INTRODUCTION

The Gargano Promontory in SE Italy (see map in Figure 1) is a block of uplifted Mesozoic limestones, forming part of the Adria Plate. The area was an island or a group of islands, separated from the Italian mainland by the Apennine Foredeep, which may have been populated during the low sea-level phase of the Messinian. Hundreds of karst fissure fillings in the limestones have yielded vertebrate faunas with typical endemic characteristics like gigantism in small mammals. Studies have been carried out on the endemic murids and cricetids (Freudenthal 1972, 1976, 1985), lagomorphs (Mazza 1987a, 1987b, 1987c), insectivores (Freudenthal 1972, Butler 1980), artiodactyls (Leinders 1984), otters (Willemsen 1983), and birds (Ballmann 1973, 1976).

The Gliridae form another important element of the fauna, but have hardly been studied. The only publication on this group so far is by Daams and Freudenthal 1985, who described the gigantic glirid genus Stertomys from San Giovannino, one of the youngest fissure fillings of the Late Miocene localities of Gargano. In this paper the Gliridae from the oldest locality, Biancone 1, are described, the taxonomy of Stertomys is revised and an attempt is made to solve the question of its origin.

Besides Stertomys a second glirid genus, Dryomys, is present in Biancone 1, represented by one species that by size and morphology lies within the known range of the genus.

Measurements are given in 0.1 mm units. The nomenclature of parts of the cheek teeth is as defined by Freudenthal 2004 (see Figure 2).

Abbreviations

BIA1. Biancone 1
RGM. Code of the geological collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Leiden, the Netherlands
V' is the variability coefficient as defined by Freudenthal and Cuenca Bescós 1984.