Despite high taxonomic diversity elsewhere in North America during the Pleistocene, vertebrate faunas are exceedingly rare in the region of northern Mexico. Térapa, a unique fossil site located in the present-day desert of Northcentral Sonora, Mexico (29°41́N, 109°39́W, 605. m elevation), contributes to our understanding of the paleoecology and paleoclimate of the region during the Late Pleistocene, ca. 43,000-40,000. cal.yr BP. At least 60 vertebrate taxa, including amphibians, turtles, a crocodilian, snakes, birds and many mammals, have been recovered from an 11-m thick sequence of fossiliferous sediments. The diversity and tropical affinity of these taxa suggest a more-forested environment than the thornscrub desert habitat present in this region today.Isotopic analyses of tooth enamel carbonate from ancient mammalian herbivores suggest that the Sonoran desert has undergone considerable climate change since the Late Pleistocene. Bulk carbon (́13C) and oxygen (́18O) isotopes from nine mammalian fossils indicate a habitat mosaic with variations in diet that include browsers, mixed feeders and C4 hyper-grazers (́13C range of -10‰ to 2‰). Unique to this site are 13C tooth enamel values of -6.1 and -5.6 ‰ for the deer Odocoileus, which suggest a more variable diet than strict browsing, including possibly feeding on CAM and/or C4 plants. Serial sampling of carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopes for ancient mammal teeth with hypsodont dentitions (fossil Equus and Bison,) as well as δ18O meteroric water estimates from well-supported climatic models suggest a cooler and more equable environment at Térapa during the Late Pleistocene. These results also support previous habitat reconstructions inferred from the macrobotanical and packrat midden records of northern Sonora (Mexico). High-resolution stable isotope geochemistry indicates that: 1) ancient Térapa was covered with forest and grassland habitats that extended northward into Mexico by about 350km relative to their present-day northern limits during the Late Pleistocene; and 2) an Amount Effect (AE) is demonstrated in the fossil record at Térapa even though the climate was less seasonal compared to the modern desert habitat.

Makapansgat Limeworks Cave is a well-known Australopithecus africanus bearing locality that has spawned a considerable amount of paleoecological research because of its hominin component. Most recently, the paleoecology of this Plio-Pleistocene site has been studied by determining the diet and habitat of other extinct taxa, particularly the bovids. The diets of seven bovids (Aepyceros sp., Gazella vanhoepeni, Makapania broomi, Parmularius braini, Redunca darti, Tragelaphus sp. aff. T. angasii, and Tragelaphus pricei) have now been classified using taxonomic uniformitarianism, ecomorphology, stable carbon isotopes, and mesowear analysis. Here, dental microwear is applied to the same bovids for additional comparison and to further elucidate the strengths and weaknesses of each method. The different dietary proxy methods noted provide a temporal continuum, with genetic signals such as ecomorphology and taxonomic uniformitarianism indicating behavioral adaptations over geologic time, while nongenetic data such as stable carbon isotopes and mesowear reflect different aspects of average diet over extended portions of an animal's life, and dental microwear provides dietary snapshots. Microwear separated an extant baseline of ten bovid species into expected dietary categories and the Makapansgat bovids clearly fell into two groups with the same degree of separation as between extant grazers and browsers. The results indicate that a multidisciplinary approach produces a more accurate and robust reconstruction of past diets. In sum, the microwear analysis is in-line with the isotope and mesowear results, which suggest a stronger browsing component than either taxonomic uniformitarianism or ecomorphology imply.

The late Pleistocene faunal assemblage from Bat Cave, central Ozarks, Missouri provides an opportunity to assess specific aspects of behavior, ecology, and ontogeny of the Rancholabrean species Platygonus compressus. All identifiable elements referable to this taxon were catalogued and examined, and a minimum number of individuals of 73 was determined for the sample. Evidence of seasonal behavioral patterns are reported for the first time in a fossil peccary. Maturation of individuals was assessed using the tooth eruption sequence and occlusal wear patterns for all tooth-bearing mandibular elements and isolated lower dentition. Approximate ages were established through comparison with the extant collared peccary. The presence of distinct, developmentally non-overlapping age groups suggests that P. compressus was seasonally present at the Bat Cave locality, with the cave functioning as seasonal shelter in which individuals would occasionally die. The study also suggests the peccaries engaged in synchronous, seasonal breeding behaviors. Demographic assessment of the Bat Cave peccary population suggests that younger individuals formed the bulk of the population at a given time with progressively older individuals becoming scarcer until the age of about 10 years, which matches the typical demographic patterns and life expectancy of extant peccaries.

