Geomorphological and palaeogeographical characteristics of the Oreopithecus site of Fiume Santo (Sassari, Northern Sardinia, Italy)

There is a summary of the first results obtained in the study of the area of Fiume Santo, where there has been the discovery of a site of Oreopithecus bambolii of the Upper Miocene. The investigation has identified a rich fossiliferous deposit of a fluvial delta environment, which has substantial faunistic analogies with the famous deposit of the Tuscan Maremma. However, among the 14 continental animal species identified so far, there are some which have never been found before either in Sardinia or in Tuscany. The palaeogeographical reconstruction has allowed identification in the Nurra of a hydrographic network far more important than that existing today, within a landscape of hilly dome-like relief linked by extensive plains in a morphoclimatic environment of sparse savannah.