitation. (De Giuli Er Masinr, 1986). The biochronologic assessmenr made by Azzaroli e t al. (1986) confirmed the UV Villafranchian succession The Upper Valdarno faunas and their significance to the with its main evenrs, and the menrioned site of Casa Villafranchian Stage. Frata was d:rted prior ro the Tasso F.U., while in the next updating by Gliozzi er al. (1997) the Olivola F.U. dif- The faunas used for setring up rhe biochronologic ferentiated the affinities of the Matassino local fauna by sequence of the Villafranchian Stage are the classical requalifying this latter as transitional betv.een Tasso and ones from the Museum collections. The sequence, Olivola faunas. Although Olivola was retained in the recenrly updated by Azzaroli et al. (1986) and Gltozzr et base of the Pleistocene, thc Matassino assemblagc was Fossil ,t,ertebrate database and magnetic stratigraplry in Valdarno 299

Fio, Stratigraphic sketch of the

UV I illing. r' eraged r[ter thc sections that crop out on borh rir er .ide' (M"dif ie.. after Martini tr Sagrì, 1993)

magnetostratigraphically calibrated as latest Pliocene prevailing precessional signal to the onset of obliquity (Torre et aL., 1,993). Noteworthy for the UV biochronol- driven climates. No fossil remains in the UV document- ogy and the Museum collections is the significance of ed this climate crisis. In the Lower Valdarno the Apen- the Poggio Rosso large assemblage (recovered in 1995), nine uplift was less effective and the first fauna, the pending a detailed taxonomic study of this fauna: its Triversa F.U., showed there a slow evolution toward the stratigraphic position between the Olivola and Tasso faunal assemblage of the following Montopoli F.U. faunas identifies it as belonging to the general transition (Dominici, 1994; Benvenuti et al., i995). This latter, in interval between the Pliocene and Pleistocene -an inter- contrast, was so sharply defined as to represent the val of particular interest for the UV onset of the main turnover in the Villafranchian (Azzarol| 1977); the fossil site was caiibrated at the mid/late Piiocene boundary as it was located just some New magnetochronologic dating of the Upper Valdarno meter passed the G/M magnetochronologic boundary sequence. (Lindsay et al., 1980). - In the second sedimentary cycle the Matassino Briefly, the geochronologic updating of the UV 1.m.f. represented a rather similar variety of species with mammalian site ages and the environmental evolution of the Olivola F.U. (AzzaroIi, 1,977), taken sufficient to the main sedimentary units follow the three well-estab- mark the beginning of the late Viliafranchian and that of lished tectono-sedimentary phases, Castelnuovo, Mon- the Pleistocene. The Matassino fauna was calibrated in tevarchi, and Monticello Cycles (Fig. Z). the paleomagnetically surweyed section (Torre et al., - The earliest sedimentary cycle contains also the 1,993), and assigned to the late Olduvai (ca. 1.8 Ma). onset of the Villafranchian fauna, whose remains were Therefore, in the UV fossil record, some 0.2-0.8 my mainly assembled from the lignite-bearing seam in the time span is missing after the G/M boundary, to be Meleto Clay at an age close to 3.0 Ma (Albianelli et al., added to the almost 0.4 Ma in the late Gauss unfossilif- 1997).The Meleto Clay accumulated at changeable rates erous sequence in the upper Meleto Clay. More discus- of continuous deposition almost until the end of the sion on that will be reported, while new sites in the UV Gauss chron (Fig. 3), missing its final record until the are examined with the aim to fill the gaps in the magne- Gauss-Matuyama (G/M) boundary 2.58 Ma by only tostratigraphic reconstruction that presently interrupt ^r. 60 ka, as calculated by the magnetocyclic analysis there the most important continental time series in the applied (Napoleone Ee Albianelli, 1998). During that Northern Apennines. time the climate underwent a progressive deterioration, At the Olduvai time the record of fossil verte- from warmer and humid conditions to more temperate brates became rich. Besides the Matassino fauna (and ones, starting at about 2.85 Ma, at which spectral analy- the impressive Poggio Rosso deposit, recovered on 1.995 sis of the magnetic signature showed a transition from a higher up in the same clay pit), the nearby Faella area 300 E. Cioppi & G. Napoleone

