Palaeoecology and taxonomy of mammals
An analysis of the small mammal fauna of a Late Weichselian freshwater basin in northwestern Jutland has been initiated revealing the first fossil records in Scandinavia of several species of insectivores, lagomorphs and rodents. Faunal history and a palaeoecological reconstruction of the area around 11.6-11.1 ky BP has been published* (K. Aaris-Sørensen).
The taxonomic status of Desmana and Spermophilus specimens from Danish Late Weichselian deposits has been revised* (T.N. Andreasen).
A review of small mammal remains in Denmark from Late Weichselian and Early Flandrian has been completed (T.N. Andreasen, cand.scient. project).
A critical review of small mammal remains from Danish Mesolithic settlements has been completed* (K. Aaris-Sørensen, T.N. Andreasen).
A study of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene large mammal fauna of the South Scandinavian area has been initiated in order to establish a new faunal history covering the last interglacial-glacial-interglacial cycle. In 1996 a grant was obtained from the Danish Science Foundation for AMS-14C-datings and field work. A work on a Late Weichselian record of saiga (Saiga tatarica) from Denmark and its indications of glacial history and environment has been completed (K. Aaris-Sørensen, with K.S. Petersen, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, and M. B. Henriksen, Odense Bys Musser). A similar work compiling the history of the extinct giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus) in South Scandinavia has been continued (K. Aaris-Sørensen, with R. Liljegren, University of Lund) and one on the Late Glacial and Holocene history of the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) has been completed (K. Aaris-Sørensen, with A.K. Hufthammer, University of Bergen). A study of the dispersal and extinction pattern of the beaver (Castor fiber) in late- and post-glacial Scandinavia has been initiated (S.V. Gelskov, cand.scient. project).