I resti di anfibi e rettili pleistocenici della grotta «Bate» (Rethymnon, Creta)

Kotsakis, Tassos

Atti della Accademia nazionale dei Lincei. Rendiconti della Classe di scienze fisiche, matematiche e naturali, Série 8, Tome 63 (1977) no. 6, pp. 571-582

Résumé

Remains of the Quaternary amphibians and reptiles coming from the “Bate” cave on the northern coast of the Island of Crete (about 4 km west of the town of Rethymnon) are examined in this work. The herpetofauna, of Upper Pleistocene age, is formed by four species: 1) Bufo cf. viridis Laurenti, 2) Testudo marginata cretensis Bachmayer, Brinkerink and Symeonidis, 3) Lacerta cf. erhardi Bedriaga and 4) Coluber cf. gemonensis (Laurenti). Only the tortoise is of palaeontological interest considering the present absence of the genus Testudo from Crete. The species Testudo marginata Schoepff populates today the southern part of the Balkan peninsula whilst fossils from the Isle of Tilos (Dodecanesus, Greece), from the Isle of Crete and maybe from the Chalcidic peninsula (Macedonia, Greece), are known. The hypothesis of an “extermination” by the “minoic” man is suggested. The presence of the other three species is witnessed by extremely rare remains. The remains of Bufo cf. viridis have a different appearance of fossilisation and seem more recent. Both this amphibian and the two squamates live today in Crete. The few faunistic elements testify in favour of a hot Mediterranean bush climate similar to the one actually dominating in this region.