Page:VCH Sussex 1.djvu/69

 PALiEONTOLOGY FEW English counties are of greater interest to the student of the past history of vertebrate animals than Sussex, since a very large number of species of extinct reptiles and fishes w^ere named and described on the evidence of remains obtained from geo- logical horizons within its borders. The most interesting of these are undoubtedly the reptiles of the Wealden and the fishes of the Chalk, whose remains were collected so assiduously in the early part of the last century by Mantell, and subsequently by Dixon. A large number of these fish remains were submitted to the French naturalist Agassiz, by whom they were described in his great work on Poissons Fossiles ; while others were named by Mantell himself. Unfortunately the affinities of many of these fossil fishes were but very imperfectly understood at that time, and it has consequently been found necessary in a large number of instances to change their generic titles. This must be borne in mind when readers of the present article refer back to the original works of Mantell and Dixon. In addition to those from the Chalk and Wealden, remains of extinct vertebrates are also met with in the Middle Eocene deposits of Bracklesham Bay, and although the known species are comparatively few in number, their scientific interest is very considerable. The mammalian remains from the gravels, loams and raised beaches of Pleistocene or later age are, on the other hand, of less general interest, since they belong to species which occur abundantly in many other counties, as well as on the continent. Commencing with the remains of these Pleistocene and later mammals (of which there is a fine series in the Brighton Museum), two localities in the county where they occur are Bracklesham Bay and Selsey. They were at times not unfrequently dredged up at Selsey by the fishermen ; but they also occur in the muddy deposit on the shore at both places. The species recorded from Bracklesham include the mammoth {Elephas prmigenius), the straight-tusked elephant (£. antiquus), the horse [Equus cabal/us), the red deer [Cervus elaphus), and the wolf {Cams lupus). Remains of the goat and the Celtic shorthorn also occur, but these must be of later age than the mammoth. Teeth and bones of a rhinoceros, said to be Rhinoceros leptorhinus, were also discovered in 1877 by Mr. H. Willett in a deposit at East Wittering above the glacial beds of Selsea.^ Mantell also records remains of the horse, red deer, 27
 * Dixon, Geology of Sussex, ed. 2, pp. 19, 114.