Pleistocene mammals from Sa Cona Cave (Teulada, south-western Sardinia, Italy)

Abstract

Quaternary fossil vertebrates are reported from numerous deposits of Sardinia and can be a suitable tool to correlate localities in different depositional contexts (e.g. fissure fillings, caves, aeolian deposits). Here, a mammal assemblage collected from a deposit within Sa Cona Cave (Teulada, south-western Sardinia, Italy) is described. The sample is primarily represented by small mammal remains and a few, badly preserved remains of large mammals. The following taxa have been identified: Cynotherium sardous, Praemegaceros cazioti, Prolagus sardus, Microtus (Tyrrhenicola) henseli, Rhagamys orthodon, and “Asoriculus” similis. Similar faunal assemblages, known from some localities of Sardinia and Corsica, have been generally regarded as Late Pleistocene in age (Dragonara Faunal Sub-Complex). The sequence of Sa Cona Cave represents to date one of the most rich Quaternary mammal deposits known from the extreme south-western Sardinia.