ABSTRACT

The phyletic relationship between Canis lupus and the Early-Middle Pleistocene Canis mosbachensis is widely accepted among scholars, although the taxonomy of several European fossil specimens is still debated. In the last decades, many studies focused on the evolution of Pleistocene wolves have been proposed considering new materials as well as specimens belonging to historical collections. The canid remains recovered during the last century and housed in museums, undoubtedly represent a valuable source of biometric and morphological data which require, in some cases, an updated review of the fossil material. Indeed, cases of stratigraphic and taxonomic misinterpretations represent a potential loss of information for understanding the palaeobiology of these iconic predators. Here we provide the first updated description of the specimen belonging to the collection of the Italian geologist and palaeontologist Alessandro Portis dating back to the early last century. Previously reported as Canis lupus, the cranium from the historical excavation of Ostiense palaeontological site (Rome, Italy) is ascribed to the Early-Middle Pleistocene wolf Canis mosbachensis. Moreover, the reassessment of the stratigraphic and geological data of the Ostiense site led to consider the studied specimen as the last occurrence of the Mosbach wolf in the Italian fossil record.

摘要

Canis lupus与早中更新世Canis mosbachensis的种系关系被学者广泛接受，尽管几个欧洲化石标本的分类仍然存在争议。在过去的几十年里，许多关于更新世狼进化的研究被提出，考虑到新材料以及属于历史收藏的标本。犬科动物遗骸在上个世纪被发现并保存在博物馆中，无疑代表了生物特征和形态学数据的宝贵来源，在某些情况下，需要对化石材料进行更新审查。事实上，地层学和分类学误解的案例代表了理解这些标志性捕食者的古生物学的潜在信息丢失。在这里，我们提供了该标本的首次更新描述，该标本属于意大利地质学家和古生物学家亚历山德罗·波蒂斯 (Alessandro Portis) 的收藏，其历史可追溯到上世纪初。此前报道为Canis lupus是来自 Ostiense 古生物遗址（意大利罗马）的历史发掘的头盖骨，归于早中更新世狼Canis mosbachensis。此外，对 Ostiense 遗址的地层和地质数据的重新评估导致将所研究的标本视为意大利化石记录中 Mosbach 狼的最后一次出现。