Balderton Sand and Gravel
Basic information
Sample name: Balderton Sand and Gravel
Reference: A. M. Lister and A. Brandon. 1991. A pre-Ipswichian cold stage mammalian fauna from the Balderton Sand and Gravel, Lincolnshire, England. Journal of Quaternary Science 6(2):139-157 [ER 3943]
Geography
Country: United Kingdom
Coordinate: 53.14° N, -0.65° W
Coordinate basis: based on nearby landmark
Time interval: Middle Pleistocene
Max Ma: 0.191
Min Ma: 0.13
Age basis: zone
Geography comments: "Fossils have been collected from six localities, numbered 1-6" and from multiple pits at each one, but "the majority" of the fossils are from Locality 2: specifically, 88 specimens are from 2a and 63 from 2b out of nominal total of 193
locality 2 is shown on the map of Brandon and Sumbler (1991) as being about 1 km southwest of the town of Thurlby that is immediately southwest of Lincoln (basis of coordinate)
assigned to the Wolstonian, and specifically "the second part of this interval and corresponding to Oxygen Isotope Stage 6" (basis of age values)
locality 2 is shown on the map of Brandon and Sumbler (1991) as being about 1 km southwest of the town of Thurlby that is immediately southwest of Lincoln (basis of coordinate)
assigned to the Wolstonian, and specifically "the second part of this interval and corresponding to Oxygen Isotope Stage 6" (basis of age values)
Environment
Lithology: sandstone
Taphonomic context: fluvial deposit
Habitat comments: "fluviatile sand and gravel deposits... a former course of the River Trent"
the fossils "are generally well preserved and unrolled, suggesting minimal transportation... partially articulated skeletons may be present in the deposit"
the fossils "are generally well preserved and unrolled, suggesting minimal transportation... partially articulated skeletons may be present in the deposit"
Methods
Life forms: carnivores,ungulates
Sampling methods: surface
Sample size: 262 specimens
Sampling comments: fossils were "hand-picked from conveyor belts by quarry workers, notably Mr N. Sexton... Wet sieving to 1 mm of bulk samples from several of the organic and silty channel fills failed to produce any identifiable small mammal material"
Metadata
Sample number: 4347
Contributor: John Alroy
Enterer: John Alroy
Created: 2023-08-18 20:47:35
Modified: 2023-08-18 10:47:35
Abundance distribution
12 species
4 singletons
total count 262
geometric series index: 21.3
Fisher's α: 2.595
geometric series k: 0.6293
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.5682
Shannon's H: 1.2772
Good's u: 0.9848
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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Register
| Canis lupus | 1 | 43 kg carnivore |
| Ursus cf. arctos | 1 | 156 kg frugivore-carnivore |
| Panthera sp. | 1 | |
| "Panthera leo" the size of P. spelaea, which the authors treat as a synonym | ||
| †Mammuthus primigenius | 163 | |
| †Palaeoloxodon antiquus | 9 | |
| Equus ferus | 15 | 422 kg |
| "Equus caballus" | ||
| †Coelodonta antiquitatis | 50 | |
| †Stephanorhinus cf. hemitoechus | 1 | |
| "Dicerorhinus cf. hemitoechus" | ||
| Rangifer tarandus | 5 | 69 kg browser |
| Cervus elaphus | 10 | 142 kg browser-grazer |
| †Bison cf. priscus | 2 | |
| plus 6 Bos or Bison | ||
| Ovibos moschatus | 4 | 214 kg |