III. Megatherium Bones found at Quishuarcancha, Peru

Abstract

The bones here described were found in a cave about 2000 feet from the coal-mine at Quishuarcancha, in latitude 10° 22′ S., longitude 76° 16′ W., on the Atlantic watershed of the Cordillera of the Andes, at an altitude of about 12,500 feet above sea-level and 150 feet above the present stream bed. This altitude is at present the upper limit of scrubby trees. The formation is Lower Cretaceous. The cave was rediscovered only recently, but it had been inhabited at some unknown previous date. The floor of the cave is at present only 10 feet from the roof, and is covered with river-wash to a depth of 28 feet. The original hollow was, therefore, 38 feet in height. The outer width is 26 feet, and its depth 20 feet. The river-wash consists of a reddish matrix with sub-angular boulders, some of which were so large as to require blasting. This deposit shows no sign of stratification, and the floor of the cave is of sandy limestone. The filling appears to have been carried in during a flood or mud-rush, for it shows no evidence of normal river deposition. This cave is evidently a large pothole eroded at a time when the stream flowed 150 feet above its present level. Although now only 20 to 30 feet wide, it was, no doubt, a large river during the time the Andean ice-cap was melting. The mouth of the cave was almost completely concealed by brushwood, and was rediscovered by one of This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract