An associated musk ox skeleton from saltville, Virginia

Abstract

ABSTRACT The late Quaternary stream sediments and clay of Saltville Valley, southwestern Virginia, have yielded vertebrate fossils since 1782. Excavations in 1980 and 1981 uncovered 49 associated bones of an extinct musk ox skeleton (MARSH 1). MARSH 1 provides new information on the nature of the postcranial skeleton of extinct musk oxen, and information on traumas, disease and somatic degeneration experienced by this individual in life. Taphonomic analysis suggests that MARSH 1 died between early spring and early fall (probably spring), that carnivore activity began at or soon after death, and that all or most of the remaining skeleton was entombed by clay sediments soon after death. Associated vertebrate remains belong to Mammut, Mammuthus, Cervalces(?), unidentified musk oxen, and the freshwater fish family Catostomidae. The last is a new addition to the fossil fauna of Saltville. Geomorphic evidence indicates that a medium-sized stream was present in Saltville Valley in the late Wisconsinan. This stre...