CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Here, we report on morphological and biometric analysis of the craniodental remains of lynx from Ingarano (Foggia, Southern Italy) and discuss about the morphological variability and palaeobiogeographical distribution of Late Pleistocene Pardel lynx. The lynx sample recovered from the Ingarano site with 418 specimens represents the largest and best preserved sample of Late Pleistocene lynxes from the European fossil record. It has been attributed for a long time to Lynx lynx mainly on the basis of the large body size. The debate on the taxonomy and palaeobiogeographic distribution of Late Pleistocene lynxes in Europe is in progress. Nowadays, the cranium from Avenc Marcel (NE Iberian Peninsula), dated at 1.6-1.7 Ma, is the earliest fossil evidence of Lynx pardinus. Several authors suggest to consider Lynx spelaeus (=L. pardinus spelaeus) as a junior synonym of L. pardinus, since no valid diagnostic features have been identified to distinguish the two taxa. The morphological analysis of the fossils from Ingarano allows to ascribe them to L. pardinus, extending therefore the palaeobiogeographical distribution of this carnivores in the Late Pleistocene of Southern Europe. This provides data for a more accurate taxonomical determination of the Middle-Late Pleistocene lynxes from the Mediterranean region. The evolutionary trend of the fossil Pardel lynxes depicted by Werdelin (1981) is therefore still valid in its general scheme, nevertheless the first occurrence of L. pardinus has to be consider much older than previously thought. In addition, the chronology of the diffusion of L. lynx in Europe needs to be reconsidered in detail.