George Iliopoulos

University of Patras | UP · Division of General and Marine Geology and Geodynamics

The little owl ( Athene noctua ) is a common raptor in Mediterranean habitats. To acquire more information on its diet, this study identified cranial and post-cranial skeletal material from 70 owl pellets collected during the 2016 and 2017 breeding seasons. The material was used to quantify the little owl’s relative prey abundance using MNI (minimu...

The environmental and living conditions of a region are shaped by its relief, geology and climate, and control factors like hydrology and soil formation. While long-term climatic fluctuations and associated changes in environmental conditions are commonly viewed as the dominant natural factor in human evolution, the role of geological and pedologic...

The geological condition of two well-known Mycenaean cemeteries at Mazarakata and Lakithra and one less known cemetery at Metaxata, all located east of Argostoli town, were studied. During the Mycenaean civilization, three millennia earlier, the properties of the rocks were well-known to local residents. In these rocks, they have carved the famous...

The studied section, up to 10m thick, with 17 different carbonate beds, showed the interaction between a giant slide and the pre-existing normal faults, during the upper Cretaceous time. There are three major points in the studied section: (1). The presence of two slump horizons, up to 1m thick each, within the stratigraphic column, related with th...

Mani peninsula is considered an important region for the Palaeolithic research of Greece. A considerable number of sites have been excavated to date, containing deposits with cultural remains from the Middle Palaeolithic, the Upper Palaeolithic, and the Neolithic period. Melitzia Cave is a cave locality filled with Upper Pleistocene deposits, yield...

Kefalonia Island is situated in western Greece and geologically corresponds to the Apulian Platform Margins (APM), with the Apulian Platform lying to the west and the Ionian Basin to the east. The studied deposits, with a thickness up to 164.5, extend along the 650 m long Agia Efmia bay, ranging from the Middle Paleocene (Selandian) to the uppermos...

One of the great debates in the Palaeolithic research of SE Europe is the taphonomy of stone tools recovered from open-air sites associated with terra rossa deposits. Some researchers have claimed that Palaeolithic material can be found in situ in these formations, whereas others have excluded any such possibility. During the last fifteen years, e...

The Lower Pleistocene Karnezeika locality, lies in the Peloponnese, southern Greece, and its fauna corresponds to the Middle Villafranchian biochronological unit (MN17). The recovered mammal assemblage includes, among others, a few remains of a large Cercopithecid. Herein, we describe this material, including an upper second molar, a partially pres...

This study integrates provenance and statistical data, along with published sedimentological results, applied on the Upper Eocene-Lower Oligocene submarine fan deposits in Pindos foreland basin. Twelve (12) outcrops were described and interpreted using facies analysis, conglomerate clast composition analysis, petrographic analysis, and statistical...

Kefalonia Island is situated in western Greece and geologically corresponds to the Apulian Platform Margins (APM), with the Apulian platform lying to the west and the Ionian Basin to the east. The studied deposits, with a thickness up to 164.5, extend along the 650m long Agia Efimia bay, ranging from the middle Paleocene (Selandian) to the uppermos...

This study integrates provenance and statistical data, along with published sedimentological results, applied on the Lower Oligocene submarine‐fan deposits in Pindos foreland basin. Twelve outcrops were analysed using conglomerate clast composition, petrographic and statistical analysis and this integration suggests that the studied deposits were s...

In our paper (Nicolaou et al., 2020) we used age-graded mandibles to draw attritional mortality profiles which challenge the hypothesis that the hippo bone accumulation of Aetokremnos resulted from human hunting. Simmons et al. (2022) raised concerns about the methodology we used compared to the methodology used by Wopschall (2014) who drew prime-d...

The present study focuses on the microvertebrate fossil material retrieved from the three fossiliferous units of Kalamakia cave dating from ca. 90-25 kya BP, to identify the accumulation agents of the assemblage and the processes that affected it post-depositionally. This was done through the quantification of specific indices described in the lite...

