The quaternary paleontology and paleoecology of Crystall Ball cave, Millard County, Utah: with emphasis on mammals and the description of a new species of fossil skunk [Paléontologie quaternaire et paléoécologie de la grotte de Crytall Ball, Millard County, Utah : avec emphase sur les mammifères et la description d’une nouvelle espèce de mouffette fossile].

Résumé

Crystal Ball Cave is located in a small outlier of the Snake Range in Snake Valley 1 mile (1.7 km) from Lake Bonneville at its highest level. Original vertebrate skeletal material (mostly mammalian) is found in shallow dry dust 200 feet (61 meters) inside the cave. Radiocarbon dates show that fossils have been accumulating since at least 23,000 Y.B.P. It appears that wood rats and possibly small carnivores transported the fossils into the cave because only the smallest elements of large mammals are represented. The fossil assemblage represents a much more boreal community than the present local fauna. Fish, Ondatra zibethicus, and Mustela cf. vison, which require perennial water, were recovered, as were Ochotona princeps, Lepus cf.; americana, Microtus cf.; pennsylvanicus, Vulpes vulpes, and Martes americana, which have also been extirpated from the Snake Range.; Marmota flaviventris, Neotoma cinerea, cf.; Cervus elaphus, and Ovis canadensis were recovered but now occur only at higher elevations in the range. Extinct taxa recovered are Smilodon cf.; fatalis, Equus species, Camelops cf.; hesternus, Hemiauchenia cf.; macrocephala, cf.; Symbos cavifrons, and a new species of Brachyprotoma, herein named B. brevimala. This is the first recovery of Brachyprotoma from the western United States.