Bones of recent mammals in the Amboseli Basin, southern Kenya, exhibit distinctive weathering characteristics that can be related to the time since death and to the local conditions of temperature, humidity and soil chemistry. A categorization of weathering characteristics into six stages, recognizable on descriptive criteria, provides a basis for investigation of weathering rates and processes. The time necessary to achieve each successive weathering stage has been calibrated using known-age carcasses. Most bones decompose beyond recognition in 10 to 15 yr. Bones of animals under 100 kg and juveniles appear to weather more rapidly than bones of large animals or adults. Small-scale rather than widespread environmental factors seem to have greatest influence on weathering characteristics and rates. Bone weathering is potentially valuable as evidence for the period of time represented in recent or fossil bone assemblages, in- cluding those on archeological sites, and may also be an important tool in censusing populations of animals in modern ecosystems.

Taphonomic and Ecologic Information Form Bone Weathering

Edition accompagnee de planches gravees, representant les types de tous les genres, les caracteres distinctifs des divers groupes et les modifications de structure sur lesquelles repose cette classification

Le Règne animal distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée. Les arachnides. Atlas

Taxonomic affinities of the putative titanosaurs from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for eusauropod dinosaur evolution

A scoping review of non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques in building performance diagnostic inspections

The Fauna of the Clyde Sea Area

We report an unusual and rich decapod crustacean assemblage from the early Pliocene (Zanclean), recently collected during the excavations of the “La Serra” quarry, located in La Serra, near San Miniato, Pisa (Toscana, central Italy). The studied specimens have been assigned, as follows: Axius sp., Callianassa chalmasii Brocchi, 1883 , and Calliaxina cf. C. punica ( de Saint Laurent and Manning, 1982 ) (infraorder Axiidea de Saint Laurent, 1979); Gebiacantha tuscia Garassino, Pasini, De Angeli and Charbonnier sp. nov. (infraorder Gebiidea de Saint Laurent, 1979); Pagurus alatus Fabricius, 1775 , and Pagurus sp. (infraorder Anomura MacLeay, 1838); Dromia neogenica Muller, 1978 , Dromia sp., Medorippe cf. M. ampla Garassino, De Angeli, Gallo and Pasini, 2004, Ilia nucleus ( Linnaeus, 1758 ), Ristoria pliocaenica (Ristori, 1891), Pisa armata ( Latreille, 1803 ), Macropodia sp., Maja squinado (Herbst, 1788), Derilambrus angulifrons ( Latreille, 1825 ), Atelecyclus undecimdentatus (Herbst, 1783), Liocarcinus sp., Thalamita italica Garassino, Pasini, De Angeli and Charbonnier sp. nov., Pilumnus cf. P. hirtellus (Linnaeus, 1761), Eriphia cocchii Ristori, 1886 , Goneplax rhomboides ( Linnaeus, 1758 ), Goneplax sacci Crema, 1895 , (infraorder Brachyura Linnaeus, 1758 ). Moreover, two specimens have been assigned to callianassideans sensu lato and 13 specimens to indeterminate axiideans. Calliaxina Ngoc-Ho, 2003 , Gebiacantha Ngoc-Ho, 1989 , Ristoria Garassino, Pasini, De Angeli and Charbonnier gen. nov., and Macropodia Leach, 1814, are reported for the first time in the fossil record and the extant Pagurus alatus, Ilia nucleus, Pisa armata, Derilambrus angulifrons, and Pilumnus cf. P. hirtellus, are reported in the fossil record from the Pliocene. Everywhere “La Serra” quarry bio-community is very important, representing one of the richest and most diversified crustacean faunas from the Pliocene reported to date in the Mediterranean basin and worldwide, increasing notably the knowledge on the decapod populations and distribution during the early Pliocene. This community is indicative of a palaeoenvironment of shallow sublittoral water, with sandy-muddy and alternate hard shell bottom, partially covered or in proximity of seagrass, similar to the extant Mediterranean Posidonia beds, mainly inhabited by fossorial and benthonic decapods.

The decapod community from the Early Pliocene (Zanclean) of “La Serra” quarry (San Miniato, Pisa, Toscana, central Italy): sedimentology, systematics, and palaeoenvironmental implications

First sauropod bones from Italy offer new insights on the radiation of Titanosauria between Africa and Europe

espanolSe reporta una fauna diversa del Pleistoceno Temprano (Gelasiano tardio-Calabriano temprano) de las canteras Poggio i Sodi (Siena, Toscana, Italia central). Se realizaron analisis integrados de bioestratigrafia, sedimentologia y paleocologia y algunas inferencias paleoeoambientales son propuestas. La comunidad de decapodos estudiada es aqui referida a la zona batial superior; varios factores paleoambientales (condiciones de agua fria en el fondo marino, fondo de arcilla suave, nutrientes, energia ambiental muy baja y tasa de sedimentacion) influyeron y promovieron el asentamiento de los crustaceos. EnglishA rich decapod fauna from the Early Pleistocene (late Gelasian-early Calabrian) of Poggio i Sodi quarries (Siena, Tuscany, central Italy) is here reported. Integrated biostratigraphical, sedimentological and paleoecological analyses have been carried out, and some paleoenvironmental inferences are also proposed. The studied decapod community is herein assigned to the upper bathyal; several paleoenvironmental factors (cool water conditions at the sea floor, clay soft bottom, nutrients, very low environmental energy and sedimentation rate) influenced and promoted the crustacean settlement.

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The bathyal decapod crustacean community from the Poggio i Sodi quarries (Siena Basin, Tuscany, Italy)

Early Pleistocene shallow marine decapod crustaceans fauna from Fabro Scalo (western Umbria, central Italy): taxonomic inferences and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction

Federico Famiani

Papers

The decapod community from the Early Pliocene (Zanclean) of “La Serra” quarry (San Miniato, Pisa, Toscana, central Italy): sedimentology, systematics, and palaeoenvironmental implications

First sauropod bones from Italy offer new insights on the radiation of Titanosauria between Africa and Europe

The bathyal decapod crustacean community from the Poggio i Sodi quarries (Siena Basin, Tuscany, Italy)

Early Pleistocene shallow marine decapod crustaceans fauna from Fabro Scalo (western Umbria, central Italy): taxonomic inferences and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction

The bathyal decapod crustacean community from the early Pleistocene of Volterra (Pisa, Tuscany, central Italy)