20N: Caribou & Elk Fossils
from Georgia & Alabama.
A Cold Late Pleistocene Phase
By
Thomas Thurman
14/Jan/2025
Reindeer (Caribou)
Reindeer once walked Georgia.
About 18,000 years ago reindeer (caribou) were present in our state. Then 14,000 years ago, they returned. This was the same, cold climate species (Rangifer tarandus), which wanders the tundra in Canada today. It is also known from Tennessee so this isn’t a fluke, misidentification, or outlier.
What does that tell us? Georgia was cold. It warmed again and reindeer couldn't survive, then it cooled again.
These cooling and warming cycles are ongoing.
Reindeer once walked Georgia.
About 18,000 years ago reindeer (caribou) were present in our state. Then 14,000 years ago, they returned. This was the same, cold climate species (Rangifer tarandus), which wanders the tundra in Canada today. It is also known from Tennessee so this isn’t a fluke, misidentification, or outlier.
What does that tell us? Georgia was cold. It warmed again and reindeer couldn't survive, then it cooled again.
These cooling and warming cycles are ongoing.
In 1989 Robert A. Martin and Joel M. Sneed reported caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and elk (Cervus elephas) fossils from Yarbrough Cave in Bartow County, the paper was published in the Georgia Journal of Science. These finds were the southernmost occurrences of both species in 1989.
The fossils were seven caribou teeth from at least two individuals and an elk bone, partial antler, and a tooth from at least two individuals. The elk bone and antler came from Georgia. The tooth from Alabama.
The fossils were seven caribou teeth from at least two individuals and an elk bone, partial antler, and a tooth from at least two individuals. The elk bone and antler came from Georgia. The tooth from Alabama.
Cave finds are fossils which end up in caves or sink holes. Perhaps they fell in while alive and couldn’t escape. They may have died on the surface and been swept in by flowing or flooding waters. They may have fallen victim to a predator which brought the carcass into the cave to feed in peace. However the carcass ended up in the cave, material can accumulate over centuries or millennium. Caves can be treasure-houses of fossils, this is the case in Bartow County, Georgia.
At the base of this page there’s a probably incomplete list of Late Pleistocene fossils, from a significant span millennia, reported from Bartow County caves.
For the moment we’re going to focus on two.
I want to thank the Paleontology Association of Georgia for posting this paper on their Resources page, and the Paleobiology Database for posted the find.
Both are linked below.
Both are linked below.
- Paleontology Association of Georgia
- Paleobiology Database
Caribou (reindeer)
Martin & Sneed recognized the fossils as a “…climatic signal of considerable significance.” These caribou (reindeer) teeth came from the same species which populates the artic today. Its range is boreal forests and tundra, it thrives in conditions we’d recognize as bitter cold. Glaciers never touched Georgia, but these teeth show artic conditions certainly occurred in our state more than once during the height of glacial events. Other Pleistocene fossils confirm this and create a curious history of repeated and volatile climate change.
Martin & Sneed recognized the fossils as a “…climatic signal of considerable significance.” These caribou (reindeer) teeth came from the same species which populates the artic today. Its range is boreal forests and tundra, it thrives in conditions we’d recognize as bitter cold. Glaciers never touched Georgia, but these teeth show artic conditions certainly occurred in our state more than once during the height of glacial events. Other Pleistocene fossils confirm this and create a curious history of repeated and volatile climate change.
Seven caribou (reindeer) teeth were recovered, multiple views for two of these are shown in the illustration. Three of reindeer teeth collected showed no wear and are believed to have been unerupted molars.
In general practice the common names caribou and reindeer are used interchangeably, Wikipedia uses reindeer and shows (caribou) in parenthesis. They are the only species of deer which has been successfully domesticated. The names reindeer and caribou represent the same animal. I have used the names interchangeably here. However, some apply the name “caribou” to wild animals and “reindeer” to domesticated animals, but again this is the same species.
The average size of a reindeer can vary significantly. Adults range between 150 to 600 pounds (68 to 272 kg). Males tend to be larger, standing about 4.5 to 5.5 feet (1.4 to 1.7 meters) at the shoulder while females stand between 3.5 to 4.5 feet (1.1 to 1.4 meters) at the shoulder. Both sexes have antlers. “The oldest North American Rangifer fossil is from the Yukon, (and lived) 1.6 million years before present (BP).” (Wikipedia in a refenced phrase.) The genus Rangifer was cold-adapted more than a million years before the herds of the southeast lived. Again, the tooth was identified as the same species, Rangifer tarandus, known from the Yukon today. The current north populations have been subdivided into several subspecies, but they are all still Rangifer tarandus.
Elk
Thankfully elks only have a single common name, but is this an elk?
