Villafranchian age ( ) is a period of

geologic time The geologic time scale, or geological time scale, (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochrono ...

(3.5–1.0 Ma) spanning the Late Pliocene and

Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, being the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time ...

used more specifically with European Land Mammal Ages. Named by Italian geologist Lorenzo Pareto for a sequence of terrestrial sediments studied near Villafranca d'Asti, a town near Turin,http://archaeologywordsmith.com/lookup.php?category=&where=headword&terms=Villafranchian it succeeds the Ruscinian age, and is followed by the Galerian. The Villafranchian is sub-divided into six faunal units based on the localities of Triversa, Montopoli, Saint-Vallier, Olivola, Tasso and Farnetta.The Pleistocene Boundary and the Beginning of the Quaternary
edited by John A. Van Couvering. Cambridge University Press 1997 A major division of both geological deposits and time, the Villafranchian is significant because the earliest hominids that clearly evolved into modern man (the

australopithecines Australopithecina or Hominina is a subtribe in the tribe Hominini. The members of the subtribe are generally ''Australopithecus'' (cladistically including the genera ''Homo'', '' Paranthropus'', and ''Kenyanthropus''), and it typically includ ...

) appeared within it. The Villafranchian is partially contemporaneous with the

Blancan The Blancan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 4,750,000 to 1,806,000 years Before Present, BP, a period of .

Stage of North America. Many animals and their extinct ancestors evolved during the Villafranchian, including the

Red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

Least weasel The least weasel (''Mustela nivalis''), little weasel, common weasel, or simply weasel is the smallest member of the genus '' Mustela,'' family Mustelidae and order Carnivora. It is native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, and has bee ...

, Moorhen, Etruscan bear, and '' Panthera gombaszoegensis.'' The beginning of the Villafranchian is typically defined by the first appearance of the bovid genus ''

Leptobos ''Leptobos'' is an extinct genus of large bovine, known from the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene of Eurasia, extending from the Iberian Peninsula to northern China. Species of ''Leptobos'' reached a weight up to 320 kg. ''Leptobos'' is cons ...

'' 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 '' Mammuthus meridionalis'' and ''

Equus stenonis ''Equus stenonis'' or the Stenon zebra, is an extinct species of equine closely related to modern zebras and asses that inhabited Eurasia in the Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch ...

,'' 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 of '' Canis etruscus ,'' but this was later considered to be diachronous. It was later proposed that the boundary be placed at the first appearance of hyena ''Pachycrocuta brevirostri''s approximately 1.8 mya.

References

Piacenzian {{geochronology-stub