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Camel Room. Dry Cave

NM: Eddy Co.

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Location of Camel Room, Dry Cave.Age. Wisconsin.

General Description. UTEP 25. Chamber lying under Entrance Sink of Dry Cave, north of entrance. The fill entered from the south end, spilling from the Entrance Fissure.

Discussion. Burnet, after whom Burnet Cave was named, explored a number of caves in the Carlsbad region. One of these was Dry Cave, and Camel Room was originally gridded by Burnet. Some fossil material was sent by him to the U.S. National Museum.

Recovery of portions of several individuals of Hemiauchenia macrocephala suggest that a small family group approaching from the south plunged over the roof lip into the fissure, open at that time. The topography is such that a rapidly moving group would have little chance of seeing the fissure in time to avoid catastrophe.


Upper portion of Camel Room, Dry Cave

Fig. 1. Upper slope of Camel Room, 25 June 1970. One of Burnet's spikes is visible on the white tag, lower left; a second is on the upper white tag near the center. The fissure intercept is to the left. Photograph by A. H. Harris.

Fig. 2 (below left). Lower slope of Camel Room, 25 June 1970. The fissure intercept is to the upper right. Photograph by A. H. Harris.

Fig. 3 (right). View directly toward the intersection with the Entrance Fissure. 25 June 1970. Several white tags indicate Burnet's spikes. Fine scratches on the upper portion of the debris slope are damages to the photograph emulsion. Photograph by A. H. Harris.

View of fissure intersect, Camel Room, Dry Cave

Lower slope of Camel Room, Dry Cave

Fauna.

Crotalus sp.—Rattlesnakes
Caracara cheriway—Crested Caracara
Falco sp.—Falcon
Asio flammeus—Short-eared Owl (cf.)
Corvus corax—Common Raven
Carpodacus sp.—Purple Finches (Harris 1993c: ? gen. et sp.
Thomomys bottae—Botta's Pocket Gopher
Thomomys talpoides—Northern Pocket Gopher
Lemmiscus curtatus—Sagebrush Vole
Microtus mogollonensis—Mogollon Vole
Neotoma cinerea—Bushy-tailed Woodrat
Peromyscus crinitus—White-footed Mouse (cf.)
Lepus townsendii—White-tailed Jackrabbit
Sylvilagus nuttallii—Mountain Cottontail
Canis latrans—Coyote
Vulpes velox—Swift fox
Mustela sp.—Weasel
Mephitis mephitis—Striped Skunk
Equus conversidens—Mexican Horse (cf.)
Equus scotti—Scott's Horse
Equus species A—Undescribed Species
Camelops hesternus sp.—Yesterday's Camel
Hemiauchenia macrocephala—Big-headed Llama
Bison sp.—Bison

Literature. Harris 1977, 1993c, 1985a; Harris and Porter 1980.

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Last Update: 6 Aug 2013