Villafranchian
Villafranchian age is a period of geologic time (3.0—2.0 Ma)[1] overlapping the end of the Pliocene and the beginning of the Pleistocene used more specifically with European Land Mammal Ages. Named by Italian geologist Lorenzo Pareto[2] for a sequence of terrestrial sediments studied near Villafranca d'Asti, a town near Turin,[3] it succeeds the Ruscinian age.
A major division of both geological deposits and time, the Villafranchian is significant because the earliest hominids that clearly evolved into modern man (the australopithecines) appeared within it.[3] The Villafranchian is partially contemporaneous with the Blancan Stage of North America.[3]
Many animals and their extinct ancestors evolved during the Villafranchian, including the Red fox, Least weasel, Moorhen, Etruscan bear, and Tuscany lion.
References
- ↑ http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803115849217
- ↑ Fossil Mammals of Asia: Neogene Biostratigraphy and Chronology, edited by Xiaoming Wang, Lawrence J. Flynn, Mikael Fortelius
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://archaeologywordsmith.com/lookup.php?category=&where=headword&terms=Villafranchian
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