The Clark’s Cave bone deposit and the late Pleistocene paleoecology of the central Appalachian Mountains of Virginia

Abstract

Remains of 142 species of vertebrates, ca 4,984 individuals, and 35 species of invertebrates, ca 5,547 individuals, were recovered from a late Pleistocene "owl roost" in the entrance talus of Clark's Cave in the central Appalachian Mountains, lat. 38°05'10" N., Bath County, Virginia, U.S.A. Sixty-four percent of the medium-tosmall-sized mammals represented in the cave remains are now found either farther north or conform in size to present boreal population equivalents (Bergmann's Response) and with the New Paris No. 4, Pa. local fauna. Deposition took place during late glacial times, > 10,000 years B P., and ceased before the boreal-to-temperate, post-glacial floral adjustment was completed at the site. Ptarmigan, Lagopus, and least chipmunk, Eutamias, are added to the late glacial fauna of the Appalachians.A spruce/ pine parkland with nearby bog and meadowlands in a complicated topographical pattern is suggested by the ecological requirements of the faunal components. A contemporaneous mixture of presently allopatric northern, midwestern, and temperate Appalachian species is noted, suggesting a richer ecological picture than was apparent at New Paris No. 4, Pa., 240 km to the north.Quantitative analysis suggests that several species of raptors were involved. Comparisons with other Appalachian cave and fissure deposits demonstrate the difficulty of ascertaining methods of deposition by faunal analysis only.BULLETIN CARNEGIE MUSEUM OE NATURAL HISTORY NO. 2McGinnis deserves our special thanks for her many months of laboratory sorting and for the study and identification of the anuran remains. We thank our many colleagues for their assistance:

Late Wisconsinan Appalachian herpetofaunas: relative stability in the midst of change

“…I have added 33 identifications (all from higher taxa previously listed) for a total of 42 herptile taxa. (Guilday et aL, 1977). The herpetofauna is more similar to that of Natural Chimneys than New Paris No.…”

“…Accumulation.-RupXor roost. Fauna.-Clark's Cave herpetofauna was partially reported in Guilday et al (1977). Their list includes 14 taxa, ranging in rank from species to family.…”

“…Fifty-two percent of the Clark's Cave fossil mammal taxa do not presently occur in the central Appalachians, live only at higher elevations in the region, or are of sizes indicating boreal rather than temperate populations (Guilday et al, 1977). Seven percent of the avifauna does not presently spend any part of the year in the central Appalachians (Guilday et al, 1977). Why can every herptile of the local fauna still be found within 125 km after 1 1,000 years of climatic and biotic change that has driven out several birds and many mammals?…”

Eastern North American Pleistocene Ochotona (Lagomorpha: Mammalia)

“…700,000 years BP, slightly older than the late Kansan Cudahy fauna ( Van der Meulen, 1978). Ochotona is not present in any of the numerous Wisconsinan to early Holocene cave faunas from the Appalachians (Guilday et al, 1977(Guilday et al, , 1978…”

The microtine rodents from the Pit locality in Porcupine Cave, Park County, Colorado

“…Some studies focused on certain morphological features such as size or the complexity of as an aid in identification of Microtus species. The size criterion was used in conjunction with cranial characters from partial skulls and dental variation to identify the remains of M. xanthognathus in the eastern United States (Guilday and Bender, 1960;Hallberg et aL, 1974;Guilday et aL, 1977Guilday et aL, , 1978, but these studies did not consider M. richardsoni, another large species from the northwestern United States. Similarly, the presence of with an additional posterior dentine field is often regarded as positive evidence of the presence of M. pennsylvanicus, yet this morphological feature is irregularly expressed in a number of different North American species, and is a regular feature in at least two others (Bell, 1997;Bell and Repenning, 1999).…”