Late Quaternary Sciuridae from Kokoweef Cave, San Bernardino County, California

Abstract

Kokoweef Cave is located at about 1770 m elevation in the Ivanpah <br /><br />Mountains, northeastern San Bernardino County, California. Fossils were re- <br /><br />covered from a 9-m-thick sedimentary sequence in the cave that may span several <br /><br />thousand years of latest Pleistocene and early Holocene time. We examined nearly <br /><br />1500 specimens of the rodent family Sciuridae. Nine taxa, including five extra- <br /><br />limitals, were identified. Dominant species (Marmota flaviventris, Spermophilus <br /><br />townsendii, S. lateralis) are extralimitals found today in the Great Basin. Overall, <br /><br />taxonomic and ecologic stability characterized the local late Quaternary sciurid <br /><br />faunal record. Significantly, extralimitals seem to persist through the Pleistocene- <br /><br />Holocene transition.