Kritische kanttekeningen bij de naam ‘Zwarte botten fauna’

The heavily fossilized, darkly coloured mammal remains dredged from the Eastern and Western Scheldt and from the North Sea are discussed. Four groups can be recognized within this material, chiefly on the basis of geological evidence. Two groups are recognized within the Scheldt material and another two can be distinguished within the North Sea material. 1. A group represented by the remains of marine mammals from the Scheldt area can be placed in a rather long period ranging from the Upper Oligocene to the Pretiglian. Fossils belonging to this group can be found in both Eastern and Western Scheldt. 2. A group that consists in the remains of terrestrial mammals from the Scheldt area can be placed in the Tiglian. Fossils of this group are only present in the Eastern Scheldt. 3. A group constituted by the remains of marine mammals from the North Sea can be placed in a period ranging from the Middle Tiglian to the Early Eburonian. 4. A group composed by the remains of terrestrial mammals from the North Sea can be placed in a period ranging from the Waalian to the ’Cromerian-complex’. These four groups were formerly placed in one ’fauna’ (which was specified as Pretiglian) on the basis of the more or less black colouration and the strong mineralization of the fossils. Hence the name ”black fauna” or ”black bones fauna” was given to this group. In view of the present results the suggestion is made to abandon these names in order to avoid future confusion.