More varied elk material was recovered and reviewed for this paper. The scientists looked at a molar, radius (leg) bone, and partial antler collected from two localities. The antler and bone came from Kingston Saltpeter Cave in Bartow County, the tooth came from AJ Cave in DeKalb County, Alabama.
Thankfully elks only have a single common name, but is this an elk?
More varied elk material was recovered and reviewed for this paper. The scientists looked at a molar, radius (leg) bone, and partial antler collected from two localities. The antler and bone came from Kingston Saltpeter Cave in Bartow County, the tooth came from AJ Cave in DeKalb County, Alabama.
The paper identifies the fossils as belonging to Cervus elephas which the researchers refer to as Elk. Wikipedia refers to this species as “red deer” and assigns elk as Cervus canadensis. Red deer are smaller than elk. This discrepancy can only be resolved by a fresh look at the material, but it’s questionable whether any of the material is still available.
Elk individuals can reach nearly 5 ft at the shoulder and weigh 1000lbs. Red deer can stand 4ft at the shoulder and weigh 500 lbs.
Elk individuals can reach nearly 5 ft at the shoulder and weigh 1000lbs. Red deer can stand 4ft at the shoulder and weigh 500 lbs.
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For the sake of simplification, this article will continue to refer to the fossils as elk.
In 1965 J. Hogue, a Bartow County high school student, found a left radius bone and partial antler in Saltpeter Cave. Hogue gave the fossils to Dr. Phillip French-Carson Greear at Shorter College, who forwarded them to C. Ray at the National Museum of Natural History (The Smithsonian). According to Martin and Sneed the Smithsonian identified the material as elk, Cervus elephas, so this author assumes that the mistake began there. The fossils were returned to Dr. Greear in 1965, but by 1988 the radius had been lost. As of 1988 the antler was still held in D. Greear’s personal collection.
In 1965 J. Hogue, a Bartow County high school student, found a left radius bone and partial antler in Saltpeter Cave. Hogue gave the fossils to Dr. Phillip French-Carson Greear at Shorter College, who forwarded them to C. Ray at the National Museum of Natural History (The Smithsonian). According to Martin and Sneed the Smithsonian identified the material as elk, Cervus elephas, so this author assumes that the mistake began there. The fossils were returned to Dr. Greear in 1965, but by 1988 the radius had been lost. As of 1988 the antler was still held in D. Greear’s personal collection.
In Aug/1988 Martin and Sneed examined the antler. They report that the Kingston Saltpeter Cave Fauna has been radiocarbon dated at 10,300 years old, with a possible error rate of 130 years plus or minus. So the elk antler and radius bone is significantly younger than the reindeer material.
With an assist Dr. Don Thieme at Valdosta State College, I learned that Phillip Greear passed in September of 2012 at 94 years, after a life of environmental service, education, and biological research. What became of his fossil collection is unknown.
With an assist Dr. Don Thieme at Valdosta State College, I learned that Phillip Greear passed in September of 2012 at 94 years, after a life of environmental service, education, and biological research. What became of his fossil collection is unknown.
The Alabama elk tooth (imaged) was also reviewed by Martin & Sneed and identified as coming from a Cervus elephas. The author is aware of no information confirming that its age is the same as the antler and radius bone. The tooth was donated to Berry College by A. J. Brown. (Owner of AJ Cave?) Martin & Sneed report that this tooth is the only vertebrate material recovered from the Alabama cave. Joel Sneed visited the cave site and reported in 1989 that the entrance hole would require modification to allow entry for anyone of moderate statue.
It is unknown if Berry College in Mount Berry, Georgia still holds the tooth. I have reached out to the college faculty and will post its reply, if any reply is received. A week after the inquiry, there has been no reply
It is unknown if Berry College in Mount Berry, Georgia still holds the tooth. I have reached out to the college faculty and will post its reply, if any reply is received. A week after the inquiry, there has been no reply
Elk were historically known from the southeast and much of the lower United States. They can prosper in cold climates, but they are not cold climate restricted like caribou.
The below map shows the historic and modern range of elk.
The below map shows the historic and modern range of elk.
What does all this mean?
NW Georgia Cave Fossils
These important finds aren’t the only NW Georgia Pleistocene fossils to come from the Bartow County caves. Nor are they the only cold adapted, Late Pleistocene, fossils known from North Georgia. But perplexingly, warm climate fossils also occur.
NW Georgia Cave Fossils
These important finds aren’t the only NW Georgia Pleistocene fossils to come from the Bartow County caves. Nor are they the only cold adapted, Late Pleistocene, fossils known from North Georgia. But perplexingly, warm climate fossils also occur.
While reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) certainly reveal extreme cold climate conditions, modern alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) fossils also occur in Bartow County caves and alligators are not cold tolerant. This is the same modern species Georgia knows today, and their modern range is not sustainable very far above the fall line.
