Lost River - Karst Information Portal

2007 NSS Convention Guidebook
Landing, Harrison County. That species
is likely synonymous with O. virginianus,
the white-tailed deer. It was Bader and Hall
(1960), however, who first revealed how an
ancient woodrat den accumulation could
contain a concentration of skeletal fragments
of numerous vertebrate species. The deposit,
in Sullivan Cave, Lawrence County, included
the extralimital occurrence of both the eastern
woodrat (Neotoma magister) and the spotted
skunk (Spilogale putorius), and such Indiana
extirpated (exterminated) species as porcupine
(Erethizon dorsatum) and elk (Cervus elaphus).
The periodic excavation of Thundermug Bone
Cave, Monroe County, began in 1964 and
lasted for several years. Here, the “entire” part
of the small sandstone-capped cave with an
entrance connection was excavated, though
only Holocene remains of black bear, whitetailed
deer, vultures, and ten other species were
recovered (Richards, 1970). Thus, the actual
cave excavation for vertebrate fossils began
relatively late in Indiana, since Port Kennedy
Cave, Pennsylvania, was being dug in 1870;
Potter Creek Cave, California, in 1902; Conard
Fissure, Arkansas, 1904; Frankstown Cave,
Pennsylvania, 1907; and Cumberland Cave,
Maryland, 1912 (Davies, 1966). Moreover, the
Indiana results to this point were meager.
Starting in 1972 and for a period from
1980–1994, there was an approach by the
author to document various species recovered
by the washing of sedimentary deposits
sampled from numerous caves throughout
the Indiana karst. As a great abundance of
microfauna emerged from nondescript or even
“sterile” cave sediments, the great warehouse
of bones preserved in the caves became
apparent. The first attempt was to document
the former distribution of the eastern woodrat
in Indiana (1972), a project expanded in 1987.
It was notable that the woodrat once ranged
throughout the south-central and southeastern
karst in Indiana, well beyond the two southern
Indiana counties where it resides today.
Subsequent studies examined rice rat,
Oryzomys palustris (1980); hairy-tailed mole,
Parascalops breweri (1982); and pygmy (Sorex
202
hoyi) and smoky (S. fumeus) shrew remains
(1983a). The shrews, including rare taxa, were
so abundant that a follow-up interpretation and
broader study reviewed the current knowledge
of Indiana shrews (Whitaker and Richards,
2005). Other cave studies included the spotted
skunk (Spilogale putorius), which has an affinity
for leaving its bones in caves (1985), and the
heather (Phenacomys intermedius) and boreal
red-backed (Clethrionomys gapperi) voles
(1986). Neither of these northern-occurring
voles had ever been recovered from Indiana, but
their remains occurred throughout cave deposits
in both of Indiana’s karst areas, serving as strong
indicators of late Pleistocene deposits. The
timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) left cave
remains beyond its known historic distribution
in Indiana (1990). The previous occurrence
of the fisher (Martes pennanti), a northern
carnivore, was detailed, including two cave
localities (1994), as were the cave remains of the
yellow-cheeked vole (Microtus xanthognathus),
a mouse that today occurs 1,325 miles north of
the Indiana fossil localities (1994).
In 1977 Volz, and independently Parmalee,
Munson, and Guilday (1978) reported upon a
spectacular fossil assemblage recovered from a
Monroe County cave exposed during highway
construction. The fauna of the “Harrodsburg
Crevice” included the extinct sabertooth
(Smilodon fatalis), jaguar (Panthera onca
augusta, Figure 2), dire wolf (Canis dirus),
Figure 2. Bones of the Pleistocene jaguar, Panthera
onca augusta, such as this right dentary from the
Harrodsburg Crevice, Monroe County, Indiana,
are 15%–20% larger than those of the living jaguar
(Kurten and Anderson, 1980). Scale in centimeters.
Fred Lewis photo.