Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T04:57:51.877Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Shasta Ground Sloth (Nothrotheriops shastense Hoffstetter) at Shelter Cave, New Mexico: Environment, Diet, and Extinction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert S. Thompson ,
Thomas R. Van Devender ,
Paul S. Martin ,
Theresa Foppe  and
Austin Long
Robert S. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Thomas R. Van Devender
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Paul S. Martin
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Theresa Foppe
Affiliation:
Composition Analysis Laboratory, 225 Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 USA
Austin Long
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Seven coprolites of the extinct Shasta ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastense) were recently discovered in the Los Angeles County Museum collection from Shelter Cave, New Mexico. Three dung balls provided radiocarbon ages of 11,330, 12,330 and 12,430 yr B.P. Packrat (Neotoma) middens disclose a xeric juniper woodland at Shelter Cave during the sloth's occupation. Plant cuticles from the dung indicate that the ground sloth had a diet dominated by mormon tea (Ephedra) and other xerophytic shrubs. Pollen spectra from the coprolites have high representations of anemophilous plants and low representations of the dietary items shown in the cuticle analysis.

Fifteen radiocarbon dates of sloth dung obtained since 1974 strengthen the hypothesis that sloth extinction occurred about 11,000 yr B.P. Paleoenvironmental studies indicate that ground sloths lived in juniper woodlands and montane conifer communities. Nothrotheriops commonly dined on shrubs that are still present in these habitats. It is difficult to explain the demise of the Shasta ground sloth by climatic change or dietary stress. Human predation remains as a possible explanation; ground sloth extinction appears to coincide with the time of Clovis mammoth hunters.

Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , November 1980 , pp. 360 - 376
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Axelrod, D. Quaternary extinctions of large mammals. University of California Publ. Geol. Science 74 1967 1 42 Google Scholar
Beetle, A.A. A study of sagebrush; the section Tridentatae of Artemisia . University of Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 368 1960 1 83 Google Scholar
Brattstrom, B.H. Amphibians and reptiles from cave deposits in south-central New Mexico. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 63 2 1964 93 103 Google Scholar
Bryan, W.A. The recent bone-cavern find at Bishop's Cap, New Mexico. Science 70 1929 39 41 Google Scholar
Conkling, R.P. Conkling Cavern: the discoveries in the bone cave at Bishop's Cap, New Mexico. West Texas Hist. Science Society Bulletin 44 1932 7 19 Google Scholar
Correll, D.S. Johnston, M.C. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas 1970 Tex. Res. Fdn Renner, Texas 1881 Google Scholar
Davis, L. Bishop Cap Cave Agogino, G. Transactions of the Fifth Regional Archaeological Symposium for Southeastern New Mexico and Western Texas 1969 El Llano Archaeological Society Portales, New Mexico 35 43 Google Scholar
Eames, A.J. Report on ground sloth coprolite from Do na Ana Co., New Mexico. American Journal of Science 20 1930 353 356 Google Scholar
Fosberg, F.R. Plant remains in Shelter Cave, New Mexico. Bulletin of the Southern Academy of Science 35 1936 154 155 Google Scholar
Hansen, R.M. Shasta ground sloth food habits, Rampart Cave, Arizona. Paleobiology 4 1978 302 319 Google Scholar
Hansen, R.M. Martin, P.S. Ungulate diets in the lower Grand Canyon. Journal of Range Management 26 1973 380 381 Google Scholar
Harris, A.H. The Dry Cave mammalian fauna and the late pluvial conditions in southeastern New Mexico. Texas Journal of Science 22 1970 3 27 Google Scholar
Harris, A.H. Wisconsin age environments in the northern Chihuahuan Desert: Evidence from higher vertebrates Wauer, R.H. Riskind, D.H. Transactions of the Symposium on the biological resources of the Chihuahuan Desert region, U.S. and Mexico 1977 Nat. Park Serv Washington, D.C 23 52 Google Scholar
Haynes, C.V. The Clovis Culture. Paper presented to the Burg Wartenstein Symposium No. 81, Paleoecology of the Arctic Steppe-Mammoth Biome 1979 Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research New York Google Scholar
Hibbard, C.W. Pliocene and Pleistocene climates in North America. 62nd Annual Report of Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters (1959–1960) 1960 5 30 Google Scholar
