NEW EVIDENCE FOR THE PRESENCE OF ENDEMIC ELEPHANTS FROM THE LATE PLEISTOCENE OF ALGHERO (NORTWESTERN SARDINIA, ITALY)

Abstract

This short note aims to give notice of the vestige (the external imprint and few minute fragments) of the distal portion of an elephant tusk found in a sandstone deposit exposed at a small sheltered bay, Las Tronas bay, located at the north side of the El Tro' Carlos V bay (Alghero, NW Sardinia). The coarse sandstone and the overlain aeolian sediments deposited during the end of MIS 5, confirming the presence of elephant populations in the Alghero area at least since 100 ka BP (MIS 5c). Although the Schreger lines are not detectable in the dentine fragments, the dimensions and the curvature of the external imprint enable us to hypothesize that the tusk could belong to the dwarf mammoth, Mammuthus lamarmorai, already recorded in Late Pleistocene deposits of the same area (Tramariglio and the coast south of Alghero).