A small vertebrate (Urodela, Anura, Squamata, Rodentia) assemblage from Fada Nana Cave (Quaternary, northern Italy)

The Italian Peninsula is commonly interpreted as a Quaternary refuge, with a particularly important role for taxa requiring humid environments. This is testified by a relatively high diversity of amphibians on the peninsula nowadays, and also by the regional fossil record. Here we provide a complete description of the palaeoherpetofauna from Fada Nana Cave, in Verona province. It includes at least four amphibians (Salamandra salamandra, Bufo gr. bufo, Bufotes gr. viridis, Rana temporaria) and six reptiles (Lacertidae indet., Anguis gr. fragilis, Zamenis gr. longissimus, Natrix sp., Vipera gr. aspis, and an indeterminate small Colubroides) from Middle Pleistocene deposits. Fossils from Recent levels within the cave also reveal the presence of brown frogs and a green lizard, Lacerta gr. viridis. Rather interesting is the absence of the large anguid Pseudopus, found in other Early to Late Pleistocene-age sites in Veneto, and whose lack may be explained by the higher elevation of Fada Nana Cave. Based on the preliminary analysis of the small mammal assemblage, pre-Recent deposits in Fada Nana Cave are Middle Pleistocene in age and are tentatively assigned to the MIS 13 or 15 Interglacial, within the early Toringian Small Mammal Age. The Middle Pleistocene fauna recovered in the cave indicates a forested and moist environment, with water bodies and open meadows, for the nearby area.