Howard, H. A new species of road-runner from Quaternary Cave deposits in New Mexico. Condor 33 1931 206 209 Google Scholar
Howard, H. Miller, A.H. Bird remains from cave deposits in New Mexico. Condor 35 1933 15 18 Google Scholar
Johnson, D.L. The California Ice-Age refugium and the Rancholabrean extinction problem. Quaternary Research 8 1977 149 153 Google Scholar
Johnson, D.L. The Late Quaternary climate of coastal California: Evidence for an Ice Age refugium. Quaternary Research 8 1977 154 179 Google Scholar
King, F.B. An evaluation of the pollen contents of coprolites as environmental indicators. Arizona Academy of Science 12 1977 47 52 Google Scholar
Kinraide, T.B. The ecological distribution of cholla cactus (Opuntia imbricata (Haw.) DC) in El Paso County, Colorado. Southwestern Naturalist 23 1 1978 117 134 Google Scholar
Laudermilk, J.D. Munz, P.A. Plants in the dung of Nothrotherium from Gypsum Cave, Nevada. Carnegie Institute Washington Publication 453 1934 31 37 Google Scholar
Laudermilk, J.D. Munz, P.A. Plants in the dung of Nothrotherium from Rampart and Muav Caves, Arizona. Carnegie Institute Washington Publication 487 1938 271 281 Google Scholar
Long, A. Hansen, R.M. Martin, P.S. Extinction of the Shasta Ground Sloth. Geological Society of America Bulletin 85 1974 1843 1848 Google Scholar
Long, A. Martin, P.S. Death of American ground sloths. Science 186 1974 638 640 Google Scholar
Long, A. Muller, A.B. Arizona radiocarbon dates X. Radiocarbon 1980 submitted Google Scholar
Martin, L.D. Neuner, A.M. The end of the Pleistocene in North America. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Science VI 1978 117 126 Google Scholar
Martin, P.S. Sabels, B.E. Shutler, D. Jr. Rampart Cave coprolite and ecology of the Shasta ground sloth. American Journal of Science 259 1961 102 107 Google Scholar
Moodie, K.B. Van Devender, T.R. Extinction and extirpation in the herpetofauna of the southern High Plains with emphasis on Geochelone wilsoni (Testudinidae). Herpetologia 35 1979 198 206 Google Scholar
Phillips, A.M. III Packrats, plants, and the Pleistocene in the lower Grand Canyon. Ph.D. dissertation 1977 Univ. Arizona Tucson 137 Google Scholar
Smartt, R.A. The ecology of Late Pleistocene and Recent Microtus from south-central and southwestern New Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist 22 1977 1 19 Google Scholar
Spaulding, W.G. Martin, P.S. Ground Sloth Dung of the Guadalupe Mountains Genoways, H.H. Baker, R.J. Biological Investigations in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas 1979 Nat. Park, Serv Washington, D.C 259 269 Google Scholar
Stock, C. Quaternary antelope remains from a second cave deposit in the Organ Mountains, New Mexico. Los Angeles City Museum Contrib. Science 2 1930 1 18 Google Scholar
Stock, C. A further study of the Quaternary antelopes of Shelter Cave, New Mexico. Los Angeles City Museum Contrib. Science 3 1932 1 45 Google Scholar
Tauber, H. Investigations of aerial pollen transport in a forested area. Dansk Botanisk Arkiv 32 1 1977 1 121 Google Scholar
Van Devender, T.R. Holocene woodlands in the southwestern deserts. Science 198 1977 189 192 Google Scholar
Van Devender, T.R. Everitt, B.L. The latest Pleistocene and Recent vegetation of the Bishop's Cap, south-central New Mexico. Southwestern Naturalist 22 1977 337 352 Google Scholar
Van Devender, T.R. Moodie, K.B. Harris, A.H. The desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizi) in the Pleistocene of the northern Chihuahuan Desert. Herpetologica 32 1976 298 304 Google Scholar
Van Devender, T.R. Riskind, D.H. Late Pleistocene and early Holocene plant remains from Hueco Tanks State Historical Park: the development of a refugium. Southwestern Naturalist 24 1979 127 140 Google Scholar
Van Devender, T.R. Spaulding, W.G. Development of vegetation and climate in the Southwestern United States. Science 204 1979 701 710 Google Scholar
Van Devender, T.R. Spaulding, W.G. Phillips, A.M. III Late Pleistocene Plant Communities in the Guadalupe Mountains, Culberson County, Texas Genoways, H.H. Baker, R.J. Biological Investigations in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas 1979 Nat. Park Serv Washington, D.C 13 30 Google Scholar
Wells, P.V. Late Pleistocene vegetation and degree of pluvial climatic change in the Chihuahuan Desert. Science 153 1966 970 975 Google Scholar
Whittaker, R.H. Niering, W.A. Vegetation of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona. IV. Limestone and acid soils. Journal of Ecology 56 1968 523 544 Google Scholar