OSBORy. REVIEW OF THE PLEISTOCENE 25!) 



Among the animals attributed by Dawkins to the Forest Bed fauna 

 which Newton 40 considers of doubtful reference are the hysena, the true 

 cattle (Bos priinigenius), the red deer (Cervus elaphus), the moose 

 {Aires latifrons) and the giant deer (Megaceros). These animals are, 

 however, certainty recorded in France (Cajarc) with the exception of the 

 moose (Alces). 



The presence of deer (Cervidse) in great numbers and representing 

 many different phyla is one of the most distinctive features of First In- 

 terglacial times. There existed numerous and varied forms of deer life 

 both in Great Britain and southern and western Europe, attesting the 

 presence of forests. They belong to several, probably to as many as five 

 distinct phyla. Among these the polycladine., or "many-branched" deer 

 so distinctive of the Upper Pliocene of the Val d'Arno now make their 

 last appearance in Europe as Sedgwick's deer (C. sedgivicki) of the For- 

 est Bed, with remarkably complex antlers closer to the C. dicranius of 

 the Val d'Arno. A second Pliocene European phylum is that of the roe- 

 deer (C. capreolus). A third phylum, numerous and highly diversified, 

 is that of the giant deer (Megaceros) which is represented by a variety 

 of species (M. verticornis, M. fitcliii, M. dawkinsi). There is some doubt 

 whether the true "deer of the Carnutes" (C. carnutorum) occurs here. 

 As above noted Newton is uncertain whether the stag (C. elaphus) has 

 been truly recorded in the Forest Bed. Neither the true fallow deer 

 (Cervus dama) nor the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) has been recorded 

 there. 



This Forest Bed fauna as a whole is an outlier of the Asiatic-African 

 group with a strong northerly Eurasiatic forest element intermingled. 

 We observe that browsing, forest-living and fluviatile types predominate. 

 Among the forest-frequenting carnivores are the wolverine (Gulo), the 

 otter (Lutra), two kinds of bear (Ursus), the wolf (Canis), the fox 

 (Vulpes), the marten (Mustela) and a true feline (Fells) in addition 

 to numerous representatives of the sabre-tooth tigers (Machcerodus) . 

 All the above are true Eurasiatic forest types from north-temperate lati- 

 tudes. Among the forest-living browsers also is a large boar related to 

 Sus scrofa, the primitive browsing rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus etruscus) 

 with short-crowned teeth, while in the rivers disported the giant hippo- 

 potamus (H. major). Among the grazing and meadow -living forms 

 Bos or Leptobos is represented in the Forest Bed. There are also two 

 species of horses including a lighter form resembling the E. stenonis 



*> Newton, E. T. : "Notes on the Vertebrata of the Fre-GIacial Forest Bed Series of 

 the East of England." Oeol. Mag., Vol. vii. Ft. I, Carnivora. pp. 152-155, Pt. II, Car- 

 nivora, pp. 424-427, Ft. Ill, Ungulata, pp. 447-452, PI. xv. 1880. 



