A Review of the Evidence for Early Holocene Turkeys in the Northern Great Basin

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Faunal remains recovered from the lower levels of the Connley Caves (south central Oregon) in the late 1960’s were attributed to turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), thus implying a major prehistoric range extension for this bird. Reanalysis of the Connley Caves avifauna demonstrates that this material should have been assigned to sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), and that the original investigators erred by confusing sexual dimorphism with taxonomically significant variation.