The Quaternary geologic history of Lake Thatcher, southeastern Idaho, is pivotal in determining when the Bear River carved its through-flowing channel into the Bonneville Basin. Bright's reconstruction of the history of Lake Thatcher was based on 14C dates that are now known to be inaccurate. Lava Creek B ash found interbedded with lacustrine sediment suggests that Thatcher Basin contained a lake well before Bright's original estimate of 34 ka. D/L ratios, which measure the extent of racemization in fossil gastropods, in conjunction with paleosols and tephra, were used to correlate between four localities across Thatcher Basin to reassess lake-level chronology. Lab-heating experiments were performed on four genera of molluscs to obtain integeneric conversions of D/L, which aided in chronostratigraphic correlation between beds that contained different genera. An age calibration curve for Lymnaea was developed using D/L ratios associated with the proto Mount St. Helens tephra (90±30 ka; D/L=0.21 [Valvata]) and Lake Bonneville sediment (20±5 ka; D/L=0.09 [lymnaea]). D/L ratios from non-dated lake deposits were assigned ages using this calibration curve, providing the basis for the late-Pleistocene Lake Thatcher chronology. Based on high D/L ratios in Valvata (~0.7) contained in the lower Thatcher sediment, lake level through early-middle Pleistocene was shallow, evidenced by numerous paleosols and organic-rich beds. A gap in the Lake Thatcher stratigraphic record exists for much of the middle Pleistocene. Lake Thatcher existed at its highest elevation from ~110 until ~80 ka, separated from the final Lake Thatcher high-water episode at ~40 ka by a middle-Wisconsin soil. This provides a maximum age on the breaching of the divide at Oneida Narrows and unimpeded flow of the Bear River into Bonneville Basin. By ~17 ka, Lake Bonneville backed up into Thatcher Basin, during its all-time highstand, which Bright believed was owned in part to the added inflow of the Bear River. However, evidence from this study suggests that the Bear River may have been spilling over the divide at Oneida Narrows into Bonneville Basin at ~110 ka.

New glacial mapping and 35 cosmogenic 36Cl surface exposure ages, the first ever reported from Alaska , constrain the extent and timing of late Pleistocene glacial fluctuations in the western Ahklun Mountain s, southwe stern Alaska. Morphometric and soil relativeage data characterize two main drift units deposited during the Arolik Lake and Klak Creek glaciations , named herein. During the Arolik Lake glaciation (early Wisconsin), outlet glaciers emanated from an ice cap over the central portion of the Ahklun Mountains and deposited moraines at or beyond the modern coast. These moraines have slope angles averaging about 11° and crests averaging about 35 m wide . Four moraine boulders deposited during this glaciation have a weighted mean surface exposure age of 53.6 ± 2.0 36Cl ka. During the Klak Creek glaciation (late Wisconsin), ice-cap outlet glaciers deposited moraines 20-80 km up-valley from Arolik Lake moraines. Valley glaciers expanded from high massifs that fringe the major river valleys in the western Ahklun Mountains and terminated independently from the relatively restricted ice-cap outlet glaciers. Moraines deposited during the Klak Creek glaciation have steeper slopes (mean = -18°) and sharper crests (mean= about 17 m) than do Arolik Lake moraines. Twenty-eight 36Cl ages were obtained from six Klak Creek moraines from three valleys and reveal two phases of glaciation during the late Wisconsin, one from about 25 to 23 36Cl ka, and another from 19 to 15 36Cl ka. An ice-cap outlet glacier moraine underlies a valley glacier terminal moraine, both of which have ages of 18-19 36Cl ka, and indicates that the ice-cap outlet glacier had retreated from its maximum position shortly before the valley glacier reached its maximum position. Equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) for reconstructed Klak Creek valley glaciers average about 400 m, which is only about 200 m below the estimated modem altitude. The restricted extent of Klak Creek glaciers might reflect a lack of available moisture as sea ice covered the Bering Sea during the peak of the last global glacial maximum. When compared to the marine oxygen-isotope record, the timing of glacier advances in the western Ahklun Mountains indicates that glaciers responded to both regional and global climate changes.

