Late Pleistocene Pronghorn, Antilocapra Americana, from Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming

Authors

John Chorn, University of Kansas Main Campus
Barbara A. Frase, Bradley University
Carl D. Frailey, Midland College

Date of this Version

1988

Document Type

Article

Comments

1988. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences, XVI: 127-139. Copyright © 1988 Chorn, Frase and Frailey.

Abstract

Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming, has yielded one of the more reliable records of Antilocapra from the Late Pleistocene of North America. Generic assignment is based on horn cores from two individuals, with a minimum of 13 individuals represented by other elements. Morphometric analysis of postcranial material indicates that this form is indistinguishable from the living A. americana. Fossils were recovered from a stratum dated at 17,000-20,000 yr BP. Presence of Antilocapra at other sites is probably over-reported. Secure records based on horn cores are known from only two other sites. Antilocapra americana may have been the preferred prey of the American cheetah, Miracinonyx trumani. Teeth, horn cores, and much of the postcranial skeleton of the Natural Trap pronghorn are figured.