Paleontological investigations at Mineral Hill Cave / (original) (raw)
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Invertebrate and Vertebrate Cave Fauna Records for the Appalachian Valley and Ridge
2018
Of the >50,000 caves reported in the United States, nearly 1,140 cave-restricted animals (troglobionts) have been described. One of the most biodiverse karst areas in the United States is the area near the shared boundaries of Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia (TAG) in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge (AVR) ecoregion. Large sampling gaps in the AVR likely indicate considerable undiscovered biodiversity. From 2013 to 2016, survey teams conducted visual encounter surveys in 95 unique AVR caves, including 64 caves in eastern Tennessee, seven caves in northeastern Alabama, and 24 caves in northwestern Georgia. In Tennessee, most of the caves had never been comprehensively bioinventoried, and some counties were without records for obligate cave fauna. Our effort doubled the knowledge of troglobiont distribution in Tennessee caves alone, simply by increasing the number of caves with new troglobiont records. To date, at least 80 distinct troglobiont species have been identified from caves...
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 2024
Dr. Martin G. Lockley explored and published extensively on vertebrate ichnological resources at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (GLCA), primarily from the shores of Lake Powell in Utah and Arizona. Since 2010, a team from the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site, working in conjunction with GLCA and National Park Service paleontologists, has focused research primarily on specific vertebrate tracksites in the Lower Jurassic Glen Canyon Group, especially in the Kayenta Formation and Navajo Sandstone. In the process, several significant body fossil sites have been discovered in the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation that have produced plants, fishes, and archosaurian reptiles. Additionally, two tritylodont bonebeds have been discovered, one each in the uppermost Kayenta Formation and lower Navajo Sandstone. As recognized by Lockley, GLCA, and NPS, the paleontological resources within GLCA park boundaries are extensive, ranging from the Pennsylvanian to Late Cretaceous, and the Pleistocene. Here, we summarize the major fossil localities studied at GLCA in the last decade and also report on the first occurrences of these trace fossils from GLCA (in geologic order): cf. Psammichnites from the lower Cutler beds; cf. Oravaichnium, Scoyenia, and cf. Gwyneddichnium from the Shinarump Member of the Chinle Formation; Evazoum gatewayensis, cf. Evazoum, and Brachychirotherium from the lower Wingate Sandstone; Undichna, cf. Ameghinichnus, and cf. Rhynchosauroides from the Kayenta Formation; a large Eubrontes crouching trace with possible manus prints from the Kayenta–Navajo transition, the ninth known example worldwide and second from GLCA; and Navahopus tracks from the Navajo Sandstone. We also report on locally abundant Grallator tracks in the upper part of the Navajo Sandstone.