TRINIL FAUNAL ZONE

middle Pleistocene sequence of deposits characterized by distinctive animal forms (the Pleistocene epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Trinil deposits, found in Southeast Asia, are named for a village near the town of Ngawi, on Java, Indonesia, and have been tentatively assigned an age of about 700,000 years. Trinil sediments consist of volcanic deposits, sands, and clays. Fossil mammals include elephants, rhinoceroses, tapirs, deer, and carnivores. Of great importance are Trinil's remains of early fossil man, the Java man. Formerly classified as Pithecanthropus erectus, but now as Homo erectus, this fossil assemblage provides a bridge between the australopithecines and more advanced human types. The Trinil deposits are the second series of sediments formed in the Pleistocene of the region. They overlie deposits of the Djetis faunal zone, which are about 1,600,000 years old. Djetis deposits have also yielded the fossil remains of hominids that have been related to the australopithecines or to Homo erectus or Homo habilis; these remains have been assigned the classification Meganthropus palaeojavanicus. The Ngandong deposits overlie the Trinil and are late Pleistocene in age. More modern types of animals and humans occur in the Ngandong strata.