homothere

This remains an unproven assertion however, and Kenneth Oakley's (1980) discovery that the tooth differs in its fluorine, uranium and nitrogen content from all other British homothere fossils has been used as evidence both for and against its being a hoax.

Archive 2006-03-01 Darren Naish 2006

Like a homothere, but unlike a lion, the statuette (which has since been lost) has a short tail and a deepened lower jaw.

Archive 2006-03-01 Darren Naish 2006

Although it may have been separated from mainland Europe during one or more of the Pleistocene interglacials (namely during part of the Ipswichian Interglacial, between c. 130,000-70,000 years BP), the English Channel did not flood until c. 9000 years BP, so any homothere living in Britain between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago could still have walked to mainland Europe (Stuart 1974, Yalden 1982).

Archive 2006-03-01 Darren Naish 2006

It is of further interest to note that, had a hypothetical homothere population become isolated in interglacial Britain, it may only have lasted for about 1000 years before become extinct due to inbreeding.

Archive 2006-03-01 Darren Naish 2006

Consequently it is not surprising that hoaxing has been suggested at various times, and Yalden (1999) compared the Robin Hood Cave homothere to the Piltdown fossils (which I'll also be blogging on at some stage, due to mostly over-looked links with the world of British dinosaurs).

Archive 2006-03-01 Darren Naish 2006

Prior to Reumer et al. ’s discovery there were a number of British homothere fossils which were initially regarded as coming from late glacial deposits, and thus being somewhere around 13,000-11,000 years BP in age (i.e., as young as the youngest possible age for the youngest American material).

Archive 2006-03-01 Darren Naish 2006