Pleistocene Herpetofauna of Westbury-Sub-Mendip Cave, England

Herpetofauna were identified from six of 15 Side Chamber Units in the Middle Pleistocene cave deposits at Westbury-Sub-Mendip, Somerset, England. Taxa identified include Pelodytes punctatus (parsley frog), Rana temporaria (common frog), Rana sp. (frog), Emys orbicularis (European pond tortoise), Anguis fragilis (slow worm lizard), Coronella austriaca (smooth snake), Natrix natrix (grass snake), Natrix sp. (natricine snake), and Vipera berus (adder). All of these species represent living taxa, but Pelodytes punctatus and Emys orbicularis are exotic to Britain today and occur on the European continent. The record of Pelodytes fuscus is the first record of the family, genus, and species in the native fauna of Britain. The herpetofauna from the Westbury site does not differ significantly from those of the other important British Middle Pleistocene pre-Anglian Sites at West Runton or Boxgrove in either species diversity or in number of exotic species. But it does differ from the Middle Pleistocene post-Anglian Interglacial herpetofauna at Cudmore Grove in both of these areas. The occurence of Emys orbicularis and Coronella austriaca in the basal layer of the cave fauna indicates a somewhat warmer climate than occurs in the area today. The occurrence of Pelodytes punctatus in intermediate Units 12 and 13 may indicate a slightly warmer climate than occurs in the area today. The Westbury-Sub-Mendip Cave near Bristol, England, (Fig. 1) has produced one of the most spectacular Middle Pleistocene mammalian faunas known. These mammalian fossils have been intensively studied systematically (BISHOP, 1982) and taphonomically (ANDREWS, 1990) and the birds have been analyzed by HARRISON (1987). But other than reports on the occurence of the European pond tortoise, Emys orbicularis (STUART 1979, 1982; ANDREWS, 1990), the amphibians and reptiles have not been identified and published. The present paper is concerned with the identification of the Westbury-Sub-Mendip Cave herpetofauna with comments on its paleogeographic, stratigraphic, and paleoecologica] relationships.