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)

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"

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.
Register
Canis lupus143 kg carnivore
Ursus cf. arctos1156 kg frugivore-carnivore
Panthera sp.1
"Panthera leo" the size of P. spelaea, which the authors treat as a synonym
Mammuthus primigenius163
Palaeoloxodon antiquus9
Equus ferus15422 kg
"Equus caballus"
Coelodonta antiquitatis50
Stephanorhinus cf. hemitoechus1
"Dicerorhinus cf. hemitoechus"
Rangifer tarandus569 kg browser
Cervus elaphus10104 kg
Bison cf. priscus2
plus 6 Bos or Bison
Ovibos moschatus4214 kg