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The History of British Mammals
As the ice retreated from Britain 15,000 years ago, a host of large mammals including Reindeer, Wild Horse, Woolly Mammoth, Moose, Wolf, Brown Bear, Lynx and Wolverine established themselves in Britain. Now we have a fauna which is dominated by domestic cattle, sheep and pigs, plus Humans.
This account explores the fate of the large extinct species, and how, why and when the introduced species appeared. What did happen to the Woolly Mammoth, the Reindeer and the Irish Elk? Did the native wild ungulates, Horse, Aurochs and Boar, become domesticated here, or were their farm descendants introduced already domesticated? How have the native Red Squirrel and Red Deer fared in the face of introduced Grey Squirrel and Sika? What has happened to the balance of the British fauna, and should we interfere further by trying to exterminate some of the introduced species, or by reintroducing the extinct ones?
This account explores the fate of the large extinct species, and how, why and when the introduced species appeared. What did happen to the Woolly Mammoth, the Reindeer and the Irish Elk? Did the native wild ungulates, Horse, Aurochs and Boar, become domesticated here, or were their farm descendants introduced already domesticated? How have the native Red Squirrel and Red Deer fared in the face of introduced Grey Squirrel and Sika? What has happened to the balance of the British fauna, and should we interfere further by trying to exterminate some of the introduced species, or by reintroducing the extinct ones?
312 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Derek W. Yalden
5 booksIn 2010, Derek was awarded the Linnean Medal for Zoology by the Linnean Society. This award is presented annually by the Council alternately to a Botanist and a Zoologist or to both simultaneously, as an expression of the Society's esteem and appreciation for service to science.
Derek was described by colleagues as “something of a polymath” – a zoologist who has made outstanding contributions to a number of fields, including taxonomy, evolution and biodiversity. His interests and expertise range from the ecology of golden plovers, pygmy shrews on moorland and mountain hare ecology, to the history of wallabies in the Peak District, morphology, Ethiopian zoology and palaeontological studies of mammals in cave sites, resulting in a publication record of over 160 papers.
After obtaining a 1st Class B.Sc. from University College London in 1962, he completed his PhD on carpal bones in mammals at Royal Holloway College, under Prof. P. M. Butler, in 1965. He then worked as an Assistant Lecturer, and eventually Senior Lecturer, at the University of Manchester, School of Biological Sciences., teaching vertebrate zoology. He retired from there in 2005, after 40 years' service.
He was president of The Mammal Society from 1997 until his death, and edited their journal, Mammal Review from 1980-2002. He authored or co-authored over 200 scientific publications.
Leptopelis yaldeni, (grassland forest tree frog, named by M. Largen in 1977), and Desmomys yaldeni (Yalden's desmomys, a rodent named by L. Lavrenchenko in 2003) are named in his honour. Both are endemic to Ethiopia.
Derek was described by colleagues as “something of a polymath” – a zoologist who has made outstanding contributions to a number of fields, including taxonomy, evolution and biodiversity. His interests and expertise range from the ecology of golden plovers, pygmy shrews on moorland and mountain hare ecology, to the history of wallabies in the Peak District, morphology, Ethiopian zoology and palaeontological studies of mammals in cave sites, resulting in a publication record of over 160 papers.
After obtaining a 1st Class B.Sc. from University College London in 1962, he completed his PhD on carpal bones in mammals at Royal Holloway College, under Prof. P. M. Butler, in 1965. He then worked as an Assistant Lecturer, and eventually Senior Lecturer, at the University of Manchester, School of Biological Sciences., teaching vertebrate zoology. He retired from there in 2005, after 40 years' service.
He was president of The Mammal Society from 1997 until his death, and edited their journal, Mammal Review from 1980-2002. He authored or co-authored over 200 scientific publications.
