Biodiversity response to climate change in the middle Pleistocene : the Porcupine Cave fauna from Colorado / edited by Anthony D. Barnosky.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Barnosky, Anthony D.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vertebrates, Fossil--Colorado--Park County.

Vertebrates, Fossil.

Paleontology--Pleistocene.

Paleontology.

Paleoecology--Colorado--Park County.

Paleoecology.

Paleoecology--Pleistocene.

Biodiversity--Climatic factors--Colorado--Park County--History.

Biodiversity.

Animals, Fossil--Colorado--Park County.

Animals, Fossil.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (409 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Porcupine Cave fauna from Colorado

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book chronicles the discovery and analysis of animal fossils found in one of the most important paleontological sites in the world-Porcupine Cave, located at an elevation of 9,500 feet in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. With tens of thousands of identified specimens, this site has become the key source of information on the fauna of North America's higher elevations between approximately 1 million and 600,000 years ago, a period that saw the advance and retreat of glaciers numerous times. Until now, little has been understood about how this dramatic climate change affected life during the middle Pleistocene. In addition to presenting state-of-the-art data from Porcupine Cave, this study also presents groundbreaking analysis on what the data from the site show about the evolutionary and ecological adjustments that occurred in this period, shedding light on how one of the world's most pressing environmental concerns-global climate change-can influence life on earth.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter Appendixes

Figures

Tables

Abbreviations and Definitions

One. Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Health: The Past as a Key to the Future

Two. The Pleistocene Fossils of Porcupine Cave, Colorado: Spatial Distribution and Taphonomic Overview

Three. The Modern Environment, Flora, and Vegetation of South Park, Colorado

Four. The Historical Context of Porcupine Cave: American Indians, Spaniards, Government Surveyors, Prospectors, Ranchers, Cavers, and Paleontologists in South Park, Colorado

Five. The Geology and Speleogenesis of Porcupine Cave

Six. Magnetostratigraphic Constraints on the Age of Pleistocene Fossiliferous Strata in Porcupine Cave's DMNH Velvet Room Excavation

Seven. Age and Correlation of Key Fossil Sites in Porcupine Cave

Eight. Biology of Wood Rats as Cave Dwellers and Collectors

Nine. Paleopathology and Taphonomic Modification of Mammalian Bones from Porcupine Cave

Ten. A Summary of Fossilized Species in Porcupine Cave

Eleven. Synopsis of the Herpetofauna from Porcupine Cave

Twelve. The Early and Middle Pleistocene Avifauna from Porcupine Cave

Thirteen. The Carnivora from Porcupine Cave

Fourteen. Middle Pleistocene (Irvingtonian) Ochotona (Lagomorpha: Ochotonidae) from Porcupine Cave

Fifteen. Leporidae of the DMNH Velvet Room Excavations and Mark's Sink

Sixteen. Identification of Miscellaneous Mammals from the Pit Locality: Including Soricidae, Leporidae, Geomyoidea

Seventeen. Systematics and Faunal Dynamics of Fossil Squirrels from Porcupine Cave

Eighteen. Fossil Wood Rats of Porcupine Cave: Tectonic or Climatic Controls?

Nineteen. Arvicoline Rodents from Porcupine Cave: Identification, Spatial Distribution, Taxonomic Assemblages, and Biochronologic Significance

Twenty. Pliocene and Pleistocene Horses from Porcupine Cave

Twenty-One. Pleistocene (Irvingtonian) Artiodactyla from Porcupine Cave

Twenty-Two. Irvingtonian Mammals from the Badger Room in Porcupine Cave: Age, Taphonomy, Climate, and Ecology

Twenty-Three. Faunal Dynamics of Small Mammals through the Pit Sequence

Twenty-Four. Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis of Marmot Cheek Teeth from the Pit Locality

Twenty-Five. Assessing the Effect of Middle Pleistocene Climate Change on Marmota Populations from the Pit Locality

Twenty-Six. Effect of Climate Change on Terrestrial Vertebrate Biodiversity

Literature Cited

Contributors

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 347-370) and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9786612759284

9781282759282

1282759280

9780520930858

0520930851

9781597344968

1597344966

OCLC:

614634907