Bos primigenius Bojanus, 1827 from the early Late Pleistocene deposit of Avetrana (Southern Italy) and the variation in size of the species in Southern Europe: preliminary report

Very abundant remains of Bos primigenius have been recovered in the early Late Pleistocene site of Avetrana (southern Italy). The site is characterized by a karst filling originated from a series of almost coeval depositional events. This discovery represents a rare record in the early Late Pleistocene of southern Europe. Biometrical analysis of the metapodial bones of aurochs from Avetrana gave the cue to examine the evolutive trend of the species in southern Europe, from the Middle Pleistocene to Holocene. This trend is characterized by an increase in size of the metapodial bones from Middle Pleistocene to early Late Pleistocene and to a decrease in size of the same during the late Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Also, the variations in size are compete by change in shape of the metapodial bones. These variations seem to be related with climatic fluctuations and competitions with Homo and Bison. At least, five evolutive stage are recognized; they are an important tool for the biochronological correlations among the Pleistocene sites of southern Europe.