2 
Janet A. Roth and Joshua Laerm 
TIME 
(M.Y.) 
-0.01 
GLACIAL 
STAGES 
Sea Level 
Low — High 
NORTH AMERICAN 
MAMMAL AGES 
Wisconsinian 
Sangamonian 
/ 
Rancholabrean (Rancho La Brea, 
Los Angeles Co., California) 
-0.12 
7 
o 
o 
l 
/ 
Illinoian 
Yarmouthi'an 
/ 
Irvingtonian (Irvington, 
Alameda Co., California) 
Kansan' 
\ 
Aftonian \ 
/ 
Blancan (Mt . Blanco, Crosby 
Co . , Texas) 
Nebraskan 
-1.60 
Fig. 1. Pleistocene glacial stages and North American mammal ages. Sea levels 
from Webb (1974). Absolute dates from Berggren and Van Couvering (1974). 
Pleistocene fauna from Ladds Quarry, Bartow County, Georgia (Lipps 
and Ray 1967), and Pleistocene vertebrates in the Georgia piedmont 
(Voorhies 1974) and coastal regions (Frey et al. 1975). However, many 
areas of the Southeast have not yet been investigated, and distribution of 
certain species has not yet been adequately documented. 
Vertebrate fossils at Edisto Island, South Carolina, were first 
reviewed by Hay (1923). Subsequently, Auffenberg (1957), Ray, (1965, 
1967), Ray et al. (1968), Kurten (1973), and Dobie and Jackson (1979) 
discussed individual species from Edisto. For closely comparable faunas 
in the Charleston and Ashley River areas see Hay (1923) , Allen (1926), 
and Hibbard et al. (1965). O’Kelley (1976) presented a preliminary faunal 
list from Edisto, based primarily on Holocene material. However, no 
comprehensive study of the Edisto fossil vertebrates has been attempted. 
The abundance of fossil material from the island coupled with its coastal 
geographic locale north of previously reported localities provides new in- 
formation on paleoclimatic conditions of the Edisto area and the 
geographic range of particular species. 
The purposes of this study are to: (1) report a rather extensive (36 
species of reptiles and mammals), predominantly late Pleistocene fauna 
from Edisto Island, South Carolina; (2) consider the paleoecological and 
