• Charophytes and freshwater gastropods are very rare and fish remains are completely absent. In contrast, remains of terrestrial vertebrates are abundant and generally well preserved. Thus, the fossil biota clearly indicates that SP 618 represents a terrestrial deposit, most likely a palaeo-soil. Fossorial/subterranean reptiles (Anguis sp., Amphisbaenidae indet.), together with the salamander, suggest that the soil was well oxygenated and well drained, which implies the nearby presence of a river and a humid climate. On the other hand, heliophilic taxa (Ophisaurus sp., Lacertidae indet.) point to open and drier habitats nearby. Their co-occurrence with fossorial/subterranean taxa can perhaps be explained by invoking deposition in raptor pellets, as discussed above for the mammalian tooth sample. The composition of the small-mammal fauna is comparable to those known from lake deposits such as Le Locle Sous le Stand C-13 (MN 7, Kälin et al., 2001) or Mauensee (MN 4b, Reichenbacher et al., 2005). The Upper Freshwater Molasse in general represents a large river system.

• The OSM sediments of SP consist of fine to medium-grained sandstones and grey to greenishmottled silts and clays with pedogenetic overprint.