European Early Pleistocene biogeography and ecology based on the mammal record: Case studies and preliminary syntheses

The European Quaternary has for a long time attracted the interest of specialists around the world, not only because of its fascinating mammal record, including iconic taxa such as mammoths, giant deer, bisons, wolfs, saber- tooth cats, etc., but also because of the observed direct link between turnovers in the synthesis of consecutive mammal palaeocommunities and global climatic oscillations. Initial interest was focused on the Middle and Late Pleistocene, the period with an ever-increasing contrast between the glacial and interglacials. However, it soon became clear that the lower part of the Pleistocene (considered to start at ∼1.8 Ma at that time) was a pivotal period during which the later and modern European mammal fauna largely emerged through successive events of migration, origina- tion and extinction. Most of the modern Eurasian genera and many of the modern species lineages became clearly morphologically recognizable by the end of the Early Pleis- tocene.