New data on the Early Pleistocene large sized porcupine from Pirro Nord (Apricena, Apulia, Italy)

We report on new fossil remains of the large porcupine occurring in the Early Pleistocene faunal assemblage from fissure filings in the area between Apricena and Poggio Imperiale (Gargano, Apulia, Italy). The vertebrate assemblage that yielded these Hystrix remains is known in the literature as Pirro Nord, and is one of the richest Early Pleistocene mammal assemblages from Italy. The porcupine remains from Pirro Nord (Florence and Rome collections) were object of a previous paper and were attributed to the species Hystrix refossa. The new specimens presented here enlarge the available sample and our knowledge about the variability of this large size rodent in the fossil assemblage.