New data on Late Pleistocene and Holocene red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris L., 1758, in Italy

The genus Sciurus is known since Late Miocene in the European fossil record, but it is quite rare. Fossil remains of squirrels occur in relatively few sites and generally with very few specimens, sometimes only one or two teeth. Recent finds of a Sciurus vulgaris mandible from Grotta Mora Cavorso (Latium), and the reanalysis of the red squirrel remains from the Caverna delle Arene Candide (Liguria), the Riparo Soman (Veneto) and the Grotta del Santuario della Madonna (Calabria) provide new data and insights on the change in size of the rodent and on its geographic and ecological distribution in the Pleistocene and Holocene of Italy. The study of food preferences of the current red squirrel predators provides solid comparative data to measure the relative rarity of the bone remains found in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene paleontological deposits and archaeological contexts. Taphonomic analysis, particularly on the latest Pleistocene remains from the Caverna delle Arene Candide, sheds light on the alimentary and cultural use of the rodent made by prehistoric man, allowing to say that so far the human contribution to the accumulation of his bones has been underestimated.