The Acheulean site of Radafnidia

The Acheulean site of Radafnidia

Fossil bones are not only providing information on the palaeoenvironment that a vertebrate once lived, but also on the diagenetic and fossilization processes of the respective burial environment. Alterations in apatite composition, crystallinity and bone histology reflect the conditions that prevailed in the depositional environment. In the presen...

More than 3000 fossil vertebrate specimens have been unearthed from the new Lower Pleistocene locality of Karnezeika, Peloponnese, Greece. The vast majority of the material (~90%) represents bovids, and their systematic study is provided herein. The bovid assemblage consists of four taxa. A significant portion of the collected bovid material belong...

Marine Piacenzian deposits are extremely rare in the eastern Mediterranean region, resulting in a stratigraphic gap in our knowledge of the late Pliocene evolution of the marine ecosystem and its fauna. Fish assemblages moreover are scant throughout the Pliocene. We present here the teleost fish fauna of the Piacenzian Polis basin (SW Cyprus) based...

Field investigation, Microfacies analysis, and biostratigraphy have been carried out in the central parts of the Ionian Basin (Aetoloakarnania area, Western Greece) in order to decipher the depositional environments that developed during the accumulation of the Upper Cretaceous to Eocene carbonate succession. Three different Standard Microfacies ty...

The studied area is situated in northwestern Greece and corresponds to the northern end of the Pre-Apulian Zone, in contact with the Apulian platform to the west and the Ionian Basin to the east. The proposed model is based on fieldwork, measured deformation structures, and age determination of the studied deposits. Until now, the known Pre-Apulian...

The assessment of the geosites of Chelmos-Vouraikos UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGp) was carried out based on an established methodology for the evaluation of geoparks’ geosites. Such assessments should be used for sustainable development and geoconservation in geoparks. The selected methodology is based on a wider range of criteria concerning the over...

In this study, siliceous nodules from the world-famous Myrtos beach, as well as from Avithos beach, in the western flanks of Kefalonia Island in Greece are examined by means of petrographical, mineralogical, geochemical and micropaleontological methods. The objectives of this study are to characterize the textural and compositional features of the...

Sea cows are a group of aquatic, mainly marine mammals (Mammalia: Sirenia), being common dwellers in shallow coastal and transitional environments of the former Tethys Ocean, and which are found in the fossil record from the early Eocene till present. The review of the fossil record of this group in Greece revealed the presence of a single sirenian...

The prehistoric record of Lefkas and the smaller neighboring islands is fairly extensive. The oldest archaeological material dates back to the Middle Palaeolithic period. The Neolithic period is also attested by archaeological finds in five caves. Even though Early (EH) and Middle Helladic (MH) periods have been known since the 1920s due to Dőrpfel...

The Lower Pleistocene Karnazeika locality, lies in the Peloponnese, Southern Greece. and its fauna corresponds to the Middle Villafranchian biochronological unit (MN17), being the most southern Balkan fauna of that age. The recovered mammal assemblage includes, among others, a few remains of a large Cercopithecidae. Herein, the new material, includ...

The purpose of this study is to analyze the dietary traits of ruminant taxa from the Late Pleistocene site Melitzia Cave using mesowear analysis, in an attempt to reconstruct the palaeonvironment of the studied area. Dental mesowear is an extensively used method for the reconstruction of the overall diet of mammals and has been widely applied in un...

The present study aims to determine the Late Holocene palaeogeographic evolution of the coastal Lihoura plain located at the western part of Pteleos Gulf, in central-eastern Greece. The study area is a low-lying marsh, located at the mouth of an ephemeral stream. In order to determine the evolution of the plain, three cores (max. depth of 6 m) were...

The sedimentary basins of Greece contain an important record of fossil vertebrates that has been known and studied for nearly two centuries. Here, we present our collective effort to review and summarize this fossil record. A combination of our original research and previously published records permits the complete reassessment of the identified ve...

The Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus is an extinct Mediterranean species that inhabited the island of Cyprus during the Late Pleistocene. This iconic species last appears at the archaeological site of Akrotiri Aetokremnos, dated to ~12 500 cal. BP. Taxonomically, the Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus has been assigned to Hippopotamus minor, which, based on morp...

The Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus is an extinct Mediterranean species that inhabited the island of Cyprus during the Late Pleistocene. This iconic species last appears at the archaeological site of Akrotiri Aetokremnos, dated to ~12 500 cal. BP. Taxonomically, the Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus has been assigned to Hippopotamus minor, which, based on morp...

A riverbed swamp in the Krathis River, N. Peloponnese, is studied and analyzed geomorphologicaly. Our analysis is also based on sedimentological, geochemical, palaeontological and radiometric dating data which enabled the investigation of the possible relationship between the studied swamp and the 1913 Tsivlos landslide. Sedimentological analysis s...

Giraffids (Mammalia: Cetartiodactyla: Giraffidae) are a common taxon in Neogene and Quaternary faunas of the Old World since the early Miocene until present. The review of the fossil record of this group in Greece revealed the presence of four subfamilies (Canthumerycinae, Sivatheriinae, Palaeotraginae, and Giraffinae) that include 6 genera (Georgi...

Siliceous concretions (nodules), from two different geological settings—the Apulian platform margins in Kefalonia island, and the Ionian Basin in Ithaca, Atokos, and Kastos islands—have been studied both in the field and in the laboratory. Nodule cuttings are mainly characterized by the development of a core, around which a ring (rim) has been form...

In order to decipher the paleo-depositional environments, during the Late Jurassic to Early Eocene syn-rift stage, at the margins of the Ionian basin, two different areas with exposed long sequences have been selected, Kastos Island (external margin) and Araxos peninsula (internal margin), and were examined by means of microfacies analysis and bios...

Lithics and cut-marked mammal bones, excavated from the paleo-lake Marathousa 1 (MAR-1) sediments in the Megalopolis Basin, southern Greece, indicate traces of hominin activity occurring along a paleo-shoreline ca. 444,000 years (444 ka) ago. However, the local environment and climatic conditions promoting hominin activity in the area during the MI...

The Late Miocene (MN9) locality of Höwenegg is well known for its diverse faunal assemblage during a key time period of the Neogene. Several articulated and nearly complete skeletons of mammals, fishes and a large amount of turtle specimens have been excavated in the past decades. Four different species of tortoises and freshwater turtles from at l...

Mani peninsula is considered an important region of Greece for palaeolithic research, as there is a considerable number of known excavated sites containing deposits with cultural remains from the Middle Palaeolithic, the Upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic period. Melitzia cave is such a site with Upper Pleistocene deposits containing remains of numer...

The sedimentary basins of Greece contain an important record of fossil vertebrates that has been known and studied for nearly two centuries. Here, we present our collective effort to review and summarize this fossil record. A combination of our original research and previously published records permits the complete reassessment of the identified ve...

This work aims to test and introduce a newly developed methodological approach for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions using advanced intelligent controls, namely fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs). The new methodology is presented to the scientific community through the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of a Lower Pleistocene sedimentary sequence in the...

Rio graben is a region of significant stratigraphic and palaeontological interest where several environmental changes have been recorded during the Quaternary. These changes are a result of active tectonism, related to the well-known rifting process that has been occurring in the geotectonic region of the Corinth-Patras Rift, as well as of the infl...

Based on macroremains, we describe three fossil plant assemblages from the Miocene of the Messara Basin (southern Crete) and the adjacent Gavdos Island. The palaeoflora of Kassanoi, which is the oldest (Messara Basin, Viannos Fm, Serravallian/early Tortonian), is documented mainly by leaf imprints, including a fern, a conifer (Tetraclinis cf. salic...

