St. Marks River Fauna 23 



Order Lagomorpha 

 Family Leporidae 

 Sylvilagus sp. indet. 

 Material — Tooth fragment, UF21301. 



Remarks — Rabbits are a common component of most Pleistocene 

 sites in Florida. It is surprising no more than a single tooth fragment 

 was encountered in the St. Marks River material. Two species of 

 rabbit occur in the St. Marks region today, the eastern cottontail, 

 Sylvilangus floridanus, and the more common swamp rabbit, S. 

 aquaticus. The former prefers heavy brushy, forested areas with open 

 areas nearby and edges of swamps. The latter is most common in 

 marshes, swamps, and bottomlands (Golley 1962). 



Order Rodentia 



Family Castoridae 



Castor canadensis Kuhl 



Beaver 



Material — Left ulna, UGAMNH2126; right upper molar, 



UGAMNH2125; right M 3 , UGAMNH2124; four molars, UF21294. 



Remarks — Two beaver species occurred in Florida in the late 

 Pleistocene, Castoroides ohioensis and Castor canadensis. Both have 

 even been found in the same deposits (Webb 1974a); however, only 

 the latter is represented in the St. Marks River fauna. The beaver is 

 found in any suitable water habitat including rivers, streams, 

 lakes, and marshes (Lowery 1974). Its relative rarity in the St. Marks 

 may be related to the presence of Alligator. The stratigraphic range 

 is late Blancan to Recent (Kurten and Anderson 1980). 



Family Geomyidae 

 Geomys pinetis Rafinesque 

 Southeastern Pocket Gopher 

 Material — A single lower fourth premolar, UF21291. 

 Remarks — Geomys pinetis is the only species of pocket gopher 

 in the Southeast. It is associated with the sandy soils of the Coastal 

 Plain (Golley 1962) and is present today in the uplands adjacent the 

 St. Marks River. It is known from late Irvingtonian to Recent 

 (Kurten and Anderson 1980). 



Family Muridae 

 Microtus sp. indet. 

 Material— Left M 3 , UGAMNH2127. 

 Remarks — This fragment, while certainly Microtus, could not be 



