A new record of Pleistocene hippopotamus from River Severn terrace deposits, Gloucester, UK – environmental and stratigraphical significance

Abstract

A new Pleistocene vertebrate assemblage from fluvial deposits of the River Severn in Gloucester, England, has yielded the remains of hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), a new record for this terrace system, with additional material from probable bison (cf. Bison priscus) and elephant (Elephantidae sp.). The presence of these taxa indicates fully temperate climatic conditions and the occurrence of hippopotamus, a significant biostratigraphical indicator for the British Late Pleistocene, suggests an age for the assemblage within Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e (the Last Interglacial). This would contradict the older MIS 7-6 age for the gravel body that is currently accepted on the basis of deposit mapping and imply a more complex mode of deposition than presently envisaged in the valley.