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1. INTRODUCTION

Fossil remains of endemic elephants have

been collected from the Pleistocene deposits of several Mediterranean islands. They have been generally considered as paleoloxodontine, derived from the continental Middle and Late

Pleistocene Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquus

Falconer & Cautley. The only apparent excep-

tion is the middle-sized Mammuthus lamar- morae(Major) of Sardinia. Some tarsal, carpal and long bones, from Last Glacial aeolian deposits outcropping at Fontana Morimenta (Gonnesa), were first reported by Acconci (1881). Following this discovery, Major (1883) described the new species "Elephas lamar- morae", but did not illustrate it. During the sec- ond half of the 20 th

Century, two further molars

were discovered: one in post-Tyrrhenian (post-

OI stage 5) breccias at Tramariglio (Alghero)

(Malatesta 1954), and the other in pre-

Tyrrhenian (pre-OI stage 5) continental

deposits at S. Giovanni in Sinis (Ambrosetti1972). The latter is the only specimen for which stratigraphic control is available. We present here in some detail both the morpho- logical characters and the local stratigraphic sequence. 2. G

EOLOGICALSETTING

At the southern tip of the Sinis peninsula, on

the western coast of Sardinia, marine and con- tinental deposits of late Middle Pleistocene age outcrop near the village of San Giovanni (Fig. 1). Because of marine erosion, they are found over c. 1 km in a quickly retreating cliff. Roman tombs, cut into the consolidated deposits, can be spotted in huge collapsed blocks, washed by the sea. The stratigraphy is made complex by frequent lateral changes and several papers have been devoted to its inter- pretation (Maxia & Pecorini 1968; Ambrosetti

1972; Caloi et al.1980; Ulzega et al.1980;

Ulzega & Ozer 1982; Ulzega & Hearty 1986;

Carboni & Lecca 1985; Dudaud et al. 1991;

481

Mammuthus lamarmorae(Major, 1883) remains in

the pre-Tyrrhenian deposits of San Giovanni in Sinis (Western Sardinia, Italy)

R. Melis

1 , M.R. Palombo 2 , M. Mussi 3 1 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy - mtmelis@unica.it 2 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; CNR Centro di Studio per il Quaternario e l'Evoluzione Ambientale, Roma, Italy - mariarita.palombo@uniroma1.it 3 Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza",

Roma, Italy - margherita.mussi@uniroma1.it

SUMMARY: Scanty remains of endemic elephants have been recorded in the Late Pleistocene deposits of

Sardinia. The stratigraphic position and paleoenvironmental setting of the molar from San Giovanni in Sinis

is discussed in some detail, and a full description of the fossil is given, allowing discussion of some hypothe-

ses about the mainland ancestor and the time of the colonisation of the island

Kindleret al.1997).

The deposits that we examined are located in

the village itself, next to the Roman tombs.

This is where the elephant tooth, studied by

Maxia and Pecorini (1968), and by Ambrosetti

(1972), was discovered at sea level. They include three different sequences.

2.1 San Giovanni in Sinis section (Fig. 2).

Sequence A, at the base of the outcrop, is

characterised by calcrete in which the elephant molar was discovered. It is overlain by a pedo- genised sandy deposit rich in remains of

Helicidae and bioclastic fragments (benthic

foraminifers, echinoids and red algae).

Sequence A, truncated by an erosional sur-

face (S1) sloping towards the southeast, is over- lapped by sequence B, comprising polygenic conglomerate, with fragments reworked from an eroded underlying level, and including basalt pebbles. This conglomerate is capped by beach sands showing low-angle cross-bedding,in the upper part of which is developed a palaeosol with rhyzoliths. This palaeosol is overlain by a calcarenite with tightly packed

Mytilusand Ostreashells, and then by lagoon-

al deposits with Limnea- with development of calcrete. An erosional surface (S2) marks the base of sequence C, which starts with a thin conglomerate including fragments from an eroded underlying level with Mytilus, followed by beach sand deposits, with low-angle cross-bedding, including some remains of Megaceroides cazioti(Dépéret) at the bottom.

Sequence C ends with cross-bedded dune

deposits. Ulzega and Hearty (1986) proposed an age of 90 ±15 ka (OI substage 5c) for the deposit with Mytilusin Sequence B, based on an A/l ratio on a Glycymerisshell of 0.32 .

Accordingly, they dated sequence A deposits

to OI substage 5e. Davaud et al.(1991) and

Kindler et al.(1997) hypothesised that

sequence A deposits could be earlier than OI substage 5e, i.e. actually pre-date the last inter- glacial period. 482
The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001

Fig.1 - Location of the S. Giovanni section.

