Newly Discovered Pleistocene Warm Period

[Mighty_Emperor]

This has some fascinating importacne for the first occupation of Europe. Evidence from southern Europe suggests (possibly intermittent) occupation from a million years ago but nothing undisputed in northern Europe until half a million years - it might be possible that this is the explanation. There probably wasn't anything as warm until the Eemian (Ipswichian in the UK) when we had hyenas and hippos some of which got up north too (showing it wasn't so grim in the past ).

Fossils point to warmer UK past

The fossilised bones of two ancient hippos have been found in Norfolk.

They are said to be more than 450,000 years old and were recovered from a quarry along with horse, hyena, fish and a variety of rodent remains.

Researchers believe the fossils open a new window on the UK's past in the early Middle Pleistocene when average temperatures were about 2C higher.

The discovery was made by scientists from the Natural History Museum and Queen Mary, University of London.

"The site was first visited by a local amateur geologist who came across these deposits and realised they contained something that was really very exciting," palaeontologist Simon Parfitt, from the NHM, told BBC News Online.

The quarry is some 25km (15 miles) in from the coast. The researchers are not revealing the precise location because it is unsafe for sightseers.

African vista

The fossils are about 10-15m (30-50ft) under the surface. They were covered by glacial deposits that are known to be just under half-a-million years old.

The nature of the finds indicates they may be 50,000 to 200,000 years older still.

The hippos would have weighed in at something like six to seven tonnes - about half as big again as today's descendants.

They had very prominent eyes which served as periscopes when submerged in the water.

It is likely the hippos died through natural causes and their bones show evidence of having being gnawed by hyenas.

The animals would have lived at a time when Norfolk had a landscape populated by an unusual mixture of familiar plants and animals and more exotic species now found only in the African savannah.

Fossil race

"It would have been about two degrees warmer than it is now," Mr Parfitt said.

"The landscape would have looked quite familiar - a big river and a very broad flood plain. But some of the animals would have been very different to what we are used to."

He continued: "The importance of the new site is that we think it records an unrecognised warm stage. We know from the study of the ice caps and the deep ocean that the climate was fluctuating very quickly.

"Every 40,000 years or so you had a cold phase and then it got warmer again, and this is possibly a 10,000-year slot in that jigsaw we didn't know about before."

Some of the fossils collected to date go on show from Thursday at the NHM as part of its Festival of Fossils.

The researchers are in a race to excavate the quarry site. The dig location is to be redeveloped in the next few months.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/3854461.stm

Published: 2004/07/01 04:22:48 GMT

© BBC MMIV

When giant hippos roamed Britain

Thursday, July 1, 2004 Posted: 1843 GMT (0243 HKT)



LONDON, England (CNN) -- A rare fossil find in eastern England has revealed a prehistoric period when huge hippos roamed parts of Britain.

The hippos, six tonnes in weight and half as big again as their present-day relatives, roamed English swamplands with temperatures not unlike the African savannah, scientists say.

Their bones have been found alongside those of horses, hyenas, deer, primitive mammoths, rodents and plants giving what London's Natural History Museum says is an unprecedented insight into an unknown "warm" period 500,000-780,000 years ago.

"This is a rare and significant fossil find," says Simon Parfitt, paleontologist at the museum.

"To find two hippopotamuses together is very unusual, but to find evidence of the land surface around them is exceptional. The excavation site provides a unique opportunity to study an environment that we believe has never been recognized before and that, if we don't act quickly, could be lost forever."

The fossils were discovered on an inland site near Lowestoft by teams from the Natural History Museum and Queen Mary College, University of London.

"Initial research undertaken by scientists indicates that the site is incredibly fossil rich and could be internationally significant," says a spokeswoman for the museum.

"However, further research and urgent action is needed to carry out a rescue excavation and recover fossil specimens before the site is redeveloped in the next few months."

The English hippos were one-and-a-half times as big as today's animals.


The hippos lived in the Middle Pleistocene period when Norfolk was populated by exotic species as well as familiar plants and animals.

The scientific teams says that the presence of marine molluscs together with plant remains demonstrate the land had changed from a shallow marine environment to a warm freshwater landscape.

It is approximately 15 kilometers from Norfolk's present-day coast and insect fossils indicate the summer temperature at that time was 2-3 degrees Celsius warmer than today.

The team says that the ancient hippopotamus were larger than today's species and weighed about six-seven tonnes, compared to modern hippos that weigh up to four tonnes.

They had very prominent eyes which served as periscopes when submerged in the water. It is likely the hippos discovered died through natural causes and their bones show evidence of having being gnawed by hyenas.

The excavation site reveals layer upon layer of large and small mammals, fish, molluscs, insects and plant remains, the Natural History Museum says. It adds that the precise location of the site cannot be revealed due to health and safety reasons.

A selection of the fossils have gone on display at the museum's "Festival of Fossils" which began Thursday.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/07/01/uk.gainthippos/index.html

Emps