Friesenhahn Cave (Pleistocene of the United States)

Also known as Bulverde Cave, Friesenhan, TMM 30733

Where: Bexar County, Texas (29.0° N, 98.5° W: paleocoordinates 29.0° N, 98.5° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Late/Upper Pleistocene (0.1 - 0.0 Ma)

• "More than 90 percent of all the fossil material found in place came from... Zone 3 where it was the most abundant element of the fauna... Fossil material... was also abundant in Zone 4, the channel fill. This material, however, was largely or entirely reworked from the underlying Zones 2 and 3, and was generally in broken condition... the deposit should be referred to one or more stages of the Wisconsin in the late Pleistocene"

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: cave; carbonaceous claystone

• "Zone 3 consists of banded clays ranging in color from deep blue-gray near the central part of the cave to mottled reddish brown near the walls. Characteristic of this zone are broad, dark bands of carbonaceous material which extend through its entire thickness"

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collected by W. Strain in 1936, 1949, 1951; reposited in the TMM

Collection methods: surface (in situ),

Primary reference: O. P. Hay. 1920. Descriptions of some Pleistocene vertebrates found in the United States. Proceedings of The United States National Museum 58:83-146 [M. Uhen/M. Shalap/J. Marcot]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 79632: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 16.03.2008, edited by Evangelos Vlachos and Matthew Carrano

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• new TMM material, not the same as older material described by Hay (1921) and others
Mammalia
 Proboscidea - Mammutidae
Mammut americanum3 Kerr 1792 American mastodon
"Mammut americana"
 Proboscidea - Elephantidae
"Parelephas columbi" = Mammuthus columbi6
"Parelephas columbi" = Mammuthus columbi6 Falconer 1857 Columbian mammoth
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
Bison sp.3 Hamilton-Smith 1827 bison
 Artiodactyla - Tayassuidae
Mylohyus nasutus5 Leidy 1868 peccary
see Lundelius 1960
 Carnivora - Felidae
"Dinobastis serus" = Homotherium latidens6
"Dinobastis serus" = Homotherium latidens6 Owen 1846 scimitar toothed cat
 Carnivora - Mephitidae
Mephitis sp.6 Cuvier 1800 skunk
 Carnivora - Canidae
Aenocyon sp.3 Merriam 1918 canine
 Lagomorpha - Leporidae
Sylvilagus floridanus4 Allen 1890 eastern cottontail
see Pettus 1956
Sylvilagus audubonii4 Baird 1858 desert cottontail
"Sylvilagus auduboni"
Lepus californicus4 Gray 1837 black-tailed jackrabbit
see Pettus 1956
 Rodentia - Heteromyidae
"Perognathus hispidus" = Chaetodipus hispidus2
"Perognathus hispidus" = Chaetodipus hispidus2 Baird 1858 hispid pocket mouse
see Kennerly 1956
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Peromyscus gossypinus1 Le Conte 1853 cotton mouse
Peromyscus cf. eremicus1 Baird 1858 deer mouse
Peromyscus leucopus2 Rafinesque 1818 white-footed mouse
see Tamsitt 1957; confirmed by Martin 1968
Peromyscus maniculatus2 Wagner 1843 deer mouse
see Tamsitt 1957; confirmed by Martin 1968
Peromyscus cf. boylii1 Baird 1855 brush mouse
see Tamsitt 1957
Reptilia
 Squamata - Colubridae
Pituophis melanoleucus2 Daudin 1803 pine snake
 Squamata - Crotalidae
Crotalus atrox2 Baird and Girard 1853 rattlesnake
 Squamata - Iguanidae
Crotaphytus collaris2 Say 1823 Collared lizard
 Testudines - Emydidae
Terrapene bulverda n. sp. Hay 1920 box turtle
USNM 9221 (holotype), posterior portions of a carapace (Hay 1921, fig. 4)
Terrapene carolina1 Linnaeus 1758 common box turtle
 Testudines - Testudinidae
"Testudo (Hesperotestudo) wilsoni" = Geochelone (Hesperotestudo) wilsoni3
"Testudo (Hesperotestudo) wilsoni" = Geochelone (Hesperotestudo) wilsoni3 Milstead 1956 turtle
Amphibia
 Salientia - Eleutherodactylidae
 Salientia - Pelobatidae
Scaphiopus sp.2 Holbrook 1836 spadefoot toad
 Salientia - Ranidae
Rana sp.2 Linnaeus 1758 frog
large
Rana pipiens2 Schreber 1782 Northern leopard frog
 Salientia - Bufonidae
Bufo woodhousei2 Girard 1854 Woodhouse's toad
"Bufo woodhousei bexarensis" type