Equus hydruntinus, right limb in connection

This exhibit is the only example in the world of a limb in anatomic connection of Equus hydruntinus, a small equidae discovered for the first time at the beginning of the 20^th century at Castro in the deposits of Grotta Romanelli. The seven bones which make up the leg, from the humerus to the coffin bone were found in a “ventarola”, that is a vertical funnel-shaped depression, a typical geomorphological phenomenon affecting the pietra leccese rock formation between the late Riss glacial period and the Riss-Würm interglacial period.   The “ventarole”, 18 m deep and 4-5 m wide, were real natural animal traps and provide scholars with a useful source of information on the fauna which populated the Salento during the last Interglacial period.