Fig.3 -Magnetochronologic com- UPPER VALDARNO SEQUENCE posite of the Pliocene sedi- ments from the UV The S. GPTS Barbara section of lacustrine clays, starting frorn the basal MAGNETOSTRATIGRAPHY o gravels (ca. 3.3 Ma), contains LITHOLOGY fossil remains of the Casteln- U uovo dei Sabbioni l.m.f. (1) i;r-o -=-= - Composite O@ I ot,,.tof in rhe ìignire-bearing layer ;] t"'.I = section (ca.3.0 Ma); no finds are !tu? li s^"af: ol I reported until its end (Modi- - l-atcrilLal- =_ol I ol fied after Albianelli et al., 2 Ura\ (r È :11_ - E lqq7r. The contpo.ite sec- d) tion of Ler-ane and Matassino 9I

that can make several of them datable in the geochrono- Accordingly, the beginning of the late Villafranchian is logic system as updated by the numerical time scale. late Pliocene - a fact yet to be menrioned in the related This will represenr a drastic rurnover in the aims of the paleontological literature. This highlights the impor- biochronologic studies on rhe U! based on the long tance of the new fossil site at Poggio Rosso, first noted lasting tradition of using the museal collections to dis- in the same Matassino sequence and possibly of the cover evidences for successive evolutionary steps devel- same latest Pliocene age, because of its magnetic signa- oped as osteologic differences. Still, though, directly ture of Olduvai age. connected with the Museum specific activities of keep- Paleomagnetic calibration now represents a new ing track of the past evidences of life in the UV The and detailed base for the UV chronology; it was disre- acquaintance maintained with the old rich collections, garded soon after the first arrempts, made at the by taking care of their enrichmenr, and updating and Matassino clay pit in 1993. There it showed that the using the new cataloguing systems, yet complaining the Matassino l.m.f. had an age quite older than it was lack of information produced in the past by the little thought before, and therefore it implied a reappraisal of accuracy in collecting fossils, was, in our opinion, the the Olivola established position in the Pleistocene. The first condition which led to the expected new discover- updating of the biochronologic data made since that of ies. A second condition was rhar now rhe details, Azzaroh et al. (1986) has not really produced a new deal observed on a collection by using the automated cata- for the MN age classification during the mid Pliocene to logue and checked by the feed-back procedures made mid Pleistocene. The affinity of Matassino with Olivola available by rapid conrrols, can be referred ro new was only shifted to younger ages when it was interpret- biochronological associations with a marked position in ed as transitional between Olivola and Tasso (Gliozzi et the MN scale, as they are assembled by "excavating" in aI., 1997) , or further younger when it seemed ro show an the old collections with the computerized catalogue. affinity with the Tasso F.U. (Masini et a1., 1998), while The third one is given by rnagnetostratigraphically dated waiting for its magnetochronologic assessmenr. faunal associations which can provide dates to the "new Besides the importance of all menrioned improve- finds" recovered in the Museum collections by means of ments on precisely timing the new individual finds, the new use of the automated catalogue. which anyhow represenr spots in the geochronology of New developmenrs ar the Natural History Muse- the UV the major goal attained by the overall updated um of Firenze thus come together in a focus on the UV results will be represented by the grear porenriality to Basin and its potential contribution to the understand- assisn :n ,se tó the collections. These were assembled ing of the Plio-Pleisrocene history. The computerized from a number of finds in different stratigraphic posi- system of the collections provided a great deal of infor- tions and now synrhesize time intervals which can be mation which will fill gaps in the environmenral and measured in the identifiable positions. The primary rel- biochronologic reconsrructionr. evance of the catalogue is to grearly facilitate this iden- The results of several calibrated secrions and fau- tification; it can allow recognition of new associations nal sites are ready and can be partly used here for updat- which were never studied but will now represent the ref- ing the relative positions of the established biochrono- erence for new finds. logic reference units. It had been calculated, from the The conclusion of the integrated results is the early'Castelnuovo fauna (Fig. 3, fossil site 1) of the numerical dating of the Museum collections as a direct Triversa F.U. and the Lower Valdarno succession which consequence of the acquaintance with the old collec- spans the Triversa-like fauna before the age of the Mon- tions, having stressed the importance of complete topoli F.U., that these faunas contain time intervals recording of informations while recovering fossil spanning some hundreds of ky. In contrasr, rhe rhree remains. Better surveying on the main sequences in localized fossil deposits of Matassino, Poggio Rosso, order to correlate their litho-sedimentary features led to and Casa Frata (Fig. 3, fossil sites 3-4-5) will be fìrmiy improve systemarically the occasions of new finds. The dated by their magnetic stratigraphy; thence their newly discovered fossil deposit of Poggio Rosso and its biochronologic affinities with the confining mammal great potential relevance for the recognition of the fau- units will solely depend upon the available time control. nal changes round the Plio-Pleistocene boundary caught Without it, the affinity of Matassino with Olivola was much of the Museum activities during last years. maintained by Azzaroli et al. (1986), while Gliozzi et al. Together the museal activities were devoted to preparing (1997) still placed the Olivola time in the Pleistocene. more than 1,000 specimens for the study collections, A consideration would be made on rhe Matassino performing exhibitions all over ltaly, and the research section. It was magnetosrrarigraphically calibrated as the interests focused on timing both collection types, the end of the Olduvai chron (Torre er al., 1993), and the recent ones from the recovered sites and the classical old age of its l.m.f. had to be shifted back to the Pliocene. ones, newly "discovered" in the Museum patrimony. Rivista I taliana Paleontologia e Stratigrafra 303

