ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences Jahr/Year: 2020 Band/Volume: 113 Autor(en)/Author(s): Neuner Wolfgang, Spötl Christoph Artikel/Article: The presence of elk (Alces alces) in Austria since the upper Pleistocene 111-124 Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences Vienna 2020 Volume 113/1 111 - 124 DOI: 10.17738/ajes.2020.0007 The presence of elk (Alces alces) in Austria since the upper Pleistocene Wolfgang NEUNER1 & Christoph SPÖTL2* 1) Tiroler Landesmuseen, Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen, Museumstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; current address: Goethestraße 13, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria 2) Institute of Geology, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria *) Corresponding author:
[email protected] KEYWORDS Elk, Pleistocene, Holocene, radiocarbon dating, Eastern Alps, Austria Abstract This study reports new data on the occurrence of elk remains in the western, mountainous part of Austria and also provides a compilation of all currently known 107 elk finds of the upper Pleistocene to upper Holocene in this country. The altitudinal distribution reveals two maxima for Austria: a lower one at about 400 m a.s.l., which comprises the alpine foreland, and a second one at about 1600-1800 m a.s.l., reflecting the abundance of vertical caves in the Northern Calcareous Alps at this elevation (animal traps). Vorderkarhöhle in Tyrol is the highest known elk find in Austria (1860 m a.s.l.), interestingly located above the tree line. Although only 11% of all elk sites in Austria have been radiocarbon-dated, stratigraphic and archaeo- logical constraints allow to assign 90% of those sites that lack radiometric dating to either the upper Pleistocene (18%) or the Holocene (72%).