Age. Early/Mid Wisconsin. A 14C
date of 25,160 ± 1730 (TX-1775) on bone carbonates likely is too young.
General Description. A level in Dry Cave intermediate between UTEP Loc. 1 (Above Lost Valley) and the floor of Lost Valley (UTEP Loc. 17). The passageway opens into the side of the Lost Valley Sink and also connects, down slope, with the Sabertooth Camel Maze locality (UTEP 5).
Discussion. The faunas from this and associated sites of Dry Cave have taxa elsewise unrepresented in our region, leading (together with the unreliability of bone carbonate dates) to the suspicion that these faunas are earlier than other cave faunas in the southern part of our region. An alternative explanation may be that mid-Wisconsin faunas, as is the case with those of the late Wisconsin, may differ significantly from those west of the Guadalupe Mountains.
†Coragyps occidentalis—Western Vulture (Harris 1993c)
Lepus californicus—Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Harris 1993c)
Sylvilagus sp.—Cottontails (UTEP)
Myotis sp.—Myotis Bats (UTEP)
Urocyon—Gray Foxes (Harris 1993c: cf.)
Literature. Harris, 1993c.
Last Update: 26 Dec 2008