The late-Holocene bird remains retrieved during archaeological excavations on pelagic island of Palagruža, Croatia, were analysed. The results of the analysis revealed presence of representatives of nine families: Procellariidae, Sulidae, Ardeidae, Accipitridae, Phasianidae, Rallidae, Laridae, Strigidae and Corvidae. Among the bird remains, the most numerous were remains of the Northern Gannet, Morus bassanus, which were widely distributed in the Mediterranean during the late Pleistocene. The finding of the Northern Gannet bones on Palagruža represents the first fossil record of this species in the Adriatic Sea and indicates a possible breeding site on the island. The direct Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating on two gannet bones revealed the age of 2878 ± 34 and 2694 ± 45 yr BP. Gannet bones from Palagruža were some 6000 years younger than other fossil records of that species from the Mediterranean. It is possible that during the gannet’s northward distributional shift, probably caused by centennial climatic variability and human pressure, gannet colony on that remote island in the Adriatic lasted longer than in the rest of the Mediterranean and existed until the late-Holocene. Lower sea-surface temperatures compared with the eastern Mediterranean, higher nutritive productivity and remoteness of Palagruža provided adequate breeding opportunities during that period.

Eight anatomically and taxonomically different finds are presented in this paper, and they belong to four taxa: woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), and dog (Canis familiaris). All specimens represent allochthonous Late Pleistocene and Holocene animal remains, and all were dredged during the gravel exploitation at the Sekuline site near Molve (Podravina region, SW Pannonian basin, NE Croatia). Mammoth remains (bone and tusk fragments) were radiocarbon dated, and these are the first absolute dates on mammoths in Croatia. One upper last left deciduous premolar (dP4 sin.) also belongs to the same species. Ascribed to a dog is one well-preserved skull with a peculiar abscess scar on the maxillary bone as the result of an inflammatory process on the carnassial (P4) premolar. The Late Pleistocene cervid remains are giant deer, while the other cervid finds were determined to be red deer of the Holocene age. Morphometrical and taphonomical data are presented for each specimen. Such fossil and recent bone/tooth aggregates are characteristic of fluvial deposits and selective collecting. Although lacking stratigraphic provenance, these finds help to fulfil the gaps in palaeoenvironmental, palaeoecological, and palaeoclimate reconstructions of Podravina and its neighbouring areas.