OSBORX. REVIEW OF THE PLEISTOCENE 2?1 



plants are associated with elephants of the E. antiquus stage. "The flora 

 of the Qnaternarv tuffs/"^ observes Saporta,^^ "is composed almost entirely 

 of wood}' forms liyino- in Yalle3^s and by the sides of streams." It is for 

 the most part analogous with the present flora of Provence. Of the 

 thirty-seven species, twenty-nine still occur in this region. Among the 

 forms which have since retreated to the south are the sweet bay {Laurus 

 nohilis) and another species of laurel {L. canariensis) which is now con- 

 fined to the Canaries. The greater humidity of the time is indicated by 

 the presence of species of pine which require more moisture. As in the 

 Norfolk Interglacial, the figs (Ficus) and the Judas trees (Cercis) flour- 

 ished. The ash (Fraxinus) is of a species now found in Corsica and 

 Italy. On the whole, the forest trees and forest ground flora are surpris- 

 ingly modern, including oaks, elms, poplars, willows, lindens, maples, 

 sumacs, dogwood, hawthorn. Among the climbing plants are the vine 

 (Vitis) and clematis (Clematis). 



MAMMALS 



This life period was first observed by Lyell and Evans in Essex, Eng- 

 land, and was subsequently recognized in Germany and France. Geo- 

 logically the deposits are partly of fluviatile origin, consisting chiefly of 

 river sands and gravels in which the remains of hippopotamus, elephants 

 and rhinoceroses occur. These animals were formerly cited as proof of 

 an almost tropical climate, but the evidence of the flora, enumerated 

 above, and the equally numerous hardy types of animals tend to modify 

 the former theories as to extremely warm Second Interglacial tempera- 

 tures. The geographic connections of Europe with the south through the 

 land bridges of Lower Pleistocene times still persisted in Italy in whole 

 or in part, because the depression of the southern portion of the continent 

 of Europe had not yet begun. 



Survivals. — The mammals occurring in these Older Diluvial sands and 

 gravels include several Pliocene survivals from the First Interglacial 

 Stage, associated with the etruscan rhinoceros {Dicer orliinus etruscus). 

 If Montmaurin belons^s to this stao^e we mav include Machcerodus. At 

 Mauer two primitive types of bear, Ursus arveimensis and U. deningeii, 

 are recorded, also Trogontherium cuvieri. The Mauer horse first identi- 

 fied as E. stenonis is now referred to E. mauerensis. 



Among the chief localities where the river deposits containing the 

 mammals referred to the Second Interglacial Stage occur are the fol- 

 lowing : 



^ De Saporta, G. : "La Flore des Tufs Quaternaires en Provence." C. R. Sess. Congr. 

 Sci. France. Aix, 1867. 



