Crystal Ball Cave
Basic information
Sample name: Crystal Ball Cave

Sample aka: LACM 4534; BYUVP 772

Reference: T. H. Heaton. 1985. Quaternary paleontology and paleoecology of Crystal Ball Cave, Millard County, Utah: with emphasis on mammals and description of a new species of fossil skunk. Great Basin Naturalist 45(3):337-390 [ER 3109]
Geography
Country: United States

State: Utah


County: Millard


Coordinate: 39.48° N, -114.03° W
Coordinate basis: stated in text

Time interval: Late Pleistocene

Max Ma: 0.01882

Min Ma: 0.01298

Age basis: radiocarbon (calibrated)

Geography comments: "4.8 km (3 miles) northwest of the town of Gandy, and 0.9 km (0.6 miles) east of the Utah-Nevada border" in sec. 30, T. 15 S, R. 19 W.
"Late Wisconsinan" with four dates, one a minimum and the others ranging from 18,820 + 1510 - 1270 to 12,980 + 2680 - 2000 years B.P. (presumed to be calibrated because errors are not symmetrically distributed)

Environment
Lithology: limestone

Taphonomic context: cave

Habitat comments: "the sediments are mostly derived from within the cave by weathering of the limestone and calcite crystals... It is difficult to say if any other animals besides wood rats contributed to transporting fossils into the cave... Clearly no inorganic processes such as wind, water, or gravity could have been responsible for the fossil deposits"

Methods
Life forms: herbs,bats,carnivores,rodents,ungulates,other small mammals,birds,lizards,fishes,scarab beetles,other arthropods,snails

Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash

Sample size: 9651 specimens

Years: 1977, 1981, 1982

Sampling comments: "Sediment was also taken to the lab in bags and screened"

Metadata
Sample number: 3396

Contributor: John Alroy

Enterer: John Alroy

Created: 2019-08-29 19:15:16

Modified: 2023-04-03 09:14:04

Abundance distribution
64 species
8 singletons
total count 9651
geometric series index: 88.6
Fisher's α: 9.200
geometric series k: 0.8735
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.6555
Shannon's H: 1.5955
Good's u: 0.9992
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
Register
Ephedra cf. viridis2
Chrysothamnus sp.1
Haplopappus nanus5
Peristyle stansburii4
Brassicaceae indet.8
Opuntia sp.12
Symphoricarpos cf. longiflorus61
Elymus sp.2
compared to this genus
Panicum sp.6
compared to this genus
Oreohelix strigosa9
Armadillidae indet.1
questionably referred
Aphodius distinctus1
Teleostei indet.37
Squamata indet.265
Aves indet.611
Sorex sp.1
another 32 specimens may represent this species
Myotis sp.27
possibly Plecotus
Corynorhinus ? townsendii24 insectivore
"Plecotus ? townsendii"
Antrozous pallidus616.5 g insectivore
Ochotona princeps54157 g
Brachylagus idahoensis5424 g
"Sylvilagus idahoensis"
Sylvilagus nuttallii11882 g
Lepus cf. americanus31.4 kg browser
Lepus townsendii66
Lepus californicus32.1 kg
Marmota flaviventris449
Urocitellus townsendii5013193 g
"Spermophilus townsendii"
Ammospermophilus cf. leucurus390.8 g
Neotamias minimus5
"Eutamias minimus"
Neotamias dorsalis10
"Eutamias dorsalis"
Thomomys umbrinus20
Perognathus cf. formosus818.5 g
Microdipodops megacephalus1111.9 g
Dipodomys microps1453.6 g
Peromyscus maniculatus4219.1 g
Peromyscus cf. crinitus313.7 g
Peromyscus cf. truei119.3 g
Neotoma lepida5117 g
Neotoma cinerea2506240 g
Ondatra zibethicus21.1 kg
Microtus cf. longicaudus2430.2 g
Microtus cf. montanus244.7 g
Microtus cf. pennsylvanicus135.7 g
Lemmiscus curtatus4030.3 g
"Lagurus curtatus"
Canis cf. latrans512 kg carnivore-insectivore
Canis cf. lupus543 kg carnivore
Vulpes vulpes155.3 kg carnivore-insectivore
Vulpes velox32.4 kg carnivore
Neogale cf. frenata6144 g carnivore
"Mustela frenata"
Neogale cf. vison2950 g
"Mustela cf. vison"
Martes caurina4
"Martes americana": reassigned based on geographic location
Brachyprotoma obtusata3
"Brachyprotoma brevimala"
Smilodon cf. fatalis2
Puma concolor549 kg carnivore
"Felis concolor"
Lynx cf. rufus39.0 kg carnivore
Equus cf. scotti14
Equus ? conversidens81
Camelops cf. hesternus28
Hemiauchenia cf. macrocephala4
Cervus cf. canadensis1329 kg browser-grazer
"Cervus cf. elaphus"
Odocoileus hemionus7665 kg browser
Antilocapra americana151 kg
Ovis canadensis355 kg
Bootherium cf. bombifrons6
"Symbos cf. cavifrons"