Ice Age Era Cave Found in Missouri–amazing fossils found
I love it when some new key to the past is found. Recently NPR talked about an Ice Age era cave discovered in Missouri.
The cave itself is interesting, but it was what was found inside that really makes the find unique. Apparently a whole host of vertebrate and invertebrate fossils have been found. Some of the finds are of turtles (the common box turtle as well as an older, unknown species believed to be ancestral to the box turtle), snakes, rodent tracks, peccary (important because previously it was believed that peccary only entered caves when they were carried in by carnivores), short-faced bear (Artcodus simus) beds and claw marks as well as impressions of the fur of the short-faced bear. More importantly, actual hair from the short-faced bear was found
Source: Afarensis: Ice Age Cave in Missouri
Finds like hair from Ice Age megafauna (the term for large animals) means that a DNA sequence might be able to be generated. This means we could learn what North American bear species are most closely related to the short-faced bear. My next question would be if human evidence was found there as well. This might help us understand early North American peoples better.
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