A Middle Devensian woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) from Whitemoor Haye Quarry, Staffordshire (UK): palaeoenvironmental context and significance

Schreve, Danielle, Howard, Andrew, Currant, Andrew, Brooks, Stephen, Buteux, Simon, Coope, Russell, Crocker, Barnaby, Field, Michael, Greenwood, Malcolm, Greig, James and Toms, Phillip

(2013)

Schreve, Danielle, Howard, Andrew, Currant, Andrew, Brooks, Stephen, Buteux, Simon, Coope, Russell, Crocker, Barnaby, Field, Michael, Greenwood, Malcolm, Greig, James and Toms, Phillip (2013) A Middle Devensian woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) from Whitemoor Haye Quarry, Staffordshire (UK): palaeoenvironmental context and significance. Journal of Quaternary Science, 28 (2).

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Abstract

This paper reports the discovery of a rare partial skeleton of a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blumenbach, 1799) and associated fauna from a low Pleistocene terrace of the River Tame at Whitemoor Haye, Staffordshire, UK. A study of the sedimentary deposits around the rhino skeleton and associated organic-rich clasts containing pollen, plant and arthropod remains suggests that the animal was rapidly buried on a braided river floodplain surrounded by a predominantly treeless, herb-rich grassland. Highlights of the study include the oldest British chironomid record published to date and novel analysis of the palaeoflow regime using caddisfly remains. For the first time, comparative calculations of coleopteran and chironomid palaeotemperatures have been made on the same samples, suggesting a mean July temperature of 8–11 8C and a mean December temperature of between -22 and -16 °C. Radiocarbon age estimates on skeletal material, supported by optically stimulated luminescence ages from surrounding sediments, indicate that the rhino lived around 41–43 k cal a BP. The combined geochronological, stratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental evidence places the assemblage firmly within the Middle Devensian (Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3). This would agree with other regional evidence for the timing of aggradation for the lowest terrace of the Trent and its tributary systems.

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This is a Approved version
This version's date is: 2/2013
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https://repository.royalholloway.ac.uk/items/4ecb10f4-fc60-d126-0fc1-bf1f708d60cd/2/

Item TypeJournal Article
TitleA Middle Devensian woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) from Whitemoor Haye Quarry, Staffordshire (UK): palaeoenvironmental context and significance
AuthorsSchreve, Danielle
Howard, Andrew
Currant, Andrew
Brooks, Stephen
Buteux, Simon
Coope, Russell
Crocker, Barnaby
Field, Michael
Greenwood, Malcolm
Greig, James
Toms, Phillip
Uncontrolled KeywordsDevensian, Woolly rhinoceros, Invertebrates, Palaeoenvironments, River Trent
DepartmentsFaculty of Science\Geography
Research Groups and Centres\Geography\Centre for Quaternary Research

Identifiers

doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2594

Deposited by Research Information System (atira) on 22-Aug-2013 in Royal Holloway Research Online.Last modified on 22-Aug-2013


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