East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2016 Description, Taphonomy, and Paleoecology of the Late Pleistocene Peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from Bat Cave, Pulaski County, Missouri Aaron L. Woodruff East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Paleontology Commons Recommended Citation Woodruff, Aaron L., "Description, Taphonomy, and Paleoecology of the Late Pleistocene Peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from Bat Cave, Pulaski County, Missouri" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3051. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3051 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Description, Taphonomy, and Paleoecology of the Late Pleistocene Peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from Bat Cave, Pulaski County, Missouri _____________________________ A thesis presented to the Department of Geosciences East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Geosciences _____________________________________ by Aaron Levi Woodruff May 2016 _______________________________ Dr. Blaine W. Schubert Dr. Jim I. Mead Dr. Steven C. Wallace Keywords: Pleistocene, Peccaries, Platygonus compressus, Canis dirus, Taphonomy, Paleoecology, Bat Cave ABSTRACT Description, Taphonomy, and Paleoecology of Late Pleistocene Peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from Bat Cave, Pulaski County, Missouri by Aaron Levi Woodruff The late Pleistocene faunal assemblage from Bat Cave, central Ozarks, Missouri provides an opportunity to assess specific aspects of behavior, ecology, and ontogeny of the extinct peccary Platygonus compressus. All identifiable elements referable to this taxon were catalogued and examined, and a minimum number of individuals of 70 was determined for the sample. The presence of distinct, non-overlapping age groups suggests that P. compressus utilized Bat Cave on a seasonal basis. A predator-prey relationship with Canis dirus, the second most abundant vertebrate from the Bat Cave site, is also described in this study. Damage patterns suggest that the feeding patterns of C. dirus at Bat Cave were consistent with its extant relative, and that these predators would periodically enter the cave to hunt and/or scavenge peccaries. Overall, the fossil material from Bat Cave is virtually unweathered and represents one of the most extensive and well-preserved late Pleistocene faunas from the Ozarks. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the Illinois State Museum for loaning the Bat Cave material and allowing this research opportunity. I am grateful to my graduate advisor Dr. Blaine Schubert for his guidance through the course of this project and for providing transportation and funding throughout my time at East Tennessee State University. This thesis was greatly improved through reviews and discussions with Dr. Schubert and the remaining members of my graduate committee, Drs. James Mead and Steven Wallace. For supplementary information and advice which benefitted this project, acknowledgment must also go to April Nye, Shawn Haugrud, and Drs. Anthony Martin, Anna Behrensmeyer, Joshua Samuels, Julie Meachen, and Christopher Widga. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT . 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 4 LIST OF TABLES . 7 LIST OF FIGURES . 9 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION . 12 2. BACKGROUND . 14 Bat Cave, Missouri . 14 Differences Between Pigs and Peccaries . 19 Extant Peccaries . 20 Flat-Headed Peccary (Platygonus compressus) . .24 Demographics . 28 Evidence of Predation . 29 Rodent Gnawing . 31 3. METHODS . 33 Abbreviations Used . 33 Specimen Preparation . 33 Demographic Assessment . 34 Evidence of Predation . 36 4 4. BAT CAVE MATERIALS . 42 Isolated Dentition . 42 Axial Skeleton . 50 Appendicular Skeleton . 54 5. RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS . 62 Bone Quality and Preservation . 62 Skeletal Part Representation . 62 Minimum Number of Individuals . 67 Associated Materials . 69 Pathologies . 72 Demographics . 74 Carnivore Damage . 80 Other Biotic Taphonomic Factors . 91 6. DISCUSSION . 95 Behavioral Interpretations of the Bat Cave Platygonus compressus . 95 Predation & Other Biotic Taphonomic Forces . 97 7. CONCUSIONS . 102 REFERENCES . 104 APPENDICES . .. 114 Appendix A: Number of Identified Elements . 114 Appendix B: Catalogue Numbers . 117 Appendix C: Summary of Limb Elements . 120 Appendix D: Demographic Assessment . 122 5 Appendix E: Predator Damage Assessment . 124 VITA . 132 6 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 List of Vertebrates Identified from the Bat Cave Site by Hawksley et al. (1973) . 18 2 Age of Tooth Eruption in Extant Peccaries . 36 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Location of Bat Cave in relation to the Ozark Plateau and Pulaski County, Missouri . 15 2 Map of Bat Cave, Pulaski County, Missouri . 16 3 Anterior view of the skulls of a pig, Sus scrofa , and a peccary, Pecari tajacu . 21 4 Collared Peccary (Pecari tajacu) . 22 5 White-lipped Peccary (Tayassu pecari) . 23 6 Chacoan Peccary (Catagonus wagneri) . 24 7 Known Rancholabrean sites which have yielded Platygonus fossils . 25 8 Composite skeleton and life reconstruction of the flat-headed peccary, Platygonus compressus . 27 9 Distal portion of a peccary humerus from Bat Cave showing the characteristic circular puncture marks made by a wolf carnassial . 30 10 Known Rancholabrean sites which have yielded Platygonus and Canis dirus . 31 11 Ventral view of an anterior peccary mandible fragment from Bat Cave which bares rodent gnaw marks along its medial surface . 32 12 A juvenile peccary forearm comprised of three separate elements from three different individuals pieced together by CMS . 34 13 Wolf-eaten bones of white-tailed deer that were used as the comparative sample . 37 14 Examples of the four stages used to assess the extent of carnivore utilization among the Bat Cave peccary long bones . 39 8 15 Examples of the four stages used to assess the extent of carnivore utilization to the Bat Cave peccary scapulae . 40 16 Examples of the four stages used to assess the extent of carnivore utilization to the Bat Cave peccary pelvises . 41 17 Diagram of the left upper and lower deciduous incisors . 42 18 Diagram of the left upper and lower deciduous canines . 43 19 Diagram of the left upper and lower deciduous cheek tooth row . 45 20 Diagram of the left upper and lower permanent incisors . 46 21 Diagram of the left upper and left lower permanent canines . 47 22 Diagram of the left upper and lower permanent cheek tooth rows . 49 23 The most complete P. compressus skull from the Bat Cave sample . 51 24 Skulls belonging to a juvenile and young adult collared peccary . 51 25 Examples of vertebral elements . 52 26 Examples of each of the six sternal elements . 53 27 Examples of forelimb elements . 55 28 Examples of each of the carpal elements . ..