Palaeoecology of a Late Weichselian vertebrate fauna from Norre Lyngby, Denmark

Investigations at a Late Weichselian freshwater basin in northwestern Jutland, Denmark, yielded a fairly rich assemblage of vertebrate remains, mostly bones and teeth of small mammals. The remains are primarily allochthonous and the bones have been subjected to different taphonomic pathways and agents. AMS C-14-dates on terrestrial organic remains provided ages of Middle to Late Allerod time. Identifications revealed the first fossil record in Scandinavia of Rana arvalis, Sorex minutus, Ochotona cf, pusilla, Microtus gregalis, Microtus oeconomus, and Sicista cf. betulina. Spermophilus cf, major and Desmana moschata, previously found only once and twice respectively, were retrieved, and Sorer ai nizeus and Arvicola terrestris were recovered for the first time beyond the Atlantic chronozone. Ecologically, the Norre Lyngby small mammal fauna can be characterized by its very high and almost equal proportions of boreal forest and steppe elements followed by a relatively high proportion of tundra elements. The fossil species share a modern area of sympatry north of the Caspian Sea from the river Volga in the west to the southern and western slopes of the Urals. If, however, the large Allerod mammals are added, the fauna is without modern analogues. The Norre Lyngby fauna can be seen as a last expansion of the North European glacial fauna. Provided that an absolute chronology and a differentiated sea-level curve for the area can be established, the Norre Lyngby fauna could become important for studies in mammalian dispersal and migration rates.