No description available.

In this study, three new reports of large felids from the Pleistocene are presented and discussed. A single partial left dentary from Jawbone Cave represents the first confirmed presence of S. fatalis in east Tennessee and was sampled for radiocarbon dating. Wind Tunnel and Chilly Bowl Cave are among the first records of P. onca to be identified confidently from Arkansas. Chilly Bowl Cave also produced two trackways attributable to Panthera sp., one set potentially belonging to P. atrox. In addition to the description of these remains and the caves they were found in, taxonomic histories for both S. fatalis and P. onca are explored to explain the choice of name used for each felid. Regional reviews of material of each taxon are also presented.

No / The environmental contexts of the karstic hominin sites in South Africa have been established largely by means of faunal associations; taken together these data suggest a trend from relatively closed and more mesic to open, drier environments from about 3 to 1.5 Ma. Vrba argued for a major shift within this trend ca. 2.4¿2.6 Ma, an influential proposal that posited links between bovid (and hominin) radiation in Africa and the intensification of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation. Yet faunal approaches often rely on habitat and feeding preferences of modern taxa that may differ from those of their extinct predecessors. Here we explore ways of extending 13C/12C data from fossil mammals beyond denoting ¿presence¿ or ¿absence¿ of C4 grasses using the evolution of open environments in South Africa as a case study. To do so we calculated the relative proportions of C3-, mixed-, and C4-feeding herbivores for all the hominin sites for which we have sufficient data based on 13C/12C analyses of fossil tooth enamel. The results confirm a general trend towards more open environments since 3 Ma, but they also emphasize a marked change to open grassy habitats in the latest Pliocene/early Pleistocene. Mean 13C/12C for large felids also mirrored this trend.

The small number and diffuse distribution of sites with intact Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene occupations in the Southeastern United States consequently makes examining Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene settlement patterning in the region difficult (Goodyear 1999). The Hester Site (22MO569), located in northeastern Mississippi, contains intact Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene deposits that can potentially afford archaeologists with a better understanding of late Pleistocene/early Holocene settlement in the region (Brookes 1979; Goodyear 1999:463-465). Investigations at Hester by Brookes (1979) revealed a stratified site containing artifacts that represented the late Paleoindian through Woodland periods in the Southeastern United States. Burris (2006) developed an alternative typology by re-analyzing the Hester biface assemblage, which demonstrated four discrete occupations at the Hester site. I use formation theory to evaluate the degree to which post-depositional processes have impacted the deposits at the Hester site. I have determined that the Hester site has not been significantly altered by post-depositional processes.

<p> The stratigraphy of the Pleistocene sediments of the Credit Valley of Ontario embraces two large fining-upwards sequences which correspond to the deposition of glacial debris during the retreat of the last two glacial periods in south central Ontario. The fining-upwards sequences have a basal gravel unit, a middle cross-stratified sand unit, and an upper unit containing small coarsening-upward sequences. All three of these sedimentary units are the result of deposition of sediment in a braided fluvial system. The basal gravel unit displays mid-channel gravel bars and side channel deposits. The cross-bedded sand unit exhibits incised bed-form deposits such as linguoid bars, dunes and ripples. The upper unit of coarsening-upwards sequences (which in places are interbedded with the cross-stratified sand facies) represents the deposits of bank overflow and consequent reactivation of unused channels on the braided river floodplain.</p> <p> During the Halton and Wentworth ice advances, till was deposited on the surrounding plain. With retreat of the ice masses, meltwater and outwash debris built up an alluvial plain in the lower and wider reaches of the Credit Valley near Glen Williams. These alluvial plains or sandurs were built up by deposition from braided streams. Outwash from the Halton Ice built a sandur plain on top of one constructed in Wentworth time. Post glacial drainage has incised these glaciofluvial deposits and leaves them exposed along the banks of the present Credit River. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)