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We investigated the petrography and biochemistry of varved sediments from a Pleistocene mass occurrence of fossil vertebrates in the lake basin of Neumark-Nord (Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany). The carbonate portions of the varves appear to be cyanobacterial layers that have been decomposed by benthic bacteria. The biochemical results obtained by absorption spectroscopy and RP-HPLC with UV-detection show that pigments, and probably toxins, characteristic for cyanobacteria are preserved in the sediment. The results of this study indicate the presence in the lake of large amounts of toxic cyanobacteria that probably occurred in seasonal blooms. It seems likely that these toxic cyanobacterial blooms caused the mass death of the large mammals preserved at the Neumark-Nord locality. This model may explain comparable lithologies and vertebrate occurrences in other Tertiary lake sediments such as the Messel oil shale.

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The first well preserved, articulated skeleton of a young male deer of Megaloceros verticornis (Dawkins, 1868) was excavated from early Middle Pleistocene sediments of the clay pit of Bilshausen (Unter-Eichsfeld, Lower Saxony). This find made it possible, for the first time, to establish, using cladistic techniques, the systematic position of Megaloceros verticornis among Pleistocene and Holocene plesiometacarpal and telemetacarpal cervids. By contrast to the antler and tooth characters, the postcranial characters, in particular, are suitable for phylogeny reconstruction. Megaloceros verticornb from Bilshausen shows great similarity with M. giganteus of the Upper Pleistocene of Europe in its skeletal morphology, and bootstrap values (BP = 100) show strong support for the monophyly of M. giganteus and M. verticornis.The analysis yields no evidence, however, of a close relationship between Duma and Megaloceros, which has been widely discussed in the literature because of the presence of large, palmated antlers in both genera. ZusammenfassungAus der Tongrube von Bilshausen (Unter-Eichsfeld, Niedersachsen) konnte das erste, vollstandige Skelett eines jungen Hirsches von Megaloceros verticornis (Dawkins, 1868) aus mittelpleistozanen Sedimentablagerungen geborgen werden. Dieser Fund ermoglichte es erstmalig, die systematische Stellung von Megaloceros verticornis im System plesiometacarpaler und telemetacarpaler Hirsche des Pleistozans und Holozans auf breiter Basis zu untersuchen. Im Gegensatz zu den Geweih-und Zahnmerkmalen eignen sich die postcranialen Merkmale des Skelettes besonders gut fir eine phylogenetische Rekonstruktion der Hirsche.Die Gemeinsamkeit grol3er Schaufelgeweihe bei Duma duma und dem Riesenhirsch Megaloceros giganteus hat dazu gefiihrt, beide in eine enge phylogenetische Beziehung zu setzen, was in der Literatur zu einer anhaltenden Kontroverse gefiihrt hat. Die Analyse der Morphologie der postcranialen Elemente zeigt jedoch, dass es keine enge Verwandtschaft zwischen Duma und Megaloceros gibt. Recent: D. duma duma D. duma mesopotamicaAxis axis C. nippon nippon C. nippon hortulorum