Large Mammal guilds and human settlement in the Middle Pleistocene of Italy

In the Italian peninsula, the early Middle Pleistocene is characterized by a marked large mammal renewal which happens progressively in successive phases. Overall, richness increases, because new occurrences prevail over extinctions. A moderate community reconstruction characterizes the Galerian/Aurelian transition. Humans are among the new early Middle Pleistocene carnivore species. This ecologically flexible species adapts more successfully than many others to the environmental changes, taking advantage of the ongoing fragmentation of the habitat. After the extant evidence, this lead to a stable human settlement of Italy during the Middle Pleistocene.