Trapped in a Roman well : amphibians and reptiles from Tenuta Zuccarello near Marcon, Venice, Italy
Villa, Andrea (Università degli Studi di Torino. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra)
Bon, Mauro (Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia)
Delfino, Massimo (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)

Date:	2020
Abstract:	The Roman well US 100, located in the Tenuta Zuccarello near Venice, has yielded a large number of different animals remains, dated back to 2000 ± 40 years BP. Amphibians and reptiles are represented by at least 11 taxa: two caudates (Lissotriton gr. L. vulgaris, Triturus gr. T. cristatus), three anurans (Bombina sp. , Bufo bufo, Rana dalmatina vel R. latastei), one turtle (Emys orbicularis), at least two lizards (Anguis gr. A. fragilis, Lacerta gr. L. viridis), and three snakes (Natrix natrix, cf. Coronella sp. , Hierophis viridiflavus). Based on this assemblage, an ecotonal environment with water bodies, open and humid areas, as well as dry and sunny areas, is here suggested for the surroundings of the well when the sediments deposited. Most of the identified taxa were found in other Venetian sites since the Pleistocene, suggesting a certain continuity in the amphibians and reptiles population in Veneto during the Quaternary. The only taxon that is absent from the Venetian Lagoon today is Bombina. Its presence in a 2000-years-old archaeological site proves that the disappearance of suitable environments for the genus is a recent phenomenon near the Lagoon. This may support future reintroduction projects in suitable areas, following a conservation palaeobiology perspective.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2016-76431-P
Note:	Altres ajuts: this work has been supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya (CERCA Program).
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Amphibians ; Reptiles ; Holocene ; Conservation palaeobiology ; Zooarchaeology
Published in:	Historical biology, Vol. 32, issue 1 (2020) , p. 55-70, ISSN 1029-2381

DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2018.1470170

Postprint 52 p, 986.0 KB

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