Salamander Cave (Pleistocene of the United States)

Also known as Horse Room

Where: Custer County, South Dakota (43.8° N, 103.1° W: paleocoordinates 43.8° N, 102.9° W)

• coordinate based on political unit

When: Irvingtonian (1.8 - 0.3 Ma)

Environment/lithology: terrestrial

Primary reference: J. I. Mead, C. Manganaro, C. A. Repenning and L. D. Agenbroad. 1996. Early Rancholabrean mammals from Salamander Cave, Black Hills, South Dakota. In K. M. Stewart, K. L. Seymour (eds.), Palaeoecology and palaeoenvironments of late Cenozoic mammals: Tributes to the career of C.S. (Rufus) Churcher 458-482 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Uhen]more details

PaleoDB collection 20503: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 19.05.2000

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• speleothem for level 3 dated at 323 +/- 64 ka (U series); bone from overlying level 2 dated at 252 +/- 30 ka (230Th); fossils are from level 2
generically identifiable NISP 103
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Sciuridae
Cynomys (Leucocrossuromys) sp. Rafinesque 1817 prairie dog
Cynomys sp. Rafinesque 1817 prairie dog
cf. Spermophilus (Spermophilus) sp. Cuvier 1825 ground squirrel
Spermophilus sp. Cuvier 1825 ground squirrel
small
 Rodentia - Geomyidae
Thomomys sp. Wied-Neuwied 1839 pocket gopher
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Neotoma sp. Say and Ord 1825 pack rat
Peromyscus sp. Gloger 1841 deer mouse
Mictomys sp. True 1894 bog lemming
"M. meltoni/kansasensis"
"Terricola meadensis" = Microtus meadensis Hibbard 1944 vole
Microtus paroperarius Hibbard 1944 vole
 Lagomorpha - Leporidae
Lepus sp. Linnaeus 1758 hare
large
Lepus cf. americanus Erxleben 1777 snowshoe hare
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Equus sp. Linnaeus 1758 horse
multiple forms
 Artiodactyla - Camelidae
Camelops sp. Leidy 1854 camel
 Artiodactyla - Antilocapridae
Antilocapra americana Ord 1815 pronghorn
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Mustela sp. Linnaeus 1758 weasel
 Carnivora - Canidae
"Canis cf. dirus" = Aenocyon dirus
"Canis cf. dirus" = Aenocyon dirus Leidy 1858 dire wolf