Acknouledgements. and for shapìng the final version of the mmuscript. A similar appreciation is due \ùè express our deepest appreciation to A.G. Fischer for his longJast- to A. Azzaroli for his continuous suggestions which triggered our rnterests to ing support in remarking the significancc of the role plaved by the museal activ- re-examine the old collections for updating the bulk of the infomration set the,v ities rvhich added to our understanding of the history of the Upper Valdamo, cm pror.ide. His critical review of the manuscript is also ackrowledged.

REFERENCES

Albianelli A., Azzaroli A., Bertini 4., Ficcarelli G., Napoleone leontologiche . Musectl. sci., r''. 13 (1-2), pp. 9-2 1, Firenze. G. & Torre D. (1997) - P:rleomagnetic and palynologic De Giuli C. & Masini F. (1986) - Late Villafranchirn f:runas in investigations in the Upper Vald:rrno basin (central Italy: the Casa Frata loc,rl fauna (Upper Valdarno, Tus- Ital,v): calibration of an early Vill:Lfranchian fauna. Rl-',. cany). Paleontogr. Ital., r.'. 74, pp. 1-9, Pisa. It. Paleont. Strat., r'. 103, pp. 111-118, Milano. Dominici S. (1994) - Regressìr'e-tnnsgressìr-e cl.cles from the Albianelli A., Magi M., Mazzini M. & N:rpoleone G. (2000). Pliocene of the S. Miniato area (Tuscany, Ital1,): paleoe- Mrsnetostratigr.rph,v of the Faclla section in the Upper cologv and sequence stratigraphy. In: R. Mrtteucci et al. Valdarno (Central Italy) and the Plio/Pleistocene (Eds), "Studies on Ecology and Paleoecolo$r of Benth- boundary infits continental sequence. Ment. Soc. Geol. ic Comrr.runities". Boll. Soc. Paleont. 1r., Spec. Vol. (2), 1r. (in press). pp. 117 -126, Modena. Azzarolì A. (1977) - The Villafranchian Stage in Italy and the Gliozzi E. & 20 more Authors (1997) - Biochronology of Plio-I'leistocene bound,rr,v. Giornale di Geologia, v. 41, selected mammals, molluscs, ostracods from the middle pp. 61.-79, Bologna. Pliocene to the late Pleistocene in ltaly. The state of the Azzaroli A. (1992) - The Ce rvid genus Pseudodrtma n.g. in rhe afi. Rio. It. Paleont. Strat.,v. 103, pp. 369-388, Milano. Villafranchian of Tuscany Paleontc,gr. Ital., v. 79, pp. f- Lindsay E.H., Opdyke N.D. & Johnson N.M. (1980) - 4 1, Pisa. Pliocene dispersal of the horse Equus and late Cenozoic Azz,a,rolri A., De Giuli C., Ficcarelli G. & Torre D. (1986) - mamntalian di'per'al eventr. Nalrzre, r.28/. pp. 135-138, Mammal succession of the Plio-Pleistocene of Italy. London Mem. Soc. Geol. It., v. 31, pp. 213-218, Roma. Martini LP 8r Sagri M. (1993) - Tectono-sedimentarl' charac- Azzaroli A., Cioppi E. k Mazzini M. (1992) - Il Museo di teristics of Late Miocene-Quaternary extens jonal basins Geologia e Paleontologia dell'Università degli Studi di of the Northern Apennines, Italy. Earth-Scìence Firenze, Sezione Vertebrati. 