Pleistocene vertebrates from Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
Kottkamp S, Santucci VL, Tweet JS, Horrocks RD, Morgan GS. 2022. Pleistocene vertebrates from Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. Pages 267-290. In Late Cenozoic vertebrates from the American Southwest: A tribute to Arthur H. Harris. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Albuquerque, New Mexico. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. Bulletin 88
Carlsbad Caverns National Park (CAVE) is located in southeastern New Mexico, southwest of Carlsbad, Eddy County. Situated in the Chihuahuan Desert, the park includes more than 120 caverns of all sizes, formed by millions of years of limestone dissolution. Best known to visitors for its cave systems with expansive rooms adorned with spectacular speleothems, the park also preserves many important paleontological resources. Some of these are invertebrate fossils associated with the Permian age reef complex that forms the bedrock, but the caves also preserve Pleistocene age fossil deposits dominated by vertebrate remains. During the Fall and Winter of 2019 into 2020, a paleontological resources inventory was conducted at the park. This inventory was primarily a synthesis of published articles, unpublished reports, park records, and museum collections, but it included fieldwork as well. This research resulted in the most complete list, to date, of park fossil fauna and fossil localities, including many taxa not known from publicly available sources. In total, 95 vertebrate taxa have been confirmed from Pleistocene cave deposits at CAVE. This inventory will provide a baseline source of data critical to future research, resource monitoring, and management decisions involving paleontological resources in the park. The Pleistocene fossil record of CAVE documents species extinctions and extirpations associated with a drying climate, making it especially relevant to conservation paleobiology efforts in regions facing desertification.
- Type
- Book Chapter
- Authors
- Kottkamp, Scott; Santucci, Vincent; Tweet, Justin; Horrocks, Rodney; Morgan, Gary
- Units
- CAVE
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Paleontology | Paleontology