Diversity and Paleoecology of the Zone 3 Late Pleistocene Vertebrates at Kincaid Shelter (41UV2), Central Texas, USA

ABSTRACT

Kincaid Shelter (Uvalde County, Texas) contains a sequence of vertebrate and cultural remains spanning from the late Pleistocene to Historic. Kincaid Shelter perhaps is best known for its Paleoindian component, including a cobblestone floor interpreted as a Clovis habitation surface. Zone 3 lacustrine sediments are beneath that cobblestone floor and yielded a diverse late Pleistocene vertebrate fauna. Recovered in 1948, the assemblage has never been formally studied or described. The current analysis focuses on the composition, paleoecology, and taphonomy of the Zone 3 faunal assemblage to establish and clarify this important late Pleistocene record. Sixteen vertebrate taxa are represented. Large mammals predominate, but reptiles, including American alligator, and a bird also occur. The presence of Bison antiquus and Panthera atrox indicate a late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean Land Mammal Age) age for the faunal assemblage. The Zone 3 faunal composition is typical of latest Pleistocene faunas from the Great Plains and supports an interpretation of a grassland biome.

KEYWORDS:

• Megafauna
• late Pleistocene
• Southern Plains
• Clovis
• Panthera atrox
• Alligator mississippiensis

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Chris Sagebiel for access to the Kincaid Shelter Collection and Ernest L. Lundelius (both of the Vertebrate Paleontology Lab, University of Texas at Austin) for his constructive comments and insights on Quaternary paleontology and paleoecology; and Marybeth Tomka and Jean Hughes (Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin) for access to the Kincaid Shelter archives and permission to use the images and maps from the Texas Memorial Museum 1948 excavation. The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and Chris Bell for their helpful comments towards improving the manuscript. This manuscript represents part of the ongoing Lubbock Lake Landmark regional research into late Quaternary climatic, ecological, and biogeographic change on the Southern Plains. We dedicate the work to Glen Evans and Grayson Meade, extraordinary Quaternary research scientists who paved the way for all of us on the Southern Plains who came later.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported internally through Lubbock Lake Landmark research accounts.

Notes on contributors

Eileen Johnson

Eileen Johnson (PhD Zoology, 1976, from Texas Tech University) is the Director of the Lubbock Lake Landmark, Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguish Professor in Museum Science, Chair of Heritage and Museum Sciences, and Senior Curator in the Museum of Texas Tech University. Her research interests include Quaternary paleontology, paleoecology, taphonomy, and Paleoindian archaeology of the grasslands of the Americas.

John A. Moretti

John A. Moretti is a Research Aide in the Lubbock Lake Landmark Quaternary Research Center and currently is a PhD candidate in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on changes in vertebrate biodiversity and biogeography during the late Neogene and Quaternary in western North America.