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Papers by Christopher Gill

Journal of Big Bend Studies, 2016

Free-ranging elk, Cervus canadensis, are found today in the Trans-Pecos region of Far West Texas.... more Free-ranging elk, Cervus canadensis, are found today in the Trans-Pecos region of Far West Texas. Throughout the twentieth century and until now, most wildlife biologists believed that elk were only native to the Guadalupe Mountains of Texas and, therefore, that the current elk are exotic imports, rather than a native species and subspecies. We present eyewitness accounts and reports from 1601 to 1905 documenting the historical presence of native elk throughout Texas; archaeological discoveries of elk bones, antlers, teeth, and paleofeces that indicate the presence of elk in Texas since the Pleistocene; historical reports of elk antlers found on the ground or in archaeological excavations; and examples of prehistoric rock art depicting native elk. We also present morphological, statistical, and DNA evidence to refute the idea that there was a separate species or subspecies called Merriam’s elk that once inhabited the Guadalupe Mountains. DNA research indicates that today’s free- ranging elk in the Davis and Glass mountains are the result of the natural immigration of elk from the Lincoln National Forest of New Mexico, just north of the Texas border, to recolonize areas of their former native range in the Trans-Pecos. The evidence presented substantiates the presence of native elk throughout Texas prior
to the extirpation that occurred in the nineteenth century and demonstrates that they were not only the same species, but also the same subspecies, as the elk in and east of the Rocky Mountains today—Cervus canadensis canadensis.

Journal of Big Bend Studies, 2016

Free-ranging elk, Cervus canadensis, are found today in the Trans-Pecos region of Far West Texas.... more Free-ranging elk, Cervus canadensis, are found today in the Trans-Pecos region of Far West Texas. Throughout the twentieth century and until now, most wildlife biologists believed that elk were only native to the Guadalupe Mountains of Texas and, therefore, that the current elk are exotic imports, rather than a native species and subspecies. We present eyewitness accounts and reports from 1601 to 1905 documenting the historical presence of native elk throughout Texas; archaeological discoveries of elk bones, antlers, teeth, and paleofeces that indicate the presence of elk in Texas since the Pleistocene; historical reports of elk antlers found on the ground or in archaeological excavations; and examples of prehistoric rock art depicting native elk. We also present morphological, statistical, and DNA evidence to refute the idea that there was a separate species or subspecies called Merriam’s elk that once inhabited the Guadalupe Mountains. DNA research indicates that today’s free- ranging elk in the Davis and Glass mountains are the result of the natural immigration of elk from the Lincoln National Forest of New Mexico, just north of the Texas border, to recolonize areas of their former native range in the Trans-Pecos. The evidence presented substantiates the presence of native elk throughout Texas prior
to the extirpation that occurred in the nineteenth century and demonstrates that they were not only the same species, but also the same subspecies, as the elk in and east of the Rocky Mountains today—Cervus canadensis canadensis.