THE FOSSIL RECORD OF THE GENUS CANIS (CANIDAE, CARNIVORA, MAMMALIA) FROM THE UPPER VALDARNO: A CRITICAL REVISION IN THE FRAME OF THE EARLY AND MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE CANIDS OF EURASIA

Abstract

The outstanding fossil record of the Upper Valdarno Basin is renown since the XV century. Its Early Pleistocene sample of canids, characterized by the large sized Lycaon falconeri and the medium-sized Canis arnensis and Canis etruscus, has laid the basis for the study of the evolution of the genus Canis in Western Eurasia. In recent years, several discoveries tend to modify our conception on this subject, e.g. the lineage that leads to modern wolves or the inter/intraspecific variability of fossil species, but the record of UV Basin remains one of the most extensive and important of its age.