April 13, 1900.] 



JSCIENCK 



573 



The Mosbach and Essex fauna give the 

 following percentages : 



4 Pliocene species (including two living types). 



7 Pleistocene species, now extinct. 



16 Living species (including 2 Pliocene species). 



The characteristic Pleistocene types which 

 are first recorded in Mosbach are early- 

 varieties of the Irish, Ked and Eoe deer, 

 the moose and the cave lion, Felis sjjelcea. 

 Among the living species recorded for the 

 first time or making their first appeai-ance 

 at this stage are the Reindeer, Boar, Horse, 

 Lj'nx, Badger and Marmot. 



Ujjper Stage. — According to Pohlig, the 

 mid-Pleistocene proper, or succeeding stage, 

 was characterized by volcanic disturbances 

 in central Europe and by the deposition of 

 gypsum and tufas. Proba,bly these earth 

 movements were connected with the marked 

 geographical changes brought about by 

 wide- spread depression of the continental 

 borders and isolation, which the same au- 

 thor assigns to this period. The fauna, 

 typically represented in the Thuringian 

 tufas, indicates a cooler or north temperate 

 climate. Elephas antiquus is very abundant, 

 making its last appearance north of Italy. 

 The typical locality is the Thuringian tufa 

 in which Pohlig records 61 species. Par- 

 allel with this is the Taubach, near Weimar 

 fauna. 



In. 1895 N"ehring reported from this level 

 what he regarded as the olde&t human re- 

 mains thus far found in Europe, consisting 

 of two very large molar teeth resembling 

 in some respects those of the Chimpanzee ; 

 this man he considered of the Cheleen type. 

 In the same year Newton described a hu- 

 man skeleton of Esquimaux type in the 

 still older ' Higher Terraces ' or Hippopota- 

 mus level of Kent, England. The antiquity 

 of this skeleton is, however, rendered some- 

 what doubtful by the fact that the skull is 

 of much newer type than those of Nean- 

 derthal and of Spy, and the evidence for its 



extreme paleolithic age is not considered 

 absolutely conclusive. 



The faunal list is provisionally analyzed 

 as follow : 



3 Pliocene species still living (Castor, Hycena, Arvi 

 cola). 



7 Pleistocene species, now extinct. 

 23 Living species (including living Pleistocene 

 Northern types). 



The number of recorded living species 

 increases, there being a marked increase 

 especially in the number of Reindeer. The 

 most important new living types are : the 

 steppe antelope. Saiga prisca {tartarica), the 

 moose, Alces maclilis, the lemming, Myodes 

 lemmus, the Siberian jerboa, Alaetaga saliens, 

 the porcupine, Hydrix, the rabbit, Lepus 

 timidus. These constitute a distinct inva- 

 sion of north Asiatic forms to the southern 

 steppes. 



2. Upper Mid- Pleistocene or Elephas primi- 

 geniiii Stage Pohlig. — As we enter the next 

 succeeding Loess and Cave Period of Central 

 Europe, the main life stage of the mammoth, 

 Elephas primigeniiis, the wooly rhinoceros. 

 Rhinoceros antiquitatis or tiehorhinus, and the 

 reindeer Rangifer tarandus, we note the de- 

 cline of the broad-nosed rhinoceros Rhino- 

 ceros mercJcii and the absence of the straight- 

 tusked elephant Elephas antiquicsin geological 

 deposits which are chiefly diluvial gravels, 

 and sand claj's. These facts alone indicate 

 a prolonged colder period, a north temperate 

 or boreal climate. The fauna presents a 

 great variety adapted to different degrees of 

 temperature but decidedly of northern type. 

 Other facts indicate that this colder period 

 was initiated by a distinct advance of the 

 ice followed by a gradual recession, namely, 

 the occurrence of arctic and sub- arctic types 

 succeeded by north temperate types, in a 

 number of localities, typically near Schaff- 

 hausen. (Nehring, Steinmann, Schlosser.) 



These successive northern faunas in single 

 localities are typically as follows : 1. Tundre 

 Fauna; 2. Steppe Fauna; 3. Forest Fauna. 



