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Stalag 17, Dry Cave

NM: Eddy Co.: 1280 m.

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Location of the Stalag 17 siteAge. 14C date of 11,880 ± 250 (I-5987) on charcoal (Buckley 1973).

General Description. Chamber off of the Entrance Fissure; Station 17 of Burnet. Deposits spilling from and closing the fissure.

Discussion. In 1971, connected to Entrance Chamber of Dry Cave by a test pit. Apparent contact between Holocene and Pleistocene deposits lies within the site and is marked by a subtle change in color and by a marked decrease in density of faunal remains.

Fauna.

Amphibia

Ambystoma mavortium—Barred Tiger Salamander (UTEP)

Aves

Anas sp. (size A. acuta)—Dabbling Duck size of Northern Pintail (Harris 1993c)
Anas discors—Blue-winged Teal (Harris 1993c: ?)
Cathartes aura—Turkey Vulture (possibly Holocene level: Harris 1993c)
Coragyps occidentalis—Western Vulture (Harris 1993c)
Caracara cheriway—Crested Caracara (Harris 1993c)
Tympanuchus pallidicinctus—Lesser Prairie Chicken (Harris 1993c)
Callipepla—Crested Quail (Harris 1993c: cf. gen.)
Actitis sp.—Spotted Sandpipers (Harris 1993c: ?)
Athene cunicularia—Burrowing Owl (Harris 1993c)
Colaptes auratus—Northern Flicker (Harris 1993c)
Corvus corax—Common Raven (Harris 1993c)
Pipilo maculata—Spotted Towhee (Harris 1993c: cf.)

Fig. 1. Stalag 17, 25 Jun 1970, before excavation. Fissure intercept is at upper left. Photograph by A. H. Harris.

Fissure spill, Stalag 17, Dry Cave

Mammalia

Cratogeomys castanops—Yellow-faced Pocket Gopher (Harris 1993c)
Thomomys bottae—Botta's Pocket Gopher (Harris 1993c: cf.)
Lemmiscus curtatus—Sagebrush Vole (Harris 1993c)
Microtus longicaudus—Long-tailed Vole (Harris 1993c)
Microtus mogollonensis—Mogollon Vole (Harris 1993c)
Microtus ochrogaster—Prairie Vole (Harris 1993c)
Neotoma cinerea—Bushy-tailed Woodrat (Harris 1993c)
Neotoma floridana—Eastern Woodrat (Harris 1993c)
Onychomys leucogaster—Northern Grasshopper Mouse (Harris 1993c)
Peromyscus sp.—White-footed Mouse (Harris 1993c)
Lepus townsendii—White-tailed Jackrabbit (Harris 1993c)
Sylvilagus audubonii—Desert Cottontail (Harris 1993c)
Sylvilagus nuttallii—Mountain Cottontail (Harris 1993c)
Sorex merriami—Merriam's Shrew (Harris 1993c)
Canis latrans—Coyote (Harris 1993c)
Canis lupus—Gray Wolf (Harris 1993c)
Vulpes velox—Swift Fox (Harris 1993c)
Equus conversidens—Mexican Horse (Harris and Porter 1980)
Equus scotti—Scott's Horse (Harris 1993c)
Camelops hesternus—Yesterday's Camel (Harris 1993c)
Odocoileus hemionus—Mule Deer (Harris 1993c: ?)
Antilocapra americana—Pronghorn (Harris 1993c: cf. gen. et sp.)
Capromeryx—Miniature Pronghorns (Harris 1993c: cf.; UTEP: ?)

Emendations: Sylvilagus ? floridanus (Harris 1993c; this work) has been removed from the list of taxa from this site, the specimens having been re-identified as S. audubonii. Capromeryx is changed to queried from cf.

Literature. Buckley 1973; Harris 1977, 1978, 1985a, 1989, 1993c; Harris and Porter 1980.

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Last Update: 6 Aug 2013