Een nieuwe vondst van de mastodont (Anancus arvernensis) van de Noordzeebodem

In January 2008, a new fossil of the mastodon species, Anancus arvernensis (Croizet et Jobert, 1828), was recovered from the North Sea floor by the crew of the trawler OD 6 (”Zeldenrust”). The North Sea specimen is a lower jaw molar, a fourth premolar dp4, which is a last milk molar. The fossil is presently in the collection of Kommer Tanis, Havenhoofd, Goedereede, the Netherlands, labelled with number 3152. This is the first time that this proboscidean has shown up in this section of the North Sea between England and the Netherlands. Mastodon remains from the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene are relatively rare in North West Europe. Some, however, are known from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, some localities are Maalbeek near Tegelen (Province of Limburg), Mill and Liessel (Province of Noord-Brabant) and the Oosterschelde (Province of Zeeland). Here, I present an overview of the five specimens of Anancus arvernensis, known from the North Sea, trawled from the sea bed by beam trawlers.