ABSTRACT
Deposits containing mammalian fossils of Villafranchian age have been found at many sites in Europe. Some of the best known lie in central and southern France and northern Italy and include both fluviatile and volcanic deposits. The Astian faunas in Europe, known from various sites in northern Italy, from Roussillon and Montpellier in France, from Malusteni in Roumania, and various sites in Hungary, were typical forest faunas with mastodonts, deer and other woodland animals. The raccoon-dog and the Perrier Hyena, hitherto regarded as new Villafranchian elements, are now known to have immediate ancestors in the Astian of Europe. Fossil floras of Villafranchian date in the neighbourhood of Milan are north-temperate in type with alder, pine, spruce, chestnut, heather and ferns. Certain cave deposits from southern Germany can be correlated with the Late Villafranchian, because they contain remains of large mammals. The Villafranchian cave of Erpfingen has a fauna closely resembling that of Seneze.
