Pliocene-Early Pleistocene climatic trends in the Italian Peninsula based on stable oxygen and carbon isotope compositions of rhinoceros and gomphothere tooth enamel
δ13CCO3 results indicate that the investigated taxa were grazers-browsers in a pure C3 vegetation. According to the δ18OPO4 results Pliocene was characterized by higher temperatures than Early Pleistocene in Central Italy. In North Italy the δ13C values show a sharp increase between MN16a and MNQ16b biozones that is probably linked to the glaciation at 2.7 Ma. Higher δ13C values in MNQ18 and MNQ19-20 in Central Italy, indicating more open vegetation than in the Pliocene.