3. MAMMUTHUSLAMARMORAE(MAJOR, 1883)

In the Sixties, as mentioned above, scanty

dental remains of a small-sized elephant were discovered by Prof. Giuseppe Pecorini in sedi- ments outcropping at San Giovanni in Sinis. The most important of these remains is a well pre- served upper molar, with only the roots missing, now at the Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra of the University of Cagliari. The molar was described by Ambrosetti (1972), who considered it an M 3 . Indeed, there is no clear evidence of pressure by a posterior tooth, so it could be a last molar even if the gradually reducing height, typ- ical of an elephantid M 3 , is not evident. The tooth is almost completely in wear: of the 11 laminae, 9 are in use, and the anterior half of the first lamina, worn down to the root, is lost. The short, wide shape of the tooth suggests the loss by wear of some other laminae at the front. However, the three very worn anterior plates arenearly fused to each other, and apparently belong to the same root. Consequently the hypothesis that the molar could be complete cannot be ruled out. With the exception of the almost unworn 9 th , all the laminae of the occlusal surface show a complete, undulating enamel loop. Additional lingual and buccal conules, very reduced, are present at the posterior side of the 4 th and 5 th lamina. The laminae are quite well packed even near the top of the crown, and the enamel is rather thick; the enamel loops are reg- ularly plicated; and the folds, extending to the lateral and medial faces of the laminae, are more tightly packed near the root.

The morphological and biometrical charac-

ters of the molar, with a more-or-less oval shaped occlusal surface, undulated enamel plates, and regularly folded enamel loops, as well as the enamel thickness and average lamellar frequency, all suggest an attribution to the genus Mammuthus. 483

Mammuthus lamarmorae (Major, 1883) remains in the Pre-Tyrrhenian deposits of San Giovanni in Sinis...

Fig.2 - San Giovanni section. 1: calcrete; 2: palaeosol developed on beach sediments rich in Helicodae

remains; 3 conglomerate containing pebbles from the erosion of the underlying level as well as basalt

pebbles; 4: beach sediments; 5: palaesols with rhizoliths; 6: marine deposits rich in Mytilusand Ostreashells

(OI substage 5e); 7: lagoonal deposits with Limnea; 8: calcrete; 9: beach deposits, overlying a conglomerate

with remains of Ostreashells; 10: dunes; a: Elephant molar; b: cervid remains; S1 and S2 erosional surfaces.

A, B, C: sequences.

According to current evidence, the molars of

endemic elephants are characterised by less advanced features when compared to their mainland ancestors, especially so when taking into account the size reduction, which would produce, among other things, an increased lamellar frequency (Lister & Joysey 1992). All things considered, according to enamelthickness, lamellar frequency and enamel loop morphology it seem more probable that the ancestor of M. lamarmoraefrom San Giovanni in Sinis was Mammuthus trogontheri(Pohlig) rather than Mammuthus meridionalis(Nesti). Nevertheless, due to the scarcity of remains, this hypothesis still has to be fully substantiated. 484
The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001

Tab.1 - Measurements of M. lamarmoraeM

3 from San Giovanni in Sinis. Fig.3 - Mammuthus lamarmorae(Major, 1883) from San Giovanni in Sinis: M 3 in occlusal view, approxi- mately x0.7 of natural size. 13 cm

4. FINALREMARKS

The study of the stratigraphic section of San

Giovanni confirms that, as already suggested

by previous studies, the layer in which the ele- phant molar was found occurs in sequence A (Fig. 2). According to Davaud et al.(1991) and

Kindler et al. (1997) the deposits of sequence A

could be assigned to the pre-Tyrrhenian age (pre-OI stage 5).

The deposition of the remains probably

occurred within sandy beach sediments, subse- quently affected by pedogenesis while the sea level was falling. A calcrete then developed during an arid climatic phase with low rainfall.

An erosive phase followed, related to increased

rainfall, and this eventually truncated the soil overlying the calcrete. A marine transgression and deposition of Tyrrhenian (OI stage 5) sedi- ments followed this erosive phase.

Since elephant remains have not been record-

ed from earlier deposits in Sardinia, and even if other hypotheses cannot be ruled out, it seems likely that the ancestors colonised the island during the late Middle Pleistocene. 5. A

CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are indebted to Prof. Giuseppe Pecorini,

who most kindly accompanied us to the spot where he made his discovery at S. Giovanni in

Sinis, and generously shared with us the obser-

vations he made at the time of the discovery, allowing comparisons with the currently avail- able stratigraphic sequence. We want to thank

Dr. Lister for his useful comments and sugges-

tions to the text.

Drs. C. Cappai, P. Casarella, and R. Deplano

(Museo di Paleontologia, Dipartimento di

Scienze della Terra, Università di Cagliari)

made available good quality pictures of the fossil tooth. 6. R

EFERENCES

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Caloi, L., Katsakis, T., Palombo, M.R.,

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