New Suffolk Mammalia from River Gravel: Barham

THE GEOLOGY OF BOBBITSHOLE AREA

295

and sands which lie at the base of the London Clay*. They were found to be fossiliferous at many localitie's, the most rewarding of which was that in thelower part of theDales brickfield, north-east of Ipswich. Here the molluscan fauna showed that the deposits belonged to the basement-bed of the London Clay. The recent declarations that the Oldhaven Beds occur in Suffolk have not been accompanied by statements of the evidence in support.

* " T h e Stratigraphy and Petrology of the L o w e r E o c e n e D e p o s i t s of the N o r t h - E a s t e r n Part of the L o n d o n B a s i n . " Quart. J . Geol. Soc., London, 1916, v. 71 (for 1915), p. 568.

NEW FROM

SUFFOLK RIVER

MAMMALIA

GRAVEL : BARHAM

B y HAROLD E . P . SPENCER,

F.G.S.

Just over one hundred thousand years ago the Gipping Valley was deeper than it is now, and the geography of Suffolk probably differed much from that of to-day. It is evident the amount of water flowing was much greater then and great quantities of gravel which had originally resulted from the melting of the ice of the third glaciation was transported by the rapidly moving water.

Possibly much of the water feil during torrential storms which caused floods where many of the animals which normally grazed or browsed in the valley bottoms were drowned. Their remains are often found in river terrace gravels.

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NEW SUFFOLK MAMMALIA

For many years the fossil bones and teeth from deposits of this period have been recovered in and around Ipswich, some of them may be seen in the Ipswich Museum. Remains of the Mammoth, Elephas primigenius ; Woolly Rhinoceros, R. tichorhinus ; Horse, Equus caballus ; Red Deer, Cervus elaphus ; are common. Less common are Elephas antiquus, Lion, Panthera leo ; Bear, Vrsus c.f. spelaeus; Wolf, Canis lupis; Fox, C. vulpes; Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus.

DĂźring recent years gravel Operations have been carried on at Barham where gravel is brought up from below the water table.

T h i s circumstance, unfortunately, prevents Observation of the strata from which fossil bones are now occasionally recovered. A few flint artifacts suggest comparison with the abandoned gravel working in Bramford Road where flint tools and mammalian fossils were similarly obtained before the war.

Recently, through the diligence of the men engaged in working the gravel, important fossils of mammals not hitherto recorded for Suffolk have been acquired for the Ipswich Museum collections.

Of these a pair of lower third molars in excellent condition, referable to a cousin of the mammoth, Parelephas trogontheri are scientifically valuable accessions which All a gap in the Museum series. When time permits possibly old worn incomplete elephant teeth may be found among the stored material which may belong to this species. Remains of antlers of Reindeer were recovered at the same time as the trogontheri molars but the significance of these has yet to be determined ; they suggest a cooler climate than the Lake Deposits at Bobbitshole which were discovered in 1952.

Hitherto the only evidence for the presence of Hyaenas in deposits of this period has been tooth marks on gnawed bones and these are scarce, at least in Suffolk and probably in the rest of East Anglia also. Remains of these carnivores are abundant in the cave deposits of south-west Britain, together with those of other animals which they are presumed to have dragged in.

T h e y are often associated with the bones of lion and bear. The first actual fossil bone of Hyaena discovered in the area was found by Mr. J. R. Aldous, of Haughley, who retrieved it from the gravelwashing machine in which it unfortunately was much damaged.

T h e fossil consists of the left lower jaw from which the ramus and all the teeth except the last have been broken away. The mandible belonged to an animal in middle life, the teeth of which had begun to exhibit signs of wear and it may be inferred the creature was caught by a flood while it was devouring Carrion near the river bank.

Fossils of Hyaena were first found in deposits of lower Pliocene age on the Continent and odd teeth have been found in the Suffolk Red Crag at Woodbridge and Trimley, also in the Forest Bed

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below Corton cliff. The former may well be as old as the Continental specimens as they are evidently derived into the Crag from an older deposit and would therefore be several millions of years old. The Corton specimen which has been referred to II. crocuta dates back about half a million years and could have been an ancestor to the Barham specimen which is probably the same species. It is hoped further remains of this rare and interesting animal will be recovered.

THE YELLOW NECKED FIELD AT STOWMARKET

by W.

G.

MOUSE

THURLOW

IN an investigation carried out by H. N. Southern (of the Bureau of Animal Population, Oxford), it was found that, in one area where the choice of a river-side habitat occurred, the Yellownecked Mouse (Apodemus flavicollis zvintoni Barrett-Hamilton) was more frequently noted in the neighbourhood of the river, that flavicollis might be a water-side creature ; this, according to Lord Cranbrook, is not the case at Great Glemham.

A. flavicollis was first noted at Stowmarket about 60 yards from the River Gipping, and it was decided to carry out an investigation in this locality in an attempt to determine any apparent influence the river might have upon the distribution of the Stowmarket flavicollis.