Cave Hunting: Researches on the evidence of caves respecting the early inhabitants of EuropeDawkins, William Boyd
History
Cave Hunting: Researches on the evidence of caves respecting the early inhabitants of Europe
Dawkins, William Boyd
Antiquities, Prehistoric -- Europe; Caves -- Europe; Europe -- Antiquities; Prehistoric peoples -- Europe
The _Mastodon brevirostris_ of this list is considered by Dr. Falconer
to be identical with _M. arvernensis_ of MM. Croiset and Jobert.
The fauna of the Val d’Arno differs from that of Montpellier and of
Auvergne, and yet is considered by Dr. Falconer to be eminently typical
of the European pleiocene.[270] The animals identified by him in the
museums of Italy are as follow:--
_Felis._
_Hyæna._
_Machairodus cultridens._
_Mastodon arvernensis._
_M. Borsoni._
_Elephas antiquus._
_Elephas meridionalis._
_Rhinoceros etruscus._
_R. megarhinus._
_R. hemitœchus._
_Hippopotamus major._
All these animals, with the exception of _Rhinoceros hemitœchus_, have
been discovered in the pseudo-pleiocene of Issoire, while the megarhine
rhinoceros and _Mastodon arvernensis_ are the only two which have been
obtained from the marine sands of Montpellier. The pleiocene animals,
therefore, inhabiting Northern Italy are more closely allied to those
of Auvergne than to those of Montpellier.
If these three localities be taken as typical of the pleiocene strata,
we shall find that several of the species range as far north as
Britain, and occur in deposits which from the evidence of the mollusca,
have been assigned to that age. _Mastodon arvernensis_, _Elephas
meridionalis_, and _Ursus arvernensis_, have been obtained from the old
land-surface which underlies the sand and shingle of the Norfolk Crag,
in company with many forms of deer and antelopes which have not yet
been identified, while the _Hipparion_ is found in the marine crags of
Suffolk.
The animals which especially characterize the pleiocene strata of
Europe are _Machairodus cultridens_, _Mastodon arvernensis_ and _M.
Borsoni_, besides the genus _Tapir_.
If this fauna be compared with that of the preglacial forest-bed,
it will be seen that the difference between them is very great. The
pleiocene mastodon, tapir, the majority of the deer, and the antelopes
are replaced by forms such as the roe and the red-deer, unknown up to
that time. Nevertheless many of the pleiocene animals were able to hold
their ground against the pleistocene invaders, although, subsequently,
as I have already shown, they disappeared one by one, being ultimately
beaten in the struggle for life by the new comers. The progress of
this struggle has been used in the preceding pages as a means of
classification. This fauna has not been discovered in any cave.
_Summary of Characteristic Pleistocene and Pleiocene Species._
The following are the salient points of the pleistocene age offered
by the study of the land mammalia in the area north of the Alps and
Pyrenees.
THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD.
A.--_The latest stage._
Palæolithic Man.
Woolly Rhinoceros, abundant.
Mammoth, abundant.
Reindeer, abundant.
Stag, comparatively rare.
Northern forms of life in full possession of area north of Alps
and Pyrenees.
B.--_The middle stage._
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