Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Preface ix
4. Acknowledgments xi
5. Chapter Appendixes xiii
6. Figures xv
7. Tables xix
8. Abbreviations and Definitions xxi
9. Part One. The Discovery and Distribution of Fossils
10. One. Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Health: The Past as a Key to the Future 3
11. Two. The Pleistocene Fossils of Porcupine Cave, Colorado: Spatial Distribution and Taphonomic Overview 6
12. Three. The Modern Environment, Flora, and Vegetation of South Park, Colorado 27
13. Four. The Historical Context of Porcupine Cave: American Indians, Spaniards, Government Surveyors, Prospectors, Ranchers, Cavers, and Paleontologists in South Park, Colorado 39
14. Five. The Geology and Speleogenesis of Porcupine Cave 51
15. Six. Magnetostratigraphic Constraints on the Age of Pleistocene Fossiliferous Strata in Porcupine Cave’s DMNH Velvet Room Excavation 57
16. Seven. Age and Correlation of Key Fossil Sites in Porcupine Cave 64
17. Eight. Biology of Wood Rats as Cave Dwellers and Collectors 74
18. Nine. Paleopathology and Taphonomic Modification of Mammalian Bones from Porcupine Cave 82
19. Part Two. Systematic Accounts of Taxa
20. Ten. A Summary of Fossilized Species in Porcupine Cave 95
21. Eleven. Synopsis of the Herpetofauna from Porcupine Cave 117
22. Twelve. The Early and Middle Pleistocene Avifauna from Porcupine Cave 127
23. Thirteen. The Carnivora from Porcupine Cave 141
24. Fourteen. Middle Pleistocene (Irvingtonian) Ochotona (Lagomorpha: Ochotonidae) from Porcupine Cave 155
25. Fifteen. Leporidae of the DMNH Velvet Room Excavations and Mark’s Sink 164
26. Sixteen. Identification of Miscellaneous Mammals from the Pit Locality: Including Soricidae, Leporidae, Geomyoidea 169
27. Seventeen. Systematics and Faunal Dynamics of Fossil Squirrels from Porcupine Cave 172
28. Eighteen. Fossil Wood Rats of Porcupine Cave: Tectonic or Climatic Controls? 193
29. Nineteen. Arvicoline Rodents from Porcupine Cave: Identification, Spatial Distribution, Taxonomic Assemblages, and Biochronologic Significance 207
30. Twenty. Pliocene and Pleistocene Horses from Porcupine Cave 264
31. Twenty-One. Pleistocene (Irvingtonian) Artiodactyla from Porcupine Cave 280
32. Part Three. Effect of Environmental Change on the Porcupine Cave Fauna
33. Twenty-Two. Irvingtonian Mammals from the Badger Room in Porcupine Cave: Age, Taphonomy, Climate, and Ecology 295
34. Twenty-Three. Faunal Dynamics of Small Mammals through the Pit Sequence 318
35. Twenty-Four. Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis of Marmot Cheek Teeth from the Pit Locality 327
36. Twenty-Five. Assessing the Effect of Middle Pleistocene Climate Change on Marmota Populations from the Pit Locality 332
37. Twenty-Six. Effect of Climate Change on Terrestrial Vertebrate Biodiversity 341
38. Literature Cited 347
39. Contributors 371
40. Index 373