302 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



Steppe Fauna Palaeolithic, Magdaleniau : 



Saiga antelope, Antelope saiga 4. Upper Breccia, or "Upper Ro- 



Asiatic wild ass, Equus hemionus dent" layer, steppe fauna. 



Wild horse, E. przeivalskii ? sp. ?>• Yellow culture layer, paleolithic 



Jerboa, Alactaga jaculus "Reindeer Age," steppe fauna. 



Desert horse, E. caballus celticus 2 - Lower Breccia, or "Lower Ro- 

 dent" layer, animal remains 



Alpine Fauna and traces of man> tundra 



Ibex, Ibex priscus fauna. 



Chamois, Rupicapra 1. Diluvial layer. No fossils. 



(2) Of these the "Lower Eodent" layer contains a pure arctic tundra 

 fauna, such as the vole, hare, fox, the reindeer, the ptarmigan. There 

 are no traces of man. In the layer above these the early steppe animals 

 begin to appear, the hamsters and picas. (3) Then in the "Yellow Cul- 

 ture" layer there is an assemblage of pure steppe forms, susliks, dwarf 

 picas and wild horses, all pointing to the absence of forests ; but at the 

 top of this layer the first squirrel (Sciurus) appears as the harbinger of 

 forests. (4) In the "Upper Eodent" layer the steppe fauna begins to be 

 intermingled with an increasing number of forest types, such as squir- 

 rels, dormice, and the pine marten. (5) Finally we .reach the "Gray 

 'Culture" layer, composed of the modern forest dwellers, such as the squir- 

 rel, the beaver, the pine marten, the stag, the roe, the wild boar, the 

 brown bear. The "Lower Eodent" layer is contemporaneous with the 

 Mousterian culture, while the "Upper Eodent" layer belongs to Magda- 

 lenian times. The uppermost "Gray Culture" layer with its forest fauna 

 belongs either to the closing Palaeolithic or to Neolithic times. 



Kesslerloch Cave. — Similar conclusions result from the study of the 

 geologic conditions surrounding the Kesslerloch Cave of Thaingen in 

 Switzerland (Fig. 9, 37). This famous cave lies on the edge of a 

 moderately wide valley, traversed by a brook. 92 In this sheltered, well- 

 watered, hilly region, woods flourished and harbored the forest animals, 

 at the same time that the glaciers retreating southward left damp and 

 stony areas, closely followed by a tundra fauna. The woolly rhinoceros 

 and the mammoth persisted longer here than in other parts of Europe. 

 As analyzed by Nuesch, we discover here mammals distinctive of the tun- 

 dras, of the steppes, of the modern Alps (marmot, chamois, ibex), of the 

 meadow- forests (bison, urus), and finally of the modern forest type (lion, 

 wolf, brown bear, pine marten, squirrel, wild boar, and stag). These 

 mammal zones undoubtedly correspond with the passing or evolution of 



82 NCbsch, J. : "Das Kesslerloch, eine Hohle aus palaolithischer Zeit. Neue Grabungen 

 und Funde." Neue Denkschr. allg. schwelz. Ges. gesam. Naturwiss., Vol. XXXIX, Pt. 2, 

 pp. 1-72. 1904. 



