Fossil remains of shrews (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) and desmans (Talpidae: Desmaninae) from Norfolk, England, with biostratigraphic implications for the Plio-Pleistocene boundary in East Anglia

Abstract

Rare remains of soricids and desmans from the Plio-Pleistocene of Norfolk are described. Three soricid taxa are identified, comprising Sorex (Drepanosorex) praearaneus, Beremendia fissidens and Sorex cf. minutus. At least one other is suspected. Palaeoecology and correlation with continental sites is discussed. Comparison is made with the Tegelen fauna of The Netherlands and the water moles of genera Galemys and Desmana are considered to be of prime stratigraphic importance in correlating the British sequence with the late Tiglian.

The palaeontology and dating of the ‘Weybourne Crag’, an important marker horizon in the Early Pleistocene of the southern North Sea basin

“…Remains of large mammals have also been collected from the foreshore along this stretch of coast and has provided a detailed review of these, distinguishing, where possible, remains from the Early Pleistocene and those from the early Middle Pleistocene. However, it is the small mammals that provide the best biostratigraphical evidence for the age of the deposits , Harrison et al, 19881989;Harrison and Parfitt, 2009). The Early Pleistocene sediments at Sidestrand have normal palaeomagnetic polarity (Maher and Hallam, 2005).…”

Early Middle Pleistocene sediments at Sidestrand, northeast Norfolk, yield the most extensive preglacial cold stage beetle assemblage from Britain

“…This assertion is further supported by the occurrence of the marine mollusc Macoma obliqua (Unit 3D) within a much younger stratigraphic position than previously found. Meijer (1993), for instance, has argued that Macoma obliqua does not occur within Early Pleistocene sediments younger than the 'Weybourne Crag' which are broadly comparable to the late Tiglian of the Netherlands (Harrison & Parfitt, 2009). Critically, the 'Weybourne Crag' (now known as the Sidestrand Member of the Norwich Crag Formation) occurs locally at Overstrand resting unconformably upon Chalk bedrock (Reid, 1882(Reid, , 1890West, 1890) and this is the likely source for Unit 3D.…”