Leptopelis yaldeni, (grassland forest tree frog, named by M. Largen in 1977), and Desmomys yaldeni (Yalden's desmomys, a rodent named by L. Lavrenchenko in 2003) are named in his honour. Both are endemic to Ethiopia.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 11, 2012
Kindled for £30, and had to borrow a library copy to add page numbers. Very sad. This is the authoratitive book on mammal introduction, extinction, reintroduction, domestication and the general go-to book for theories of how humans interacted with the animals around them. It starts off giving a list of animals identified in britain during each interglacial period, and then goes on giving more in-depth information from the end of the last ice age. The Mesolithic-Palaeolithic seems to be the authors favourite period in the history of british mammals, and everything else is compared to that. There is good information about the neolithic, a little bit about the iron age, more about the "roman "saxon" and "norman" periods. Sadly Yalden's idea of what actually happened among the humans in Britain at this time are a bit underdeveloped, but when he sticks to his topic everythingg he says is gold! Four quotes:
{supports Green’s idea of non-hunting Britons until Norman invasion}
It has been suggested that the earliest Anglo-Saxon settlers must have encountered a less agricultural landscape and therefore been forced to hunt to supplement their diet. Among the earliest of sites yet investigated is West Stow, Suffolk, dating back to the 5th century and therefore close to the initial settlement. Crabtree (1989a, 1989b) has specifically considered this point. Cattle and sheep (including some goats) dominate the faunas at all three Saxon levels, as they do the preceding Roman arid Iron Age faunas at this site; pigs are also important, but become less so during Saxon times. Wild mammals, including Red Deer, Roe Deer and (Brown?) Hare are present, but very rare, and there is no indication of Wild Boar
{definitive dating}
Of the 33 or so native terrestrial mammals inhabiting Britain at the start of the Post Glacial period, three, the Reindeer, Tarpan (Wild Horse) and Northern Vole seem to have died out within about 1000 years, presumably as a result of the climatic change and the change to more wooded conditions that accompanied it. Two more, the Elk and Lynx, were always assumed to have died out during Mesolithic times, that is before 5500 b.p., but radiocarbon dates suggest that they in fact survived to about 4000 and 1700 b.p. respectively, that is to Neolithic and Roman times (Chapter 3). The Aurochs and Brown Bear seem to have died out by Roman times, so far as the evidence shows at present, though the Bear might have survived a little later than this in Scotland (Chapter 4). The Beaver certainly survived into the Mediaeval period, but seems to have gone from Wales by 1200 and from Scotland by 1600 (Chapter 5). It is well known that two other species of large mammal were lost in this current millenium, Wild Boar and Wolf, but their fate is obscured by a mixture of legend and misinterpretation...
...
Ritchie suggests that Wild Boar were extinct in Scotland by the early years of the 17th century, closely akin to Harting’s suggestion that it died out in England also at the end of the 17th century. These dates ignore the likelihood that captive Wild Boar were maintained in several places, as status symbols and as meat on the hoof, long after they had in fact become extinct as wild animals, probably around the end of the 13th century.
{domestication information}
A consequence of the introduction and exploitation of the Rabbit must have been the similar exploitation of the Ferret, for this was regularly used for obtaining Rabbits; there is a good illustration of a Ferret being put into a warren in the Luttrel Psalter of around 1343 (Backhouse 1989). The origin and time of domestication of the Ferret remain controversial; is it simply a domesticated Polecat Mustela putorius, or perhaps a domesticated Steppe Polecat M. eversmanni? It has regularly been claimed that it was tamed in North Africa and brought to Spain, but there is considerable doubt that Polecats ever occurred in North Africa. Given the early exploitation of Rabbits in Spain, it seems very probable that the Polecat was domesticated there into the Ferret, and then moved round Europe with its equally domesticated prey.
{reintroduction information}
A more surprising species to have been reintroduced to several countries in Europe is the Lynx. Very successful reintroductions have taken place in two areas of Switzerland and in Slovenia. Possibly successful attempts have been made also in Austria, France and Bohemia; attempts in Germany seem not to have succeeded (Breitenmoser and Breitenmoser-Würsten 1990). The Swiss population has spread into France and has caused some problems in sheep-rearing areas. This has not happened elsewhere, and it is not clear whether this represents a peculiarity of French farming practices, an aberrant Lynx population, or a hypersensitive set of farmers. There is a compensation scheme in place, but it may not be sufficiently generous to satisfy the shepherds... In Bialowieza, the main prey are Roe Deer (95 of 138 ungulates killed, the rest being Red Deer calves) and Brown Hares (11% of the weight of prey) (J drzejewski et al. 1993). These are foods that should be plentiful in Britain, and Lynx might offer some way of balancing the deer populations of our woodlands naturally. Lynx live naturally around Stockholm, even hunting across the allotments on the outskirts of the city, without being any danger to people directly. Perhaps they could be as tolerant of Britons. It is doubtful if Britons could be as tolerant as Swedes.
