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Differences between the remains of mammalian prey in pellets of diurnal and nocturnal avian predators are discussed on the basis of recent material and in relation to probable fossil occurrences. The ability of diurnal predators to digest bone reduces the value of their pellets for quantitative or qualitative indications of the regional mammalian fauna. However, the remaining partially digested fragments in pellets of diurnal predators appear to have a characteristic morphology which may be recognised in a sample of fossil mammalian teeth from the type Cromerian Upper Freshwater Bed sediments at West Runton, England. The implications of such an origin for faunal analysis are briefly considered. This is believed to be the first time that the role of diurnal predatory birds in accumulation of fossil vertebrate material has been recognised. The characteristically digested teeth from diurnal predator pellets may provide the only direct indication of the origin of at least a part of the mammalian material contained in deposits formed in open sedimentary environments where skeletal parts have been dissociated.

We review the fossil microtine rodent assemblages from the Lower Pleistocene deposits in eastern England, consisting mainly of marine sediments of the Norwich Crag and Cromer Forest-bed Formations. Material from 17 localities, including the ‘Weybourne Crag’ of the Norfolk Coast, the inland ‘Norwich Crag’, and the Crag of the north Suffolk coast has been studied. The taxa Mimomys pliocaenicus, M.rex, M.blanci, M.newtoni, M.pitymyoides, M .altenburgensis and Clethrionomys are recognized. Mimomys pitymyoides and M.altenburgensis are described for the first time from Britain. The type material of Mimomys reidi and M.newtoni is redescribed, and we show that M.newtoni Major 1902 is a senior synonym of M.hungaricus (Kormos), thus resolving confusion that has existed in the literature. The prior name for the species described by M. A. C. Hinton ( Monograph of the voles and lemmings (Microtnae) living and extinct . London: British Museum (Natural History) 1926) as Mimomys newtoni appears to be Mimomys blanci van der Meulen 1973. No evidence has been found for mixing of faunas of different age at a single horizon or locality. Differences in crown height are demonstrated between samples of Mimomys pliocaenicus from different localities, and differences between localities in the presence and absence of various species are tabulated. This evidence combined with current interpretations of the stratigraphy leads us to recognize three faunal groups. Group 1 faunas contain Mimomys pliocaenicus, M.reidi (type level), M.newtoni (type level), M.pitymyoides, M.blanci and Clethrionomys . They come from coastal deposits previously termed ‘Weybourne Crag’ and currently considered to date from Pre-Pastonian a to Pastonian. The faunas are clearly later than group 2 faunas, which contain Mimomys pliocaenicus, M.reidi, M.newtoni (these three species less advanced than in group 1 faunas), M.rex and M.altenburgensis (these two species lacking in group 1 faunas). Group 2 faunas come from inland ‘Norwich Crag’ localities and crags in Suffolk yielding a Chillesford type pollen assemblage, which are currently considered to date from the Bramertonian stage. Group 3 faunas contain Mimomys pliocaenicus, M.reidi and M.blanci and are from coastal deposits at Covehithe and Easton Bavents associated with Baventian stage clays. The evidence from the microtine rodents confirms the relative position of the Bramertonian and Pre-Pastonian a stages, but does not yet allow conclusions to be drawn on the relative age of group 3 faunas or the deposits in which they occur. The fauna of the Pastonian stage still requires clarification, since it is not possible to allocate unambiguously to this stage any of the material described here. The British Lower Pleistocene assemblages are broadly similar to material from Tegelen, The Netherlands (Tiglian TC4-6) and to material from superimposed loess levels at Stranzendorf, Austria. The British assemblages are characterized by the presence of Mimomys pliocaenicus and the absence of species with unrooted teeth, indicating that they belong to the Mimomys superzone of the biostratigraphic system of A. J. van der Meulen ( Quaternaria 17, 1-144, 1973) corresponding to the Villanyian stage. On the basis of microtine evidence we suggest limits to the correlation of the Pre-Pastonian and Bramertonian stages with the Netherlands chronostratigraphy. These limits are earlier than suggested by other lines of evidence. Correlation of the Pre-Pastonian with part of the Eburonian and the Bramertonian with part of the Tiglian is thought to merit consideration.

The locality of Bıçakçı (Çameli basin, Anatolia) has yielded a diverse fauna of micromammals. The arvicolines are the most diverse and abundant group. Their stage in evolution shows that the fauna is late Villanyian in age and can be placed in the lower part of the zone P of the Anatolian Neogene biozonation. Thus, it is on the brink of the important Villanyian/Biharian transition. The presence of three species of hamster, in combination with the occurrence of Borsodia, a high abundance of Kalymnomys and a near absence of insectivores, suggests a dry, open landscape. However, the important contribution of Clethrionomys in the vole fauna indicates the nearby presence of woodlands. Overall, the environment at the time of deposition appears to have been similar to that of the area today. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We investigated the Quaternary lithological succession and faunas in a borehote near Moriaanshoofd (Province of Zeeland, SW Netherlands), Ín order to improve our understanding of the depositional context of classical Gelasian mammal faunas from the region. The fossils mostly derive from the base of a fossil-rich interval between 31 m and 36.5 m below the surface, that was initially interpreted as a Middle or Late Pleistocene interglacial marine unit, but turned out to be a Late Quaternary fluvial unit with large amounts of reworked fossils and sediments. Eocene mollusc taxa pinpoint Ftanders (Belgium) as the source region for this river. Within the base of this paleo-Schelde River fossil material of various stratigraphic provenance became incorporated.