Evolution (Biology); Glacial epoch; Human beings -- Origin; Human evolution
Pinus sylvestris, Scotch fir.
Pinus abies, spruce fir.
Taxus baccata, yew.
Nuphar luteum, yellow water-lily.
Ceratophyllum demersum, hornwort.
Potamogeton, pondweed.
Prunus spinosus, common sloe.
Menyanthes trifoliata, buckbean.
Nymphaea alba, white water-lily.
Alnus, alder.
Quercus, oak.
Betula, birch.
The insects, so far as they are known, including several species of
Donacia, are, like the plants and freshwater shells, of living species.
It may be remarked, however, that the Scotch fir has been confined in
historical times to the northern parts of the British Isles, and the
spruce fir is nowhere indigenous in Great Britain. The other plants are
such as might now be found in Norfolk, and many of them indicate fenny
or marshy ground.*
(* Mr. King discovered in 1863, in the forest bed, several
rhizomes of the large British fern Osmunda regalis, of such
dimensions as they are known to attain in marshy places.
They are distinguishable from those of other British ferns
by the peculiar arrangement of the vessels, as seen under
the microscope in a cross section.)
When we consider the familiar aspect of the flora, the accompanying
mammalia are certainly most extraordinary. There are no less than three
elephants, a rhinoceros and hippopotamus, a large extinct beaver, and
several large estuarine and marine mammalia, such as the walrus, the
narwhal, and the whale.
The following is a list of some of the species of which the bones have
been collected by Messrs. Gunn and King.
Those marked (asterisk) have been recorded by Professor Owen in his
British Fossil Mammalia. Those marked (dagger) have been recognised by
the same authority in the cabinets of Messrs. Gunn and King, or in
the Norwich Museum; the other three are given on the authority of Dr.
Falconer.
MAMMALIA OF THE FOREST AND LIGNITE BEDS BELOW THE GLACIAL DRIFT OF THE
NORFOLK CLIFFS.
Elephas meridionalis.
(asterisk) Elephas primigenius.
Elephas antiquus.
Rhinoceros etruscus.
(asterisk) Hippopotamus (major?).
(asterisk) Sus scrofa.
(asterisk) Equus (fossilis?).
(asterisk) Ursus (sp.?).
(dagger) Canis lupus.
(dagger) Bison priscus.
(dagger) Megaceros hibernicus.
(asterisk) Cervus capreolus.
(dagger) Cervus tarandus.
(dagger) Cervus Sedgwickii.
(asterisk) Arvicola amphibia.
(asterisk) Castor (Trogontherium) Cuvieri.
(asterisk) Castor europaeus.
(asterisk) Palaeospalax magnus.
(dagger) Trichecus rosmarus, Walrus.
(dagger) Monodon monoceros, Narwhal.
(dagger) Balaenoptera.
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