PBDB Collection

Dove Holes, Derbyshire (Pleistocene of the United Kingdom)

Also known as Doveholes

Where: England, United Kingdom (53.3° N, 1.9° W: paleocoordinates 53.3° N, 1.9° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

When: Middle Pleistocene (0.8 - 0.1 Ma)

• Upper Villafranchian, Lower Middle Pleistocene. 'Cromerian'.

Environment/lithology: cave; lithology not reported

• 'The cave was described as about 90ft (27.4m) long, 15ft (4.5m) high and 4 ft (1.2m) across at its northern end, descending slightly to the south and contracting to a dead end.' Mammalian bones scattered irregularly through the deposit.

• 'Horizontally stratified yellowish red clay containing angular and rolled pebbles of local Carboniferous and other rocks.'

Size class: macrofossils

Collection methods: salvage,

• 'It is clear that only a few bones were recovered and that a much larger number had been buried under Quarry rubbish before their importance was realized.' First published by Dawkins 1903.

•Specimens held at Buxton Museum and Manchester Museum.

Primary reference: H. E. P. Spencer and R. V. Melville. 1974. The Pleistocene mammalian fauna of Dove Holes, Derbyshire. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Great Britain 48:43-53 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 49989: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 04.05.2005

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names

Mammalia
Perissodactyla - Equidae	Equus sp., Equus cf. bressanus Equus sp. Linnaeus 1758 horse 1 metatarsal previously identified as a Machairodus femur . Also 1 incomplete radius, markedily different in preservation and not thought to be co-eval with the rest of the fauna. Equus cf. bressanus horse Dawkins 1903.
Artiodactyla - Cervidae	"Dama nestii" = Cervus nestii, Eucladoceros sp. "Dama nestii" = Cervus nestii Azzaroli 1947 deer Dawkins 1903. all bones, no antlers. Eucladoceros sp. Falconer 1868 deer 1 scapula, 1 ilium, radii, 2 distal tibiae, 5 distal humerii fragments, 1 metacarpal shaft. Too large for Dama, too small for E. sedgwicki, possibly E. falconeri or E. tetraceros.
Carnivora - Hyaenidae	Hyaena sp. Hyaena sp. Brisson 1762 hyaena Dawkins 1903. 1 left ulna, 1 humerus shaft (fragmentary).
Carnivora - Felidae	Homotherium sainzelli Homotherium sainzelli Aymard 1853 cat I.D. Dawkins 1903. 3 upper canines, 2 upper carnassials, 1 distal right tibia, 1 right radius, 1 femur and 1 distal fragment of humerus.
Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae	Anancus arvernensis Anancus arvernensis Croizet and Jobert 1828 gomphothere Dawkins 1903. 18 teeth and many broken waterworn bones.
Proboscidea - Elephantidae	"Archidiskodon meridionalis" = Mammuthus meridionalis "Archidiskodon meridionalis" = Mammuthus meridionalis Nesti 1825 mammoth Dawkins 1903.a fragmentary stump of an early tooth in the dental series.