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- Title
Stable isotopes in yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) fossils reveal environmental stability in the late Quaternary of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
- Authors
Reynard, Linda M.; Meltzer, David J.; Emslie, Steven D.; Tuross, Noreen
- Abstract
High elevation plant and animal communities are considered extremely sensitive to environmental change. We investigated an exceptional fossil record of yellow-bellied marmot ( Marmota flaviventris ) specimens that was recovered from Cement Creek Cave (elev. 2860 m) and ranged in age from radiocarbon background circa 49.8 cal ka BP to ~ 1 cal ka BP. We coupled isotopic and radiocarbon measurements (δ 18 O, δD, δ 15 N, δ 13 C, and 14 C) of bone collagen from individually-AMS dated specimens of marmots to assess ecological responses by this species to environmental change over time in a high elevation basin in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Colorado, USA. We find little change in all four isotope ratios over time, demonstrating considerable environmental stability during periods when the marmots were present. The stable ecology and the apparent persistence of the small mammal community in the cave fauna throughout the late Quaternary are in marked contrast to the changes that occurred in the large mammal community, including local extirpation and extinction, at the end of the Pleistocene.
- Subjects
COLORADO; YELLOW-bellied marmot; STABLE isotopes; MOUNTAINS; RADIOCARBON dating; MAMMALS; BIOLOGICAL extinction; PLEISTOCENE Epoch
- Publication
Quaternary Research, 2015, Vol 83, Issue 2, p345
- ISSN
0033-5894
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1016/j.yqres.2014.12.006