The Last Interglacial, specifically sub-stage MIS5e, saw a global climatic amelioration that brought a curious suite of temperate mammalian species to Britain, some of which are restricted to sub-Saharan Africa today. Characterised from the Joint Mitnor Cave type-site in Devon, but found across sites in England and Wales, this famous “hippopotamus assemblage-zone” is well-known and well-dated, featuring species such as spotted hyaena, lion, straight-tusked elephant, narrow-tusked rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, alongside taxa such as wild boar, mountain hare, wolf, red fox, brown bear, bison, red deer, fallow deer and giant deer. The MIS5e assemblage-zone is a classic example of a non-analogue faunal community – animal communities that include combinations of taxa unlike any that are found today, functioning as part of a non-analogous ecosystem. It is likely such ecosystems included ecological “surprises” not observable today and may help inform on the boundary conditions of future change. Understanding these ecosystems can also help establish better conservation baselines by providing new insights into the palaeoecology and range of species, such as spotted hyaena, that have been restricted by human impacts in recent centuries.
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