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
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
•"479 avian bones" were recovered but not identified
•Bos taurus is also listed but apparently thought to be an intrusive
unclassified | |
Claytonia | |
Claytonia sp. Linnaeus 1753 spring beauty | |
Phlox | |
Phlox sp. Linnaeus 1753 | |
Angiospermae | |
Salix sp. Linnaeus 1753 willow | |
Betula sp. Linnaeus 1753 birch | |
Dicotyledoneae | |
Polemonium sp. Linnaeus 1753 Jacob's ladder | |
Pinopsida | |
Actinopteri | |
Mammalia | |
Ovis canadensis Shaw 1804 bighorn sheep | |
Odocoileus cf. hemionus Rafinesque 1817 mule deer | |
Martes americana, Mustela erminea, Mustela nivalis, Mustela nigripes, "Mustela frenata" = Neogale frenata
Martes americana Kerr 1792 American marten
Mustela erminea Linnaeus 1758 stoat
Mustela nivalis Linnaeus 1766 least weasel
"Mustela frenata" = Neogale frenata Lichtenstein 1831 long-tailed weasel | |
Canis latrans Say 1823 coyote
Vulpes vulpes Linnaeus 1758 red fox | |
Lynx sp. Kerr 1792 lynx | |
Sorex "arcticus-group" Linnaeus 1758 long-tailed shrew
Sorex monticolus Merriam 1890 montane shrew
Sorex cinereus Kerr 1792 cinereus shrew | |
Ochotona princeps Richardson 1828 American pika | |
Lepus cf. americanus Erxleben 1777 snowshoe hare | |
Thomomys talpoides Richardson 1828 northern pocket gopher | |
"cf. Lagurus curtatus" = Lemmiscus curtatus, Neotoma cinerea, "Synaptomys borealis" = Synaptomys (Mictomys) borealis, Peromyscus maniculatus, Clethrionomys gapperi, Microtus richardsoni, Microtus cf. longicaudus, Lemmus sibiricus, Dicrostonyx torquatus, Phenacomys intermedius
"cf. Lagurus curtatus" = Lemmiscus curtatus Cope 1868 sagebrush vole
Neotoma cinerea Ord 1815 bushy-tailed woodrat
"Synaptomys borealis" = Synaptomys (Mictomys) borealis Richardson 1828 northern bog lemming
Peromyscus maniculatus Wagner 1843 deer mouse
Clethrionomys gapperi Vigors 1830 southern red-backed vole
Microtus richardsoni De Kay 1842 water vole
Microtus cf. longicaudus Merriam 1888 long-tailed vole
Lemmus sibiricus Ognev 1947 Siberian brown lemming
Dicrostonyx torquatus Pallas 1778 Arctic lemming
Phenacomys intermedius Merriam 1889 western heather vole | |
Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, "Cynomys cf. churcherii" = Cynomys niobrarius, Spermophilus columbianus, "Spermophilus lateralis" = Callospermophilus lateralis, Eutamias sp., Marmota caligata
Tamiasciurus hudsonicus Erxleben 1777 American red squirrel
"Cynomys cf. churcherii" = Cynomys niobrarius Hay 1921 prairie dog
Spermophilus columbianus Ord 1815 Columbian ground squirrel
"Spermophilus lateralis" = Callospermophilus lateralis Say 1823 golden-mantled ground squirrel
Eutamias sp. Trouessart 1880 chipmunk
Marmota caligata Eschscholtz 1829 hoary marmot |