A new Cervid in the Pleistocene of Sardinia: Preliminary report

In the Su Fossu de Cannas Cave (Sadali, central-eastern Sardinia), cut into the Mesozoic limestone in the Barbagia of Seulo, various cervid remains have recently been discovered whose dimensions exceed the range of variability calculated for the endemic species "Megaceroides" cazioti (Depéret, 1897), and are comparable to those of the continental red deer. The specimens analysed thus far, however, show close morphological affinities with endemic Sardinian megalocerines, from which in any case the Sadali cervid differs in its proportionally smaller teeth and limb proportions, as well as in some morphological features which, if confirmed by further data, might suggest its attribution to a new taxon, congeneric with the endemic species "Megaceroides" cazioti, of which it might be the ancestor.