 |
Dr. Steve Wallace (AKA Wally) prepares for
his first strenuous caving trip by exercising eye and facial muscles (note
the brand new helmet, light, and coveralls).
Purpose of trip: To investigate reported skeletal remains in the far
reaches of an Alabama cave. (unless otherwise noted,
all photos by Blaine Schubert) |
| |
|
| The skeletal remains turned out to be
those of a black bear, Ursus americanus. The bone was highly
degraded and thus only teeth and foot bones were collected for future
research. The picture shows the fragmentary cranium (upside down). |
 |
| |
l; |
|
|
Left: Black bear bones (feet and legs).
Right: Wally survives
the Alabama cave ..
 |
| |
|
| An extraordinary recent bone
assemblage in a northeastern Tennessee pit cave. This deposit is
primarily made up of horses, cows, pigs, and dogs (note the dog cranium and
collar in the center of the picture). For the most part these historic
farm animals appear to have been dumped into the pit as carcasses. |
 |
| |
|
|
 |
A number of known Pleistocene cave localities in
northeastern Tennessee are now being reinvestigated. The picture to
the left is an example of one of these sites. The photo shows a
phalanx in hand and two teeth on the cave floor. These belong to the
extinct flat-headed peccary Platygonus compressus. To learn
more about this species
click here. |
| |
|
| Several new sites have recently
been found in northeastern Tennessee. This picture shows snake
vertebrae, as well as rodent and frog remains. This important new
locality is also producing extinct Pleistocene megafauna (such as tapir). |
 |
| |
|
|
|
These tracks from a Tennessee cave are thought to
belong to Platygonus compressus, a species that used caves
extensively. |
|
|
| Another recent discovery
occurred in the far reaches of a northeastern Tennessee cave where an old
entrance is now sealed. This site is producing a boreal fauna (things
that live much farther north today) as well as extinct taxa such as a large
form of armadillo. The picture to the right shows an osteoderm from
this species (osteoderms make up the "shell" of the animal). |
 |
| |
|
|
|
Finally, another cave in Tennessee recently
revealed some of the most extensive trackways and claw marks known in North
America. Most of the tracks are from black bears and peccaries and the
claw marks are from black bears (shown in picture). Such trace fossils
are rare, highly informative, and extremely fragile. Conservation
efforts are now in progress to preserve these delicate "stories" in the
clay.
Photo by Steve Wallace, 2005 |