Les communautés de grands mammifères de la partie supérieure du Pléistocène inférieur et la biochrone de l’épivillafranchien

Abstract

European late Early Pleistocene faunal assemblages do not appear as mixtures of “older” (Villafranchian) and “younger” (Galerian) elements. The Untermassfeld (Thuringia, Germany) fossil assemblage, which is slightly older than one million years, is one of the most complete European faunal complexes known so far from the time span between 1.2 and 0.9 Ma BP. The extensive fossil mammal remains from this locality fill the gap in our knowledge of the European late Early Pleistocene faunal communities. The evolutionary stages of most of the large mammal taxa from the site are markedly different from those of either late Villafranchian or Galerian communities. This largely independent character of the Untermassfeld fauna supports the idea of a separate chronostratigraphical unit wedged between the Villafranchian and the Galerian biochrons. This unit was proposed and named the “Epi-Villafranchien” by BOURDIER, already in 1961. Should the Epivillafranchian be resumed, Untermassfeld’s Bison menneri / Eucladoceros giulii / Cervus s.l. nestii vallonnetensis / Capreolus cusanoides / Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis association (possibly identified as the “Bison menneri- Eucladoceros giulii-assemblage”) would most suitably represent the biochron. Other accompanying Epivillafranchian faunal elements, although less significant stratigraphically, are Alces carnutorum, Panthera onca gombaszoegensis, Acinonyx pardinensis pleistocaenicus, Megantereon cultridens adroveri, Puma pardoides, Pachycrocuta brevirostris, Ursus cf. dolinensis, Canis (Xenocyon) lycaonoides, and Canis mosbachensis. The Epivillafran- chian faunal communities lived during a period of increased climatic instability.