THE PLEISTOCENE VERTEBRATE FAUNA FROM 

 CUMBERLAND CAVE, MARYLAND 



By James W. Gidley and C. Lewis Gazin 



INTRODUCTION 



Limestone caverns have played a major role in preserving a record 

 of the Pleistocene life in the eastern region of North America. Except 

 for the remarkable deposits in Florida, our knowledge of the com- 

 position of Pleistocene mammalian faunas from this region has been 

 limited largely to occasional and fortunate cave finds. This mode 

 of accumulation rivals that of the tar pits in presenting a broad cross, 

 section of the land life belonging to the geologic period immediately 

 preceding the present. 



Caves are abundant in the limestone areas of the Appalachian and 

 Mississippi Valley regions, but very little systematic exploration has 

 been done with a view toward obtaining representative collections of 

 Pleistocene mammals. Strong impetus for exploratory work has come 

 from the field of archeological research, and many of the important 

 paleontological finds were made during the investigations for the 

 remains of man. The search for saltpeter has also led to the exam- 

 ination of many caves, but in tliis work the importance of fossil re- 

 mains found has undoubtedly been overlooked in the majority of 

 instances. 



Cumberland Cave was first found by workmen in excavating for a 

 railroad cut near Cumberland, Md. Considerable fossil material was 

 destroyed by steam shovel and dynamite before the significance of 

 the find was known, but the abundant material subsequently obtained 

 includes a remarkable variety of mammalian forms, many of which 

 are represented by unusually well preserved remains. 



The junior author is greatly indebted to C. W. Gilmore, curator 

 of vertebrate paleontology at the National Museum, for advice and 

 criticism during the preparation of this report, and to Dr. J. B. 

 Reeside, Jr., and Dr. W. C. Alden, of the United States Geological 

 Survey, for a better understandmg of the geologic and physiographic 

 relations of the cave. Acknowledgment is also made of the courtesy 

 extended by G. S. Miller, Jr., Dr. Remmgton Kellogg, and staff of 

 the division of mammals in the National Museum and Dr. H. H. T. 

 Jackson, E. A. Goldman, and A. H. Howell, of the United States 

 Biological Survey, in giving generously of their time and advice and 



1 



