Abstract
Karst features in the Silurian dolomites of Taylorsville MetroPark (Dayton Metropolitan Area, Ohio, United States) were explored from 2017 to 2018 to identify sites of paleontological interest. Initial landscape surveys recovered 124 skeletal elements (from 12 sites) that were attributed to 17 vertebrate species—including evidence of such extirpated animals as bobcats (Lynx rufus) and rattlesnakes (Crotalus sp.). Of the 12 sites, 9 sites contained remains from the historical era and 3 sites contained much older remains (n = 17) that were radiocarbon dated to approximately 1,400 years before present (YBP). Human remains at one site, butchered bones at another, and artifacts from a third suggest a long period of pre-colonial human use of the area. The presence of rare taxa expands pre-historical species lists and confirms the coexistence of many previously undocumented taxa from the area during the late, pre-colonial, Holocene Epoch.
Highlights
Taylorsville MetroPark is a part of the Five Rivers MetroParks, created in 1963 to provide outdoor recreational opportunities to the city of Dayton, Ohio, and surrounding communities
The accumulation of sediment and remains in karst features probably began in the region during the late Pleistocene and continues today, a trend that persists in other caves in the state (Spurlock et al 2006)
The natural history of the Dayton area-based on fossils recovered in the vicinity-dates to the Paleozoic Era, as sedimentary rocks deposited from that interval make up the entirety of the bedrock
Summary
Taylorsville MetroPark is a part of the Five Rivers MetroParks, created in 1963 to provide outdoor recreational opportunities to the city of Dayton, Ohio, and surrounding communities. The boundaries of Taylorsville MetroPark straddle the Great Miami River and contain several bluffs on the east and west sides of the north-south trending river valley. The ledges of these bluffs are composed of the Silurian Springfield and Cedarville Dolomites and occasional outcrops of Massie Shale (ODGS 2006). The dolomites in the park (similar to other exposures in the state) weather and create karst features such as overhangs and crevices which have allowed habitation by animals, and eventual deposition of their remains, over a broad range of time (Spurlock et al 2006). The accumulation of sediment and remains in karst features probably began in the region during the late Pleistocene and continues today, a trend that persists in other caves in the state (Spurlock et al 2006).
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