The Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizi) in the Pleistocene of the Northern Chihuahuan Desert
Van Devender TR, Moodie KB, Harris AH. 1976. The Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizi) in the Pleistocene of the Northern Chihuahuan Desert. Herpetologica. 32(3):298-304
New localities (Dry Cave and Robledo Cave) for late Pleistocene Gopherus agassizi in southeastern and south-central New mexico, USA, are 350-550 km. east of the nearest modern populations. Plan community reconstructions from radiocarbon-dated fossil packrat middens from nearby areas suggest that the tortoises were living in xerophilous woodland rather than the desert scrub habitats commonly inhabited today. A paleoclimate with mild winters and cooler summers is postulated to explain G. agassizi in the late Pleistocene of the northern Chihuahuan Desert.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Van Devender, Thomas; Moodie, Kevin; Harris, Arthur
- Units
- CAVE , ORPI , SODN
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizi), Dry Cave, Ecology, Eddy County, Inventory and Monitoring (I&M), Isotopic Dating, Packrat Middens, Paleontology, paleozoology, Reptilia (Reptiles)