OSBORX. REVIEW OF THE PLEISTOCENE 28o 



This is the Elepkas antiquus Stage of Pohlig, this animal being very 

 abundant until toward the close of the Third Interglacial Stage when it 

 makes its last appearance in Europe. The broad-nosed rhinoceros (D. 

 merchii) is also abundant and appears in Europe for the last time. 



The successive climatic phases of mammalian life are most clearly 

 recorded in connection with the culture stages of the Lower Palaeolithic 

 period, including the pre-Chellean, Chellean, Acheuleau, and the begin- 

 ning of the Mousterian cultures. As indicated on p. 233, the warm 

 Asiatic-African fauna prevails from the pre-Chellean until toward the 

 close of Acheulean times, when there is evidence of the advent of a cold 

 dry continental climate, on the approach of which the hippopotamus, 

 Eleplias antiquus, and DicerprMnus merchii gradually retreat. Thus at 

 Yillejuif, south of Paris, the late Acheulean implements are found im- 

 bedded in great drifts of loess, a proof that a cooler, drier climate which 

 marks the transition from the last warm Interglacial Stage to the Fourth 

 Glacial advance was prevalent. Chiefly in the southern parts of Prance 

 we find the Elephas antiquus fauna still persisting until the close of the 

 Third Interglacial Stage or during the early Mousterian period, a sign 

 that this old African- Asiatic stock did not become extinct but migrated 

 from central Europe to warmer regions in the south and southwest. 



Flora. — Indications of changes of climate in the Third Interglacial 

 interval are preserved in the tuf de la Celle-sous Moret (Seine-et- 

 Marne) 7S which overlies Pleistocene river gravels near Paris. The lower 

 levels contain the sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) , willows 

 (Salix). the Austrian pine (Pinus laricia). Higher up in the same de- 

 posits we find the box tree (Buxus) and not uncommonly the fig 

 (Ficus) ; the canary laurel (Laurus nohilis) occurs less frequently ; the 

 canary laurel and the fig indicate that the winters were mild because 

 both these plants flower during the winter season. The climate was 

 more damp and somewhat milder than that of the present time in this 

 region. The Mollusca of the tufa of La Celle also indicate that the cli- 

 mate of northern Prance was more equable so as to permit species now 

 widely separated to live together. The plants in the highest levels of 

 the tufa, however, indicate a cooler climate and yield Acheulean flints. 

 The tufa is itself covered by a sheet of loess corresponding to the return 

 of a cool, arid period in late Acheulean times. 



In Lorraine below the level of the fauna of the Fourth glaciation there 

 occurs a flora in which the most northerly varieties of the larch (Lari.r) 

 and the mountain pine (Pinus lawibertiana) predominate. The lignites 

 of Diirnten and of Ltznaeh near Zurich (Fig. '9, 18) contain fossil re- 



's Hacg, op. tit., 1908-11, p. 1811 



