La grotte de l'Escale bed H, Saint-Esteve-Janson, Bouches du Rhone.: Middle Pleistocene, France

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Amphibia
Amphibia indet. Linnaeus 1758
Bonifay 1973
present.
Reptilia
Reptilia indet. Laurenti 1768
Bonifay 1973 individuals
present.
Reptilia - Testudines - Testudinidae
Testudo sp. Linnaeus 1758
Bonifay 1973 5 individuals
Mammalia - Bovidae
Hemitragus bonali
Bonifay 1991
Mammalia - Carnivora - Mustelidae
Meles sp. Brisson 1762
Bonifay 1991
Gulo gulo (Linnaeus 1758)
Bonifay 1991
Gulo gulo schlosseri
Mustela palerminea
Bonifay 1991
Mammalia - Carnivora - Felidae
Felis (Panthera) sp. Linnaeus 1758
Bonifay 1991
    = Panthera sp. Oken 1816
O'Regan 2003
Jansofelis vaufreyi n. gen., n. sp. Bonifay 1971
Bonifay 1971
    = Panthera gombaszoegensis Kretzoi 1938
Hemmer 1972
Lynx spelaea
Bonifay 1991
Mammalia - Carnivora - Hyaenidae
Hyaena prisca De Serres 1828
Bonifay 1991
    = Pliocrocuta perrieri Kretzoi 1938
O'Regan 2003
Mammalia - Carnivora - Canidae
Canis etruscus Forsyth Major 1877
Bonifay 1991
Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus 1758)
Bonifay 1991
Vulpes vulpes jansoni
Vulpes praeglacialis (Kormos 1932)
Bonifay 1991
original and current combination Alopex praeglacialis
Mammalia - Talpidae
Talpa cf. europaea Linnaeus 1758
Bonifay 1973 1 individual
Mammalia - Soricidae
Sorex sp. Linnaeus 1758
Bonifay 1973 1 individual
Crocidura sp. Wagler 1832
Bonifay 1973 6 individuals
Mammalia - Rodentia - Gliridae
Eliomys quercinus Linnaeus 1766
Bonifay 1973 9 individuals
Eliomys quercinus helleri
Mammalia - Rodentia - Cricetidae
Allocricetus bursae
Bonifay 1973 215 individuals
Allocricetus bursae duranciensis
Pliomys episcopalis
Bonifay 1973 1 individual
Arvicola mosbachensis
Bonifay 1973 1 individual
Microtus brecciensis (Forsyth Major 1905)
Bonifay 1973 53 individuals
Microtus brecciensis mediterraneus
Pitymys subterraneus
Bonifay 1973 4 individuals
synonym of Microtus
Microtus agrestis (Linnaeus 1761)
Bonifay 1973 12 individuals
Microtus agrestis jansoni
Mammalia - Rodentia - Muridae
Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus 1758)
Bonifay 1973 32 individuals
original and current combination Mus sylvaticus
Mammalia - Rodentia - Sciuridae
Sciurus sp. Linnaeus 1758
Bonifay 1973
present
Mammalia - Lagomorpha - Leporidae
Leporidae indet. Fischer de Waldheim 1817
Bonifay 1973
present
see common names

Geography
Country:France State/province:Provence
Coordinates: 43.7° North, 5.4° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:43.7° North, 5.4° East
Basis of coordinate:based on nearby landmark
Time
Period:Quaternary Epoch:Pleistocene
Stage:Chibanian 10 m.y. bin:Cenozoic 6
Key time interval:Middle Pleistocene
Age range of interval:0.77400 - 0.12900 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Local bed:H
Local order:bottom to top
Stratigraphy comments: Middle Pleistocene (Biharian), roughly 0.8-0.7Ma.
There are a number of beds within the cave - from A (lowermost)-L (topmost), not all of which contain fauna. Each faunal level has been entered separately.
Lithology and environment
Lithology description: Fauna comes from bed H. Beds H,I,J are described together, are 3 to 5m deep, and consist of fallen rocks, gravels and pebbles with very indurated? (tres indures) aeolian silts, and slabs of limestone corresponding to a harsh climate (tres rigoureux). There is abundant evidence of frost action and loessic inputs.
Environment:cave
Taphonomy
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes:some macrofossils
Collection methods:field collection
Reason for describing collection:archaeological analysis
Collection method comments: Specimens held in the Maison Mediterraneenne des Sciences de l'Homme (MMSH), Aix-en-Provence.
Birds are mentioned but not listed. The small mammal remains have been subdivided into collectiosn within beds G and H and these are not directly related to the macromammal remains. They have been entered here at Bed level (i.e. a composite list), see Bonifay 1973 for the breakdown within beds.
Taxonomic list comments:Macrofauna indicative of a cold environment. The rodents are indicative of a cold and steppic environment.
Metadata
Also known as:L'Escale
Database number:48889
Authorizer:A. Turner Enterer:H. O'Regan
Modifier:H. O'Regan Research group:PACED
Subset of collection #:48890
Created:2005-04-04 04:22:57 Last modified:2005-04-04 09:28:55
Access level:the public Released:2005-04-04 04:22:57
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
13053.PACED M. F. Bonifay and E. Bonifay. 1963. Un gisement a faune epi-villafranchienne a Saint-Esteve-Janson (Bouches-du-Rhone). Comptes Rendue Academie des Sciences, Paris 246:1136-1138 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]

Secondary references:

12802PACED E. Bonifay. 1991. Les Premieres industries du Sud-Est de la France et du Massif-Central. In E. Bonifay, B. Vandermeersch (eds.), Les Premiers Europeens. Edition du comite des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques (CTHS) 63-80 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/M. Uhen]
13051PACED M. F. Bonifay. 1971. Carnivores Quaternaires du Sud-Est de la France. Memoirs du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle 21:43-377 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]
13054PACED M. F. Bonifay. 1973. Principaux gisements paleontologiques Francais du Pleistocene Moyen: Essai de classification. Le Quaternaire 41-50 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]
13052PACED H. Hemmer. 1972. Zur systematischen Stellung von 'Jansofelis vaufreyi' Bonifay, 1971 und 'Felis lunellensis' Bonifay, 1971 aus dem Pleistozan Sudfrankreichs (Carnivora, Felidae). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 13:215-223 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]
9580PACED H. J. O'Regan. 2003. Reidentifications and synonomies of European mammals. [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/M. Uhen]