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−22 — – −20 — – −18 — – −16 — – −14 — – −12 — – −10 — – −8 — – −6 — – −4 — – −2 — – 0 — | MN 1 MN 2 MN 3 MN 4 MN 5 MN 6 MN 7/8 MN 9 MN 10 MN 11 MN 12 MN 13 MN 14 MN 15 MN 16 MN 17 MN 18 ELMMZ Zones | |
Villafranchian age (/ˌvɪləˈfræŋkiən/VIL-ə-FRANK-ee-ən) is a period ofgeologic time (3.5–1.0Ma)[1][2]: 7 spanning theLate Pliocene andEarly Pleistocene used more specifically withEuropean Land Mammal Ages. Named by Italian geologistLorenzo Pareto[3] for a sequence of terrestrial sediments studied nearVillafranca d'Asti, a town nearTurin,[4] it succeeds theRuscinian age, and is followed by theGalerian.
The Villafranchian is sub-divided into six faunal units based on the localities of Triversa, Montopoli, Saint-Vallier, Olivola, Tasso and Farnetta.[2]: 149
A major division of European geological deposits and time, the Villafranchian is significant because it marked the first arrival of archaic humans into Europe towards the end of the period.[4] The Villafranchian is partially contemporaneous with theBlancan Stage of North America.[4]
The beginning of the Villafranchian is typically defined by the first appearance of the bovid genusLeptobos in Italy, dated to around 3.5-3.6 million years ago (mya). The beginning of the Middle Villafranchian is defined by the "elephant–Equus event" denoting the first appearance of the mammothMammuthus meridionalis and the equineEquus stenonis, thought to be around 2.5-2.6 mya. The beginning of the Late Villafranchian was formerly typically defined by the "Wolf event", the first appearance ofCanis etruscus , but this was later considered to bediachronous. It was later proposed that the boundary be placed at the first appearance of the giant hyenaPachycrocuta brevirostris approximately 1.8 mya.[5] The transition between the Villafranchian and the following Galerian has been placed as its own biochron, theEpivillafranchian, coincident with the end of the Early Pleistocene around 1.2-0.9/0.8 million years ago.[6] This period was marked by numerous extinctions, including those ofPachycrocuta, the sabertoothed catMegantereon,[7] andMammuthus meridionalis.[8]
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