Skip to main content

Gianni Insacco

  • Biodiversity Journal, 8 (4): 947-950

    Nicola Maio, Francesco Pollaro, Angelo Gasparro, Agnese Petraccioli, Marcello Mezzasalma, Mario Guariglia, Giorgio Galiero, Fabio Di Nocera, Doriana Iaccarino, Mario Santoro, Gianni Insacco & Fabio Maria Guarino
    New record of Dwarf Sperm Whale Kogia sima (Owen, 1866) from the Mediterranean Sea (Cetacea Kogiidae)

    ABSTRACT
    We report a new record of the Dwarf Sperm Whale Kogia sima (Owen, 1866) (Cetacea Kogiidae) in the Mediterranean Sea, following the stranding of a dead female of this species occurred on 4th February 2017. The specimen was found at the Trentova seaside near Agropoli (Salerno Province, Southern Italy) within the area of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park. The molecular analysis of a partial sequence of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA confirmed the species identification based on anatomical and morphological characters. This stranding is the third on the Mediterranean and Italian coasts.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 14 (4): 0765-0773

    Gianni Insacco, Bruno Zava & Marco Masseti
    Two late 1800s wolves, Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia Canidae), from the Hyblean Mountains, in eastern Sicily
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2023.14.4.765.773

    ABSTRACT
    The wolf, Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia Canidae), became extinct in Sicily in the past century, between 1930 and 1960. The present paper describes the unpublished remains of two wolves, killed in the late 1800s in the Hyblean Mountains and preserved within the vertebrate collection of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale of Comiso, Ragusa, (Italy), that is an important asset for biodiversity research as well as for morphological and genetic studies. The two specimens constitute the only finds of the species that are known so far for eastern Sicily. Their measurements and the restoration carried out for museum display are presented. A morphological description of these two specimens is provided and the taxonomic problems of the Italian and Sicilian populations are discussed.