New palaeoentomological studies, based primarily on the Coleoptera are presented from Abington Hall, England (pre-Eemian glacial and early Eemian), Histon Road, England (Eemian or late Middle Pleistocene), Derrynadivva, Ireland (Gortian), Burren Townland, Ireland (Gortian), Ardleigh, England (early Middle Pleistocene), Öbel, Germany (Lower Pleistocene), and Bernasso, France (Plio-Pleistocene). Chapter 1: provides an introduction to studies in Quaternary Entomology and reviews the assumption of species stasis throughout the Quaternary upon which many conclusions rest. Chapter 2: provides a general methodology for the palaeoentomological studies of this thesis, and examines taphonomic effects on fossil assemblages. Chapter 3: evaluates the major factors that influence the composition of fossil interglacial assemblages of early Middle Pleistocene to Holocene age from this thesis and the literature. Stratigraphic age, local environmental conditions, trap type and sample size are considered using multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, methods of multivariate analyses. Chapters 4 to 9: present palaeoentomological studies at the sites investigated for this work. The implications of the insect fauna regarding evolutionary biology, biogeography, biostratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstruction, are discussed. Chapter 10: reviews major conclusions resulting from this work. A summary of conclusions and observations are as follows: The taxonomic composition of fossil assemblages are markedly unlike the catches of modern entomological trapping techniques investigated, despite apparently similar natural environments. Great caution is therefore required when drawing conclusions from the relative importance of ecological groupings, or other (semi-) quantitative data in the fossil record. Faunas from Bernasso and Öbel indicate morphological stasis of middle-latitude European beetle faunas since the Plio-Pleistocene and Lower Pleistocene respectively. Previously, comparative faunas from sediments older that the early Middle Pleistocene have been recovered only from high-latitude sites in the Greenland, Canadian and Alaskan arctic.

The Elliot Formation of South Africa and Lesotho contains one of the most important but relatively understudied, early ornithischian faunas; here a review is presented of its known ‘fabrosaurid’ (non-heterodontosaurid) specimens. The first ornithischian collected from the Lower Elliot Formation (Late Triassic) is described, representing a new taxon of basal ornithischian. Within the Upper Elliot Formation (Early Jurassic), ‘<i>Fabrosaurus australis’</i> is considered a <i>nomen dubium, </i>a new diagnosis of <i>Lesothosaurus diagnosticus</i> is presented, and a new taxon, <i>Stormbergia dangershoeki</i> gen. et sp. nov., is described. A comprehensive new cladistic analysis tests global ornithischian phylogeny. Results support the generally understood framework of ornithischian interrelationships; however, support is weak for many major clades, and the positions of certain taxa differ significantly from previous analyses. The enigmatic clade Heterodontosauridae may represent some of the most basal known ornithischians. Strong evidence supports hysilophodontid paraphyly, with some Middle Jurassic taxa (<i>Agilisaurus, Hexinlusaurus)</i> cladding as sister taxa to Cerapoda (Marginocephalia + Ornithopoda). Biogeographical analyses support hypotheses of vicariance related to the Late Jurassic geographical isolation of Asia. Synthesis of anatomical, taxonomic, phylogenetic, and biogeographical data allows the development of a broad overview of early ornithischain evolution. Triassic ornithischians were scarce and geographically limited. Ornithischians underwent a significant increase in diversity, abundance, and geographical distribution across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, perhaps coincident with the origin of the clade Genasauria.

The Middle and Late Jurassic theropod (Dinosauria: Archosauria) record of Britain is reviewed to support the inclusion of taxa from these time periods in a new cladistic analysis constructed to elucidate basal tetanuan relationships. British Middle Jurassic deposits have yielded the most abundant theropod fossil material of this age world-wide. The most productive British theropod localities of this epoch are Bathonian in age: Stonesfield, Oxfordshire and New Park Quarry, Gloucestershire. The large-bodied theropod assemblages of these localities are interpreted as monospecific. Abundant remains from these localities can be referred to <i>Megalosaurus,</i> the historically oldest dinosaur taxon. Two additional large-bodied tetanurans were present in British Bathonian Dinosaur ecosystems based on more fragmentary fossils. A minimum of two further, small-bodied taxa are indicated by teeth and postcranial remains. The British Late Jurassic strata are less productive but yield new data that contribute toward global biogeographic scenarios. <i>Metriacanthosaurus </i>(Oxfordian) is a sinraptorid allosauroid, <i>Stokesosaurus </i>(Tithonian) is a basal tyrannosauroid, and isolated remains of robust, large-bodied theropods (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian) show affinities with <i>Megalosaurus </i>or its sister taxon <i>Torvosaurus.</i> A new cladistic analysis focussing on basal tetanuran relationships includes 213 characters (of which 22 are new) and 41 taxa. Several of these taxa have never been included in a cladistic analysis: <i>Chuandongocoelurus, Marshosaurus, Piveteaursaurus, ‘Megalosaurus’ hesperis </i>and <i>Magnosaurus nethercombensis. </i>The content of groups within Spinosauroidea corresponds well with geography, indicating limited endemism across Pangaea among theropods of this age. Most Late Jurassic large-bodied theropods are allosauroids, and allosauroids are also abundant during this time period. This suggests faunal turnover between the Middle and Late Jurassic.

