Post by Sharon Faulkner on Sept 26, 2006 7:56:24 GMT -5
Missouri Ice Age cave slowly revealing treasures five years on
MARCUS KABEL
Associated Press
Sep. 24, 2006
<excerpt from article>
Discovered accidentally five years ago this month on the outskirts of Springfield, Riverbluff Cave is slowly yielding its fossil treasures as a small team of scientists and volunteers gingerly explore it while trying to preserve a rich bed of remains, from bones to tracks and dung.
Remains in the cave date back at least 830,000 years and possibly over 1 million years. At some point at least 55,000 years ago, it was sealed by rocks and mud until a construction crew blasted a hole in one end while building a road on September 11, 2001.
The first major excavation is set for this fall after years of carefully surveying the 2,000-foot long cave and collecting remains from the cave floor or protruding from the limestone and clay walls.
Just based on what was on the surface, the finds so far include mammoth and horse bones and beds clawed out of the clay by the short-faced bear, possibly while denning with cubs. Peccary tracks are the first proof that herds of the pig-like animals roamed in caves rather than just being dragged in by predators.
There are tracks of large cats, possibly saber-toothed tigers or American lions. Foot-long shells of previously unknown turtle species stick out of a wall. Mammoth bones and a juvenile tooth dated around 630,000 years ago came from one of two species and it will require more adult remains, which may come from this fall's excavation, to tell which one it is.
Paleontologist Larry Agenbroad, who heads a major mammoth excavation project called The Mammoth Site in South Dakota, said the number of remains of large animals and the fact that it has been sealed like a time capsule make the cave a rarity. "This is a national paleontological treasure," Agenbroad said.
www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/15599317.htm
MARCUS KABEL
Associated Press
Sep. 24, 2006
<excerpt from article>
Discovered accidentally five years ago this month on the outskirts of Springfield, Riverbluff Cave is slowly yielding its fossil treasures as a small team of scientists and volunteers gingerly explore it while trying to preserve a rich bed of remains, from bones to tracks and dung.
Remains in the cave date back at least 830,000 years and possibly over 1 million years. At some point at least 55,000 years ago, it was sealed by rocks and mud until a construction crew blasted a hole in one end while building a road on September 11, 2001.
The first major excavation is set for this fall after years of carefully surveying the 2,000-foot long cave and collecting remains from the cave floor or protruding from the limestone and clay walls.
Just based on what was on the surface, the finds so far include mammoth and horse bones and beds clawed out of the clay by the short-faced bear, possibly while denning with cubs. Peccary tracks are the first proof that herds of the pig-like animals roamed in caves rather than just being dragged in by predators.
There are tracks of large cats, possibly saber-toothed tigers or American lions. Foot-long shells of previously unknown turtle species stick out of a wall. Mammoth bones and a juvenile tooth dated around 630,000 years ago came from one of two species and it will require more adult remains, which may come from this fall's excavation, to tell which one it is.
Paleontologist Larry Agenbroad, who heads a major mammoth excavation project called The Mammoth Site in South Dakota, said the number of remains of large animals and the fact that it has been sealed like a time capsule make the cave a rarity. "This is a national paleontological treasure," Agenbroad said.
www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/15599317.htm
