Abstract
In organic rich shale interlayers alternating with gypsum selenite beds cropping out in the Mt. Tondo quarry (Gessoso-solfifera Formation, Messinian) many fossils were found, especially of plants.
Such paleoflora, preliminarily represented by 44 taxa, has many correspondences with contemporary fossil floras of Northern Italy and Central-southern Europe. In order to get independent paleoenvironmental evaluation 4 different methods were used: Phytosociological approach (PhytoA), Integrated Plant Record vegetation analysis (IPR-vegetation analysis), Climate Leaf Analysis Multivariate Program (CLAMP) and Leaf Margin Analysis (LMA).
In this way 3 relatively specific vegetation assemblages were determined: a mixed-swamp forest, a riparian assemblage and a zonal mesophytic (mesic) assemblage (the most abundant). Altogether, this paleoflora belongs to a transitional vegetation type between “Broad-leaved Evergreen Forest (BLEF)” of subtropical climates and a “Mixed Mesophytic Forest (MMF)” of warm-temperate / subtropical climates.
Some hypotheses about possible paleoclimatic parameters were also advanced. Among other findings fossil fishes are abundant and documents an oligotypic association dominated by Aphanius crassicaudus, indicating a coastal lagoon environment.
We report also scarce fossil insect samples almost entirely represented by impressions of Odonata, mainly larvae but also by an adult dragonfly wing.