The first record of the birch mouse Sicista in the upper pleistocene sediments of Caverna Generosa (Como, Nw Italy), with morphometrical, morphological and ecological considerations

In this study a single specimen of a species of the genus Sicista, collected from the Caverna Generosa, is described: a right mandible with first molar and m/2-m/3 alveoli. The specimen shows a morphological and morphometrical similarity to Sicista subtilis and it may represent the first record in Italy and the third in the whole Europe of this species. The discovery defines advancement in the distribution of Sicista in northern Italy and it certainly demonstrates that an important faunal migration took place during the Last Glacial Maximum in the western part of the Po valley.