{supports Green’s idea of non-hunting Britons until Norman invasion}
It has been suggested that the earliest Anglo-Saxon settlers must have encountered a less agricultural landscape and therefore been forced to hunt to supplement their diet. Among the earliest of sites yet investigated is West Stow, Suffolk, dating back to the 5th century and therefore close to the initial settlement. Crabtree (1989a, 1989b) has specifically considered this point. Cattle and sheep (including some goats) dominate the faunas at all three Saxon levels, as they do the preceding Roman arid Iron Age faunas at this site; pigs are also important, but become less so during Saxon times. Wild mammals, including Red Deer, Roe Deer and (Brown?) Hare are present, but very rare, and there is no indication of Wild Boar
{definitive dating}
Of the 33 or so native terrestrial mammals inhabiting Britain at the start of the Post Glacial period, three, the Reindeer, Tarpan (Wild Horse) and Northern Vole seem to have died out within about 1000 years, presumably as a result of the climatic change and the change to more wooded conditions that accompanied it. Two more, the Elk and Lynx, were always assumed to have died out during Mesolithic times, that is before 5500 b.p., but radiocarbon dates suggest that they in fact survived to about 4000 and 1700 b.p. respectively, that is to Neolithic and Roman times (Chapter 3). The Aurochs and Brown Bear seem to have died out by Roman times, so far as the evidence shows at present, though the Bear might have survived a little later than this in Scotland (Chapter 4). The Beaver certainly survived into the Mediaeval period, but seems to have gone from Wales by 1200 and from Scotland by 1600 (Chapter 5). It is well known that two other species of large mammal were lost in this current millenium, Wild Boar and Wolf, but their fate is obscured by a mixture of legend and misinterpretation...
...
Ritchie suggests that Wild Boar were extinct in Scotland by the early years of the 17th century, closely akin to Harting’s suggestion that it died out in England also at the end of the 17th century. These dates ignore the likelihood that captive Wild Boar were maintained in several places, as status symbols and as meat on the hoof, long after they had in fact become extinct as wild animals, probably around the end of the 13th century.
{domestication information}
A consequence of the introduction and exploitation of the Rabbit must have been the similar exploitation of the Ferret, for this was regularly used for obtaining Rabbits; there is a good illustration of a Ferret being put into a warren in the Luttrel Psalter of around 1343 (Backhouse 1989). The origin and time of domestication of the Ferret remain controversial; is it simply a domesticated Polecat Mustela putorius, or perhaps a domesticated Steppe Polecat M. eversmanni? It has regularly been claimed that it was tamed in North Africa and brought to Spain, but there is considerable doubt that Polecats ever occurred in North Africa. Given the early exploitation of Rabbits in Spain, it seems very probable that the Polecat was domesticated there into the Ferret, and then moved round Europe with its equally domesticated prey.
{reintroduction information}
A more surprising species to have been reintroduced to several countries in Europe is the Lynx. Very successful reintroductions have taken place in two areas of Switzerland and in Slovenia. Possibly successful attempts have been made also in Austria, France and Bohemia; attempts in Germany seem not to have succeeded (Breitenmoser and Breitenmoser-Würsten 1990). The Swiss population has spread into France and has caused some problems in sheep-rearing areas. This has not happened elsewhere, and it is not clear whether this represents a peculiarity of French farming practices, an aberrant Lynx population, or a hypersensitive set of farmers. There is a compensation scheme in place, but it may not be sufficiently generous to satisfy the shepherds... In Bialowieza, the main prey are Roe Deer (95 of 138 ungulates killed, the rest being Red Deer calves) and Brown Hares (11% of the weight of prey) (J drzejewski et al. 1993). These are foods that should be plentiful in Britain, and Lynx might offer some way of balancing the deer populations of our woodlands naturally. Lynx live naturally around Stockholm, even hunting across the allotments on the outskirts of the city, without being any danger to people directly. Perhaps they could be as tolerant of Britons. It is doubtful if Britons could be as tolerant as Swedes.
February 27, 2012
It would Be Better if kobo would not agree to have ADE (adobe digital edition) DRM I bout the thing I should be able to use it on all my e-readers at $40+ I dont think they should be able to stop me from adding it to my other e-readers (like kindle) and I sure as hell dont think they should have a DRM on a $40 book at that price you could prob buy it in paperback and scan it into ur pc for cheaper on amazon u can buy it used for 22.99+4.00 s/h..I dont use kobo anymore due to the fact they cost more money then everyone else plus u get charged extra because they are not USA based.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews