374 LIFE OF THE PLEISTOCENE 



Eqtrus littoralis? Sylvilagus paluslris 



Tapirus haysii? Scalopns aqualicus anstralis 



Tayassu lenis Ursus ftoridanus 



Bison species Procyon lotor 



Odocoilens osceola Lulra canadensis 



Odocoileus sellardsiae Vulpes palmoria 



Mammul americanum Catiis rivivcronis 



Elephas columbi Cams species 



Oryzomys palustris Lynx rufus floridanns 



Of the above, 13, or over 50 percent, are extinct, and the conclusion of 

 Dr. Hay as to the age of the deposit seems justified. Commenting on this 

 point, Hay says (op. cit., p. 67): "We are, therefore, confronted by questions 

 as to the antiquity of these human remains. As has already been indicated, 

 the writer believes that the deposits in question are not only of Pleistocene 

 age but of early or middle Pleistocene. He is also convinced, after having 

 examined the locality and collected fossils from it, that the human remains are 

 as old as the deposits in which they are found. " 



The age of these human remains is not yet entirely clear in the minds of 

 several leading American geologists and anthropologists. A conference was 

 held at Vero in October, 1916, at which the following men were present: Dr.O. P. 

 Hay, Dr. G. G. MacCurdy, Dr. A. Hrdlicka, Dr. T. W. Vaughan, and Dr. R. T. 

 Chamberlain. In March, 1917, Dr. E. W. Berry visited the locality. Papers 

 by these gentlemen relating to the deposits and to the human remains con- 

 tained therein, have been published in Volume 25 of the Journal of Geology. 



The Florida deposits are far beyond the limits of the ice sheets of Pleistocene 

 time and they bear an unknown relation to the interglacial intervals of the 

 Glacial Period. Hay presents some evidence (op. cit., pp. 67, 68) of Man's 

 presence in deposits apparently older than Wisconsin, but while they are sug- 

 gestive, they are scarcely as definite as desired and necessary for the indubitable 

 evidence of Man's occupancy of the glaciated territory during the progress 

 of the Glacial Period. It remains true, as far as the writer has been able to 

 ascertain, that no undisputed record of the presence of human bones is known 

 from interglacial deposits in the territory once covered by the great ice sheets. 



IV. Conclusion 



The evidence accumulated during the preparation of this volume indicates 

 that the interglacial intervals, especially the Yarmouth and Sangamon inter- 

 vals, were of wide extent and long duration and that the animal and plant life 

 was varied and consisted of a large number of species. It is probable that con- 

 ditions during these intervals were not largely different from those of today, 

 at least during the temperate period of the intervals. Osborn 12 believes that 



" Hay, 9th An. Rep., Florida Geol. Surv., pp. 43-68, 1917. 