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The three open-air sites which are the focus of this study have been chosen because spatial information is available for the excavated material, and they are not palimpsest accumulations, as is the case with cave sites. Spanning the Middle Pleistocene, they are representatives of a critical period for understanding the development of modern human behaviour. It is probable that archaic <I>H. sapiens</I> left behind the artefacts at Mwanganda's Village, and possibly also at Duinefontein 2/2, while fully modern people were responsible for the remains at Florisbad. All three sites were special activity locations where the carcasses of hunted and scavenged animals were butchered, and consumed. Although some tools were imported "ready-made" for the butchery process, on-site knapping took place to varying degrees at all three sites. Apart from the time range covered by these sites, they also display differences in the nature of the focus of the early humans. Mwanganda's Village is an opportunistically scavenged elephant carcass, while Duinefontein 2/2 and Florisbad demonstrate a more substantial use of a locality, with evidence of planning depth and consistent exploitation of a resource at the latter. The three sites are discussed against a background of some of the range in the social organisation of activities related to hunting and butchering, as has been documented in certain African hunter-gatherer-forager societies today. Changes evident in the use of space at other African sites are examined, and it is suggested that during the Middle Stone Age the organisation of space became more formalised.

Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating is an absolute dating method suitable for the Quaternary (up to 2 million years for tooth enamel). It is based on determining the natural radiation dose to which a sample has been exposed during its burial period. Two methods of deconvolution of ESR spectra are demonstrated. It is argued that the use of integrated spectra is most suitable for dating and dosimetry. This method is applied to the ESR dating signal in fossil tooth enamel. Initially, two models is given consistent results. A broad underlying isotropic signal at <I>g</I>=2.007 is found regardless of the model applied. Q-band ESR spectra of fossil tooth enamel are consistent with a model that describes the spectrum as a superposition of an axialsymmetrically split signal and two isotropic signals. A narrow additional signal is also observed which may interfere with dose response curves. ESR spectra of unirradiated and irradiated aliquots of five samples of Quaternary enamel have been deconvoluted, and growth curves have been generated for each signal component. A model is presented that describes the radiation response of a polycrystalline material. The assumptions underlying the model, the resulting differential equations and a numerical method by which they an be resolved are presented. The model parameters and their correlation with real-world parameters are discussed. The properties of the model and the scope of calculations that can be performed are demonstrated. Tooth enamel has been irradiated in a white synchrotron radiation beam and saturation of the spin concentration has been observed. An absolute spin concentration at saturation of about 3x10<SUP>17</SUP> spins/cm<SUP>3</SUP> for each of the signal components has been found. The directly measured values agree with saturation concentrations determined by extrapolation from fossil tooth enamel. These results support the possibility of a universal growth curve for tooth enamel.

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Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrates of late Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems. Part of this success may be due to the acquisition of an herbivorous diet in several major dinosaur clades. This study attempts to identify the feeding adaptations of herbivorous dinosaurs, and also considers some aspects of the evolutionary history and palaeoecology of these animals. Prosauropods, sauropods, and ornithischians have been studied in some detail, and rare occurrences of theropod herbivory have been reviewed briefly. Examination of a wide range of dinosaur taxa has allowed documentation of the "herbivorous adaptations" present in this clade. New anatomical observations are recorded for many of these taxa, and existing descriptions of dinosaur feeding adaptations are assessed critically. These data have been used to evaluate previous hypotheses on dinosaur foraging and food processing, and have also formed the basis for new interpretations of dinosaur feeding. Prosauropods are considered to have been rather generalised consumers, with few clear-cut modifications to an herbivorous way of life. Sauropods are shown to have had much more varied feeding strategies than commonly supposed, and they display evidence of many different jaw actions and food gathering strategies. These differences may have allowed ecological partitioning of sympatric sauropod taxa. Ornithischians possessed the most diverse array of feeding adaptations, and were capable of a variety of jaw actions and foraging strategies. Comparative anatomical, palaeoenvironmental, and phylogenetic evidence suggests that may basal ornithischians and prosauropods may have been omnivorous. Combination of these functional data with recent phylogenetic analyses has permitted deduction of the order in which the various feeding adaptations were acquired within these clades, and has also shown that convergence is extremely common in the evolution of herbivorous features. Reciprocal interactions between herbivory and other biological variables (such as body size and locomotion) suggests that dinosaur herbivory evolved by correlated progression.

No description available.