OSBORy. REVIEW OF THE PLEISTOCENE 



2v5 



acter. Schotensack likened it to that of the First Interglacial or Nor- 

 folkian Stage. The presence of the etrnscan rhinoceros would appear to 

 justify this opinion, but it is overborne by the similarity to the fauna of 

 Mosbach including the presence of E quits moshadiensis, a species highly 

 characteristic of the Second Interglacial Stage. The entire fauna of 

 these Lower Sands of Mauer is noAv identified (Schmidt, 1912), as fol- 

 lows: Elephas antiquus, D. {Rhinoceros) etruscus,^^ Equus moshachen- 

 sis, Sus scrofa fercF, Alces latifrons, Cervus elaphus, Capreolus capreolus. 

 Bison priscus, Bos primigenius, Ursus arvernensis, U. deningeri, Felis 

 leo,^'^ Felis catus, Canis neschersensis, Castor fiber. The enumeration of 



l.**3h4. 



Fig. 15. — Heiuellerg jaic 



The human lowor jaw ( % natural size) found near Heidelberg, on wliicli is based the 

 species Homo heicleWergensis. After Schoetensack. 



this fauna is very important as indicating the temperate climatic condi- 

 tions which surrounded the Heidelberg man. Wurm observes that the 

 Etruscan rhinoceros only occurs in Mauer and that its variations indi- 

 cate a transition towards the D. merchii which occurs at Mosbach and 

 Siissenborn but not in Mauer. Above this layer occurs a deposit of the 

 ^' Older Loess,"^ iiiclieating an arid climate. The Upper Sands of Mauer 

 contain a cold fauna which by some is referred to the close of the Second 



''0 WuuM^ A.: "uber Rhinoceros etruscus Falc. von Mauer a. d. Elsenz (bei Heidel- 

 berg)." Verb. d. Naturhist-Medizin. Yereins zu Heidelberg, N. F. XII Band, 1 Heft, 

 pp. 1-62, pll. I-IV. 1912. 



*i WURMj A. : Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Diluvialen Siiugetier fauna von ^Mauer a. d. 

 Elsenz (bei Heidelberg), I. Felis leo fossilis. .Tahresberichte und Mitteilungen des Ober- 

 rhein, geol. Yereins. N. F.. Bd. II. Heft 1. pp. 77-102. 1912. 



