Pleistocene mammal faunas from the Leffe Basin (Bergamo, Northern Italy): revision and new data

In this study, the mammal remains collected from the second half of the 19th century until the late 1950’s in the brown coal mine of Leffe (Bergamo, Northern Italy) are re-evaluated. We studied both the material preserved in the collections and the remains now lost but nonetheless well described in the literature. Along with Mammuthus meridionalis and Stephanorhinus ex gr. etruscus, several species not previously recorded from Leffe have been found in the collections (Pachycrocuta brevirostris, Hippopotamus cf. antiquus, Cervalces cf. carnutorum, and Megaloceros gr. verticornis-pliotarandoides). Furthermore, Mimomys savini, Capreolus s.l. sp. and ?Megaloceros cf. obscurus are recorded thanks to the descriptions and measurements given in the literature of specimens now lost. Also, the previous specific identifications of Leptobos etruscus and of a Dama-like cervid have been modified into Leptobos vallisarni and Axis eurygonos, respectively. Three Early Pleistocene mammal groups are represented: one from the main brown coal level (subunit #5, Biogenic Unit), spanning the end of the Tasso FU (FU = Faunal Unit) to the beginning of the Farneta FU, one from subunit #6 and #7 (again Biogenic Unit), ranging from the latest part of the Farneta FU to the beginning of the Colle Curti FU, and one from the Upper Unit (subunit #9), which is attributed to the Colle Curti FU. A Palaeoloxodon antiquus upper palate, which was found in the collections of the Civic Museum of Milan, belongs to a more recent period. In fact, its white light coloured surfaces and adhered red clay sediment imply that it comes from the red palaeosoils overlying the Leffe Formation.