Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 39(1) 1996

Issue:

VOL 39(1) 1996

Keywords:

Canis aff. arnensis, latest Villafranchian, early and middle Galerian, latest Early Pleistocene, Middle Pleistocene

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The latest Villafranchian - early Galerian small dogs of the Mediterranean area

• Lorenzo ROOK
• Danilo TORRE

Abstract:

This paper reports some preliminary results of the study of the latest Villafranchian - early and middle Galerian (latest Early Pleistocene and Middle Pleistocene) small sized fossil dogs from several European localities at Mediterranean latitudes and in Israel. The systematic position of these dogs is still doubtful, and they are therefore provisionally referred to Canis cf. arnensis or Canis aff. arnensis (advanced form). This latter dog probably represents a new species, for the definition of which we await further comparisons with the northern species. At present we do not exclude the possibility that at the transition Early-Middle Pleistocene, at least two different phyletic lineages were present, both paralleling wolf morphologies; one in the Mediterranean region, represented by Canis arnensis, the second in north and central Eurasia, represented by Canis etruscus, which gave rise to Canis mosbachensis. At the end of the Middle Pleistocene Canis lupus dispersed in Eurasia.