TERTIARY MAMMAL HORIZONS. 41 



c. Mid- Pleistocene. ElepJias antiques stage, First Interglacial 

 Period Upper Stage, Pohlig. 



According to Pohlig the Mid-Pleistocene proper, or succeed- 

 ing stage, was characterized by volcanic disturbances in central 

 Europe and by the deposition of gypsum and tufas. Probably 

 these earth movements were connected with the marked geo- 

 graphical changes brought about by wide-spread depression of 

 the continental borders and isolation, which the same author 

 assigns to this period. The fauna, typically represented in the 

 Thuringian tufas, indicates a cooler or north temperate climate. 

 Elephas antiqiins is very abundant, making its last appearance 

 north of Italy. The typical locality is the Thuringian Tufa in 

 which Pohlig records 6 1 species. Parallel with this is the Tau- 

 bach Weimar fauna. 



In 1895, Nehring ('95, p. 369) reported from this level what 

 he regarded as the oldest human remains thus far found in Eu- 

 rope, consisting of two very large molar teeth resembling in 

 some respects those of the chimpanzee ; this he considered of 

 Cheleen type. In the same year Newton described a human 

 skeleton of Esquimaux type in the still older * higher terraces' or 

 Hippopotamus level ; the antiquity of this skeleton is, however, 

 rendered somewhat doubtful by the fact that the skull is of much 

 newer type than those of Neanderthal and Spy, and the evi- 

 dence for its extreme palaeolithic age is not considered absolutely 

 conclusive. 



In this fauna Hippopotamus no longer appears — an indication 

 perhaps of a decidedly colder climate. Elephas antiquus how- 

 ever persists and is most abundant. Among the other charac- 

 teristic Pleistocene forms are Rhinoceros incrckii which disap- 

 pears soon after this stage ; E. prinngenius typiis ; Ccrviis 

 gastaldi. The faunal list is provisionally analysed as follows : 

 3 Pliocene species still living (Castor, Hyaena, Arvicola) ; 

 7 Pleistocene species, now extinct ; 

 23 Living species (including living pleistocene Northern 

 types). 



The number of recorded living species increases, there being 