Ostracods are important palaeoenvironmental tools and for this reason the study of their palaeoecology and geographic distribution must be enhanced in the frame of a unified geographic approach. The PLOSTRAC's project (Study of Pleistocene ostracods from central and southern Greece: Digital imaging of a palaeoenvironmental tool) main aim is to stud...

Climatic oscillations during the Pleistocene were controlled by glacial/interglacial cycles. Such oscillations are commonly imprinted into sediments and fossils from transitional marine environments, as is also the case in Sousaki Basin (Eastern Gulf of Corinth, Greece). Nevertheless, the records become scarcer as we go back in time. During the Low...

The use of life tables in age-graded mandibles of the endemic pygmy hippopotamus Hippopotamus minor from Aetokremnos Cyprus suggests that death occurred by natural causes such as accidents, genetic abnormalities and endemic diseases rather than catastrophic causes. Comparison of H. minor and modern Hippopotamus amphibius life tables suggests the bi...

In the present study, results from the examination of mammalian teeth from the cave of Kalamakia with modern techniques, as well as a qualitative overview of the microvertebrate and lithic material, are presented together with a revision of previous related work done for the site, in order to assess the palaeoenvironmental conditions in the area an...

As major components of natural ecosystems, plants interact with the biotic and abiotic environment developing a spectrum of different responses at various biological levels. Such biotic interactions are detectible in the plant fossil record and provide an outline of ecological functions during the past. The recently described Late Miocene plant ass...

The use of life tables in age-graded mandibles of the endemic pygmy hippopotamus Hippopotamus minor from Aetokremnos Cyprus suggests that death occurred by natural causes such as accidents, genetic abnormalities and endemic diseases rather than catastrophic causes. Comparison of H. minor and modern Hippopotamus amphibius life tables suggests the bi...

Sedimentological studies of the Cretaceous limestones in the central Ionian basin (Amfilochia, Arta as well as Kerasonas areas) indicate that these deposits are composed of calciturbidites interbedded with breccia-microbreccia deposits. In the Amfilochia new cross-section, with a NNW-SSE direction, the lower Cretaceous Vigla limestones and Vigla sh...

The microfaunal remains recovered at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia (Poros island, Greece) are abundant and varied. They belong to a number of different animal taxa, including snakes, frogs, lizards, and some micromammals. They have been found in several locations but the largest concentration originates in a closed Late Hellenistic/Early R...

The undigested remains (pellets) of the Barn Owl Tyto alba (order Strigiformes) were analysed, in order to investigate the dietary habits of the species in different ecosystems and, indirectly, to record the biodiversity of small mammals in the under-study areas. An adequate number of pellets were collected from Argirokastro, west of the Pindos mou...

The study of owl pellets is the simplest method for zoologists who want to study the feeding preferences and preying habits of these predators. However, questions arise, concerning the methodology applied in such studies, since researchers worldwide seem to focus solely on cranial and teeth morphology for the identification and quantification of th...

The complex interaction of local tectonics and volcanism usually produces palaeoenvironments that require to be studied in detail in order to define the role of each factor in the local palaeoenvironmental evolution. This is the case for the Sousaki Basin lying at the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It presents a complex Pliocene and Pleistoce...

Introduction-Geological setting Upper Cretaceous-Lower Eocene deposits of the Ionian basin are the major target in hydrocarbon exploration as they represent the reservoir rocks. These deposits mostly are composed of calciturbidites interbedded with breccia-microbreccia deposits. According to Bourli et al., 2019 the studied outcrops from Araxos area...

Study area The structural grain of Greece is traversed by a 140-km-long system of grabens that includes three members namely the Corinth graben in the east, the Patras graben in the west and the bridging with the Rion graben in the middle (Doutsos et al. 1988). Rio graben is an asymmetric graben with a NE trending Peloponnesian border fault hosting...

This study deals with the description of the fauna of Karnezeika, a new Middle-Late Villafranchian locality in southern Greece. The faunal assemblage is significantly rich, given the low number of specimens, including 22 genera of macromammals, micromammals, aves and reptiles