By Anthony D. Barnosky
This ebook chronicles the invention and research of animal fossils present in probably the most very important paleontological websites within the world-Porcupine Cave, positioned at an elevation of 9,500 ft within the Colorado Rocky Mountains. With tens of hundreds of thousands of pointed out specimens, this web site has develop into the foremost resource of knowledge at the fauna of North America's better elevations among nearly 1 million and 600,000 years in the past, a interval that observed the development and retreat of glaciers a variety of occasions. earlier, little has been understood approximately how this dramatic weather swap affected lifestyles in the course of the heart Pleistocene. as well as offering cutting-edge facts from Porcupine Cave, this learn additionally provides groundbreaking research on what the information from the location convey concerning the evolutionary and ecological changes that happened during this interval, laying off gentle on how one of many world's such a lot urgent environmental concerns-global weather change-can impact existence on the earth. Illustrations: fifty eight b/w images, seventy six line illustrations, fifty seven tables
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This e-book chronicles the invention and research of animal fossils present in the most very important paleontological websites within the world-Porcupine Cave, situated at an elevation of 9,500 toes within the Colorado Rocky Mountains. With tens of millions of pointed out specimens, this website has develop into the most important resource of knowledge at the fauna of North America's greater elevations among nearly 1 million and 600,000 years in the past, a interval that observed the development and retreat of glaciers various occasions.
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Additional info for Biodiversity Response to Climate Change in the Middle Pleistocene: The Porcupine Cave Fauna from Colorado
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1). South Park does not experience long periods of extreme cold temperatures because polar air masses rarely reach Colorado’s interior basins. In addition, the lack of a continuous snow cover allows the ground surface to heat up, preventing the most extreme cold temperatures from developing. Instead cold air masses and cold air drainage onto the floor of South Park combine to produce its extreme cold temperatures. Temperature inversions are dispersed by frequent strong westerly winds. Extreme temperatures rarely persist for more than a few days.
Hundreds of thousands of vertebrate fossils have been recovered from Porcupine Cave, with identifiable, curated specimens numbering in the thousands from such single localities as the Pit and Velvet Room (DMNH 644). Why were so many bones preserved? Accumulation of Bones At least three vectors of bone accumulation seemed to have been active when the cave was open in the early and middle Pleistocene. , 1990). 2 View of landscape around the cave entrance as of 1986. The view is looking east, with Black Mountain in the distance.
The floor of South Park is most likely treeless owing to summer soil drought, much as it is in central Asia, including Mongolia, northern China, and eastern and southern Siberia. Although Fairbanks is in an area of discontinuous permafrost, it is unlikely that permafrost exists in more than a few patches in the highest-elevation cirques and talus slopes surrounding South Park. South Park’s semiarid climate is similar to that of both Fairbanks and the Khamar-Daban Mountains. 1 Weather Data from the Antero Reservoir Station in South Park, Compared with Data from Fairbanks, Alaska, the Colorado Front Range, and the Khamar-Daban Mountains of Southern Siberia Antero Reservoir Elevation (m) Mean daily temperature (ºC) January July Mean annual temperature (ºC) Mean annual precipitation (mm) aData Fairbanks Front Rangea Khamar- Dabanb 2740 50 3109 730 –16 14 2 258 –24 15 –3 290 — 12 0 1050 –24 18 –2 280 from the INSTAAR C1 station; Elliott-Fisk (1988).