Age. Rancholabrean (Morgan and Lucas
2005).
General Description. Alkali Flat, White Sands Missile Range (Morgan and Lucas 2005).
Discussion. Eleven sites are bundled as the Lake Otero fauna by Morgan and Lucas (2005). The fauna includes that from two sites grouped as the Alkali Flat site, plus nine grouped as the Alkali Spring site (Morgan and Lucas 2005). Morgan and Lucas point out that most of the sites were along the western shoreline of the Pleistocene lake and within 5 km of the San Andres Mountains foothills.
Presence of abundant frogs and of muskrat indicate the likelihood of permanent water (Morgan and Lucas 2005). Although Morgan and Lucas (2005:202) take the presence of Microtus as indicating "mesic, forested habitats...", the presence of lakeside sedge beds and similar vegetation apparently is sufficient to support M. pennsylvanicus.
Lithobates sp.—Leopard Frogs
Colubridae—Colubrid Snakes
Sauria—Lizards
Aves—Birds
†Mammuthus columbi—Columbian Mammoth
Sciuridae—Squirrels
Microtus pennsylvanicus—Voles (Morgan and Lucas 2005)
Ondatra zibethicus—Common Muskrat
Peromyscus sp.—White-footed Mice
Sylvilagus audubonii—Desert Cottontail (cf.)
†Equus sp.—Horse
†Camelidae—Camels
Literature. Lucas et al. 2002b; Morgan and Lucas 2002, 2005.
Last Update: 23 Jan 2013