Bones and tracks at Wally's Beach Site (DhPg8): an investigation of the latest Pleistocene mega-fauna of southern Alberta
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2009
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Abstract
Wally's Beach (DhPg-8) is a latest Pleistocene palaeontological/archaeological site in southern Alberta, Canada. A ten metre water level drop of the St. Mary Reservoir exposed the reservoir floor to intense wind erosion, exposing a diverse assemblage of mammal bones, tracks, trackways, tramplegrounds, and Palaeo-Indian artifacts. This site provides a rare look at the latest Pleistocene mega-fauna of southern Alberta. Pleistocene tracks are rare worldwide, and Wally's Beach documents the only Canadian locality. Six new ichnospecies are defined that include tracks of extinct wooly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), western camel (Came/ops hesternus), Mexican horse (Equus conversidens), ancient bison (Bison antiquus), and extant caribou (Rangifer tarandus). Analysis of the tracks provides information on the biomechanics of locomotion and behaviour. Mammoth track data indicate a walking speed of four to five km/h for adult wooly mammoths. The behaviour of Pleistocene mammals, as revealed through tracks and tramplegrounds, is similar to that exhibited by their extant relatives, despite a long period since they shared a common ancestor. This indicates that extrapolating the behaviour of fossil animals from that of their modem relatives is valid. Mammoth tramplegrounds confirm previous Wally's Beach track studies that showed a deficit of juveniles, suggesting that Late Pleistocene mammoth populations in southern Alberta were in decline. Multigeneric trample grounds, formed in a short period of time, suggest high concentrations of mammals simultaneously inhabited the Pleistocene Albertan steppe. Wally's Beach horse bones provide new insights into human horse utilization, characteristics for identification, and Late Pleistocene relationships. Equus conversidens and E. lambei populations may be separated based on both qualitative characteristics and by quantitative methods. The humeri of E. conversidens are slightly longer on average than those of E. lambei. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that the Wally's Beach horses and the Yukon horses may be separated based on skull measurements. This method of separation could be useful for localities that are interpreted to have many horse species. Equus conversidens has a broader, boxier posterior skull and a relatively longer and narrower snout than E. lambei.
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Bibliography: p. 271-290
Some pages are in colour
Some pages are in colour
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Citation
McNeil, P. E. (2009). Bones and tracks at Wally's Beach Site (DhPg8): an investigation of the latest Pleistocene mega-fauna of southern Alberta (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/2774