A Cernaysian mammal from the Upnor Formation (Late Palaeocene, Herne Bay, UK) and its implications for correlation

Abstract

An isolated upper deciduous (milk) premolar identified as the primitive ungulate Arctocyonides arenae Russell is recorded from the local base of the Upnor Formation at Herne Bay, Kent, England. The species was previously known only from marginal marine to fluvial deposits of the eastern Paris Basin at Cernay, Berru and Montchenot, where exact correlation with the standard marine succession is controversial. Nevertheless, the mammal fauna from these sites is discrete and referred to the Cernaysian European Land Mammal Age. The Upnor Formation contains calcareous nannoplankton indicative of the lower part of zone NP9, thus accurately calibrating the Cernaysian (and the equivalent Mammalian Reference Level MP6) to the marine standard biozonation. The tooth represents the first unequivocally Palaeocene mammal from Britain.