76a Riunione estiva Soc. Reuietas, v. J4, pp. 197-233. Am:terdam. Geol. It., Firenze,2l-2J settembre 1992. pp. 19, Firenze. Masini F., Abbazzi L., Lippi P, Sala B. & Torre D. (1998) - Benvenuti M., Dominici S., & Rook L. (1995) - Inquadramen- Review and the new finds of Microtus (Allophaìomys) to stratìgrafico-deposizionale delle faune a mammiferi (Rodentia, Arvicolidae) from the early Pleistocene of Villafranchiane (unità faunistiche Triversa e Montopoli) the Italian peninsula. Paludicola, v. 2(1), pp. 78-90, Buf- del Valdarno inferiore nella zona a sud dell'Arno falo. (Toscana). Il Quaternario, v. 8, pp. 457-464, Verona. Mazztni M., Borselli V 8c Cioppi E. (1999) - I1 ritrovamento Berggren \MA., Kent D.V, Swisher iII C.C. and Aubry M.P fossilifero di Poggiorosso: un importante arricchimento (1995) - A revised Cenozoic geochronology and delle faune a vertebrati villa{ranchiane del Valdarno chronostratigraphy. SEPtI Special Publ. n. 51: 129-212. Superiore. Secondo Forum FIST 1999, Bellaria, 19-23 BorselÌi V, De Giuli C., Ficcarelli G. &.Mazzini M. (1980) - Sept. (Abt) Casa Frata: una localití fossilifera nel Villafranchiano Merla G. (1951) - Geologia dell'Appennino Settentrionale. superiore presso Terranuor.a Bracciolini () nel Boll. Soc. Geol. It., v. 7A, pp.95-382, Roma. Valdarno Superiore. Boll. Soc. Paleont. It.,v. L9, pp.281- Napoleone G. & Albianelli A. (1998) - Magnetic stratigraphy 3i0, Modena. as a constraint for cycle resolution in Pliocene lacus- Cioppi E. & Napoleone G. (1999) - La collezione di Faella a trine sequences of the Apennine basins, Italy. (IAS 15th vertebrati villafranchiani del Valdarno Superiore calibra- Intern. Congr., Alicante, 13-17 Apr. 1998, (Abt). ta al Pliocene terminale per la durata di 170 ky. Rit,. It. Sestini G., 1936 - Stratigrafia dei terreni fluvio-lacustri del Val- Paleont. Srrar., Milano. (To be submitted) darno Superiore. Atti Soc Tosc. Sc. Nat., v. 45, pp. 37-41, Cioppi E. & Napoleone G. (2000) - Magnetostratigraphic age rlsa. of the Rhinoceros found by Nesti on 1811 in the Upper Torre D., Albianelli A., Azzaroli A., Ficcarelli G., Magi M., Valdarno, and stored in the Natural History Museum of Napoleone G. & Sagri M. (1993) - Paleomagnetic cali- Firenze. Boll. Soc. Paleont. 1r., Modena. (Submitted) bration of Late Villafranchian mammal faunas from the Cioppi E., Dorbolò D. & Berdondini E. (1996) - GEF: un sis- Upper Valdarno, central Ita|y. Mem. Soc. Geol. It.,v. 49, tema di cataiogazione àutomatizz^ta delle coÌiezioni pa- pp. 335-344, Roma.