Morphological Characterization of Fossil L. Seeds from the Gelasian of Italy by Seed Image Analysis.

The discovery of well-preserved fossil L. seeds from the Gelasian stage in Italy has provided a unique opportunity to investigate the systematics of fossilized species. Through seed image analyses and elliptical Fourier transforms of fossil seeds from the sites Buronzo-Gifflenga and Castelletto Cervo II, we pointed out a strong relationship to the group of extant Eurasian species. However, classification analyses highlighted challenges in accurately assigning the fossil grape seeds to specific modern species. Morphological comparisons with modern species revealed striking similarities between the fossil seeds and subsp. , as well as several other wild species from Asia. This close morphological resemblance suggests the existence of a population of sensu lato in Northen Italy during the Gelasian. These findings contributed to our understanding of the evolution and the complex interplay between ancient and modern species.