Age. Mid and late Wisconsin. Radiocarbon dates
range from >40 kya to ca. 11 kya (Santucci et al. 2001).
General Description. Wilson (1942): The cave is located on the south side of the Grand Canyon at an elevation of about 534 m. When first investigated, in 1936, the floor consisted mainly of dried ground sloth dung. Excavations include those by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the late 1930s and Remington Kellogg in 1942 (Kenworthy et al. 2004). Much of the cave deposits was destroyed by fire in 1976 (Santucci et al. 2001).
Discussion. Later, Van Devender et al. (1977) recovered a number of reptile and mammal remains from woodrat middens within the cave and in nearby areas and, importantly, excellent material for radiocarbon dates. In the faunal lists below, the material researched by Van Devender et al. (1977) is given separately with associated radiocarbon dates.
Carpenter (2003) utilized material from the 1936 CCC excavations, the 1942 Remington Kellogg expedition, and faunal material she collected in 1999 to study bird, bat, and ungulate bones
Fauna.
Gopherus morafkai—Morafka's Desert Tortoise (Wilson 1942)
Gopherus agassizi
See discussion in the G. morafkai account
Sauromalus ater—Chuckwalla (Wilson 1942: cf.)
Nycticorax nycticorax—Black-crowned Night-Heron (Carpenter 2003: cf. gen. et sp.)
†Coragyps occidentalis—Western Vulture (Carpenter 2003)
Coragyps atratus
Gymnogyps californianus—California Condor (Miller 1960)
Aquila chrysaetos—Golden Eagle (Carpenter 2003)
Buteo jamaicensis—Red-tailed Hawk (Carpenter 2003: cf. gen. et sp.)
Tyto alba—Barn Owl (Miller 1960)
Carpenter (2003) noted that due to the young age of the specimen, the ends of the tibiotarsus are unformed and amorphus and that Miller originally had annotated the identification as queried.
Falco femoralis—Aplomado Falcon (Miller 1960)
†Nothrotheriops shastensis—Shasta Ground Sloth (Wilson 1942)
Marmota flaviventris—Yellow-bellied Marmot (Wilson 1942)
Spermophile—Spermophile Ground Squirrels (Lindsay and Tessman 1974)
Spermophilus
Tamias sp.—Chipmunks (Lindsay and Tessman 1974)
Eutamias
Dipodomys sp.—Kangaroo Rats (Lindsay and Tessman 1974)
Thomomys sp.—Western Pocket Gophers (Lindsay and Tessman 1974)
Neotoma sp.—Woodrats (Lindsay and Tessman 1974)
Lepus sp.—Jackrabbit (Lindsay and Tessman 1974)
Sylvilagus sp.—Cottontail (Lindsay and Tessman 1974)
†Desmodus stocki—Stock's Vampire Bat (Mead et al. 2005)
Eumops sp.—Mastiff Bats (Carpenter 2003)
Tadarida brasiliensis—Brazilian Free-tailed Bat (Carpenter 2003)
Lynx sp.—Bobcat (Wilson 1942)
Puma concolor—Mountain Lion (Kenworthy et al. 2004)
Felis concolor
Bassariscus astutus—Ringtail (Lindsay and Tessman 1974)
Bassariscus
Mustela sp.—Weasels (Lindsay and Tessman 1974)
Spilogale gracilis/putorius—Western or Eastern Spotted Skunk (Lindsay and
Tessman 1974)
Spilogale
†Equus sp.—Horses (Wilson 1942)
†Oreamnos harringtoni—Harrington's Mountain Goat (Wilson 1942)
Ovis canadensis—Bighorn Sheep (Carpenter 2003)
Lampropeltis getula—Common Kingsnake
Neotoma mexicana—Mexican Woodrat (cf.)
Neotoma devia/lepida—Arizona or Desert Woodrat
Neotoma lepida
Sauromalus ater—Chuckwalla
Sauromalus obesus
Gopherus morafkai—Morafka's Desert Tortoise
Gopherus agassizi
Neotoma devia/lepida—Arizona or Desert Woodrat
Neotoma lepida
Neotoma stephensi—Stephen's Woodrat
Sceloporus magister—Desert Spiny Lizard (cf.)
Sceloporus tristichus—Northern Plateau Lizard (cf.)
Sceloporus cf. undulatus
Rhinocheilus lecontei—Long-nosed Snake
Neotoma mexicana—Mexican Woodrat (cf.)
Peromyscus sp.—Deer Mice
Sceloporus magister—Desert Spiny Lizard (cf.)
Pituophis catenifer—Gopher Snake
Gopherus morafkai—Morafka's Desert Tortoise
Gopherus agassizi
Neotoma mexicana—Mexican Woodrat (cf.)
Sceloporus magister—Desert Spiny Lizard (cf.)
Gopherus morafkai—Morafka's Desert Tortoise
Gopherus agassizi
Neotoma devia/lepida—Arizona or Desert Woodrat
Neotoma lepida
Neotoma stephensi—Stephen's Woodrat (cf.)
Erethizon dorsata—American Porcupine
Sceloporus magister—Desert Spiny Lizard (cf.)
Neotoma mexicana—Mexican Woodrat (cf.)
Literature. Carpenter 2003; Harington 1971; Harington 1971; Kenworthy et al. 2004; Lindsay and Tessman 1974; Miller 1960; Santucci et al. 2001; Van Devender et al. 1977a; Wilson 1942.
Last Update: 22 Nov 2016