January Cave (Pleistocene of Canada)

Where: Alberta, Canada (50.2° N, 114.5° W: paleocoordinates 50.2° N, 114.5° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• small collection-level geographic resolution

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

• "Bedrock lies 1.00 to 1.95 m below the surface... Excavation proceeded by arbitrary 10-cm levels"

•"four thermoluminescene (TL) dates were obtained from single dental elements" but are rejected as "stratigraphically inconsistent or too variable, but, more importantly... not collected specifically for TL dating"; instead, there are "conventional 14C dates" of "23,100 +/- 860 yr B.P." for "the lowest levels (13-16 combined)" and "31,900 +/- 1400" for "levels 14-15" and "33,500 +/- 1100" for "level 7," all on bone collagen, so the entire deposit is considered to be from "the latter part of the mid-Wisconsinan interstade"

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: cave; lithology not reported

• "shattered limestone fragments in a fine-grained matrix, with grain sizes from cobbles to clays, all overlain by 10-15 cm of recent organic debris... Coarser fractions are due to frost-heave and concussion by falling blocks; the fines are a combination of loess and sediments introduced by water through the fissured bedrock"

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils, microfossils

Preservation: coprolite

Collected by T. Habgood, M. McEachern, J. A. Burns in 1969, 1970, 1974 - 1977

Collection methods: bulk, quarrying, sieve,

• Provincial Museum of Alberta collection

•initial collection was by Habgood and McEachern ("pit A-1"), later collection was by Burns ("pits NE, NE-Ext, SE")

•"Initial wet-sieving [was] in screened boxes having a 1/16th inch (1.6 mm) mesh... Subsequent washing [was] through a kitchen sieve"

Primary reference: J. A. Burns. 1991. Mid-Wisconsinan vertebrates and their environment from January Cave, Alberta, Canada. Quaternary Research 35(1):130-143 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: paleoecologic analysis

PaleoDB collection 93528: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 20.01.2010

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• faunal abundance data for the three new test pits are broken down by excavation layer in a table, but not for the initial pit; there is no distinct bedding; the specimen counts "revealed no trends" through the sections and demonstrated "faunal homogeneity"; and there was an "absence of pollen zonation"; so, I have entered only a single list for the entire collection

•"479 avian bones" were recovered but not identified

•Bos taurus is also listed but apparently thought to be an intrusive

unclassified
  -
Angiospermae
 Malpighiales - Salicaceae
Salix sp. Linnaeus 1753 willow
 Fagales - Betulaceae
Betula sp. Linnaeus 1753 birch
Dicotyledoneae
 Ericales - Polemoniaceae
Polemonium sp. Linnaeus 1753 Jacob's ladder
Pinopsida
 Pinales - Pinaceae
Pinus sp. Linnaeus 1753 pine
Abies sp. Miller 1754 fir
Picea sp. Dietrich 1824 spruce
Demospongiae
 Tetralithistida - Plinthosellidae
Claytonia sp. Finks et al. 2011 demosponge
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Sciuridae
Eutamias sp. Trouessart 1880 chipmunk
Marmota caligata Eschscholtz 1829 hoary marmot
"Cynomys cf. churcherii" = Cynomys niobrarius Hay 1921 prairie dog
"Spermophilus lateralis" = Callospermophilus lateralis Say 1823 golden-mantled ground squirrel
Spermophilus columbianus Ord 1815 Columbian ground squirrel
Tamiasciurus hudsonicus Erxleben 1777 American red squirrel
 Rodentia - Geomyidae
Thomomys talpoides Richardson 1828 northern pocket gopher
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Neotoma cinerea Ord 1815 bushy-tailed woodrat
"cf. Lagurus curtatus" = Lemmiscus curtatus Cope 1868 sagebrush vole
Peromyscus maniculatus Wagner 1843 deer mouse
"Synaptomys borealis" = Synaptomys (Mictomys) borealis Richardson 1828 northern bog lemming
Phenacomys intermedius Merriam 1889 western heather vole
Microtus cf. longicaudus Merriam 1888 long-tailed vole
Microtus richardsoni De Kay 1842 water vole
Clethrionomys gapperi Vigors 1830 southern red-backed vole
Dicrostonyx torquatus Pallas 1778 Arctic lemming
Lemmus sibiricus Ognev 1947 Siberian brown lemming
 Lagomorpha - Leporidae
Lepus cf. americanus Erxleben 1777 snowshoe hare
 Lagomorpha - Ochotonidae
Ochotona princeps Richardson 1828 American pika
 Theriamorpha - Soricidae
Sorex "arcticus-group" Linnaeus 1758 long-tailed shrew
Sorex hoyi Baird 1858 American pygmy shrew
S. sp. is also listed
Sorex cinereus Kerr 1792 cinereus shrew
Sorex monticolus Merriam 1890 montane shrew
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
Odocoileus cf. hemionus Rafinesque 1817 mule deer
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
Ovis canadensis Shaw 1804 bighorn sheep
 Carnivora - Felidae
Lynx sp. Kerr 1792 lynx
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Martes americana Kerr 1792 American marten
"Mustela frenata" = Neogale frenata Lichtenstein 1831 long-tailed weasel
Mustela nivalis Linnaeus 1766 least weasel
Mustela erminea Linnaeus 1758 stoat
Mustela nigripes Audubon and Bachman 1851 black-footed ferret
M. sp. is also listed
 Carnivora - Canidae
Canis latrans Say 1823 coyote
Vulpes velox Say 1823 swift fox
V. sp. is also listed
Vulpes vulpes Linnaeus 1758 red fox
Actinopteri
 Salmoniformes -