436 W. F. BLAIR 



Vertebrate Fossils 



Pleistocene fossils from the coastal plain itself are few, except in 

 Florida, which is postulated as a glacial-stage refuge. Records from 

 other areas, however, are strongly indicative of major southward 

 shifts of climatic zones. The evidence comes from individual species 

 with northern distributions today and from relatively large faunal 

 assemblages with similar distributions. 



Southernmost records of the Pleistocene muskox Symbos (Hay, 

 1923, 1924) lie far south of the present distribution of the living 

 genus Ovibos (Fig. 1). These records show that this muskox ranged 

 at least as far south as LeFlore County, Oklahoma, and Natchez, 

 Mississippi. If it is assumed that Symbos even approached Ovibos in 

 its ecological requirements, and it is plausible to do so, these records 

 indicate much colder conditions than those of the present. The 

 Oklahoma and Mississippi records are far south of the glacial border 

 at the time of maximum advances. 



The walrus (Odobenus) is known from several Pleistocene fossils 

 collected in the vicinity of Charleston, South Carolina (Hay, 1923), 

 but in historic times it has occurred only as far south as Maine 

 (Allen, 1930). 



The moose (Alces) is known from the Pleistocene as far south as 

 Charleston, South Carolina, and Bigbone Lick, Kentucky (Hay, 

 1923), but within historic times has occurred only as far south as 

 northern New York (Miller and Kellogg, 1955). 



Among small mammals, a shrew (Sorex cinereus) is known from 

 several Pleistocene localities far south of its present range (Fig. 2). 

 The southernmost of these is the San Josecito cave in southern 

 Nuevo Leon (Findley, 1953). This species is also listed in the Conard 

 Fissure fauna of northwestern Arkansas (Hay, 1924), and Hibbard 

 (1949) reported it from the Cudahy fauna, regarded as Kansan in 

 age, and from the Jones Ranch fauna, regarded as late Wisconsin, 

 of southwestern Kansas. 



The marmot (Marmota) likewise lived south of its present southern 

 limits during parts of the Pleistocene. The southernmost record is 

 from San Josecito cave in southern Nuevo Leon (Cushing, 1945). 

 This rodent has also been recorded from Pleistocene cave deposits in 

 southern Arizona and New Mexico (Skinner, 1942; Stearns, 1942; 

 Murray, 1957). The present southern limit of Marmota fiaviventris 

 is in northern New Mexico, at elevations above 11,000 feet. 