So too with the extinct giant land tortoise Hesperotestudo crassiscutata which also occurs in NW Georgia, Bartow County caves. Up to six feet long, this huge tortoise would have been very similar to modern Galapagos tortoises; and unable to withstand cold weather. It would no survive a modern Georgia winter, probably not even in south Georgia where freezing temps still occur in winter.
There’s a list of Pleistocene vertebrates from Bartow County at the end of this page, beneath the references. As you’ll see, there are lots of reptiles and mammals which were present but wholly unsuited for cold weather… then you have reindeer which are cold weather restricted, and elk which are cold tolerant.
The late Pleistocene is a complex period for weather with frequent, rather large shifts in sea levels powered by glacial advances and retreats.
Fred Rich at Georgia Southern in Statesboro participated in a research project, led by Dale Russell, which looked at the possibility of the Southeast as a warm refuge, a Thermal Enclave, during glacial maximums, clearly this wasn’t always the case and at times Georgia knew deep cold, thus reindeer at two different intervals, but the presence of so many reptiles and warn-climate mammals, far north of their current ranges, suggests there were periods warmer than today.
To quote a passage from their paper…
Over the past 1.8 ma (million years), North America has been subjected to no less than 27 glacial intervals. Between 1,200,000 and 600,000 ago, the glaciation-inundation couplets lengthened from 40,000 to 100,000 (‘‘Mid-Pleistocene Revolution’’). Ice sheets simultaneously increased in volume and ocean levels fluctuated by 120 meters (393 ft).
Over the past 1.8 ma (million years), North America has been subjected to no less than 27 glacial intervals. Between 1,200,000 and 600,000 ago, the glaciation-inundation couplets lengthened from 40,000 to 100,000 (‘‘Mid-Pleistocene Revolution’’). Ice sheets simultaneously increased in volume and ocean levels fluctuated by 120 meters (393 ft).
The Abstract of the Thermal Enclave paper is equally interesting, as it offers a possible explanation for the presence of both cold and warm climate vertebrates in such a geographically small area like Bartow County.
Abstract (Partial)
Physical and biological evidence supports the probable existence of an enclave of relatively warm climate located between the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean in the United States during the Last Glacial Maximum. The region supported a mosaic of forest and prairie habitats inhabited by a ‘‘Floridian’’ ice age biota. Plant and vertebrate remains suggest an ecological gradient towards Cape Hatteras (35°N) wherein forests tended to replace prairies, and browsing proboscideans tended to replace grazing proboscideans. (Proboscideans are members of the elephant family, in this case mammoths & mastodons, both of which were in Georgia.) Beyond 35°N, warm waters of the Gulf Stream were deflected towards the central Atlantic, and a cold-facies biota replaced ‘‘Floridian’’ biota on the Atlantic coastal plain. Because of niche diversity and relatively benign climate, biodiversity may have been greater in the south-eastern thermal enclave than in other unglaciated areas of North America. However, the impact of terminal Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions may also have been shorter and more severe in the enclave than further north...
Physical and biological evidence supports the probable existence of an enclave of relatively warm climate located between the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean in the United States during the Last Glacial Maximum. The region supported a mosaic of forest and prairie habitats inhabited by a ‘‘Floridian’’ ice age biota. Plant and vertebrate remains suggest an ecological gradient towards Cape Hatteras (35°N) wherein forests tended to replace prairies, and browsing proboscideans tended to replace grazing proboscideans. (Proboscideans are members of the elephant family, in this case mammoths & mastodons, both of which were in Georgia.) Beyond 35°N, warm waters of the Gulf Stream were deflected towards the central Atlantic, and a cold-facies biota replaced ‘‘Floridian’’ biota on the Atlantic coastal plain. Because of niche diversity and relatively benign climate, biodiversity may have been greater in the south-eastern thermal enclave than in other unglaciated areas of North America. However, the impact of terminal Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions may also have been shorter and more severe in the enclave than further north...
We are reminded now that in 1974 Michael Voorhies, who led the UGA Vertebrate Paleontology Dept at the time, reported a suspected wooly mammoth tooth from the sand beds of Little Kettle Creek in Wilkes County, Georgia. He suspected the tooth was from the species; Mammuthus primigenius. Tests identified the tooth as a wooly mammoth. If the find could be confirmed as a wooly mammoth, it would be the southern-most report of the species in North America, but alas the tooth is lost.
In the same Little Kettle Creek sediments Voorhies also found fossils of the little Southern Vole Lemming, Synaptomys cooperi, this lemming thrives today but well north of Wilkes County, in fact it’s current range just touches extreme northeast Georgia and reaches deep into northern Canada. It is cold adapted.
The thermal enclave paper reported significant climate events of the Late Pleistocene, this is a subject which begs for more attention….
The confirmed presence of caribou in Georgia at two different points in the Late Pleistocene creates a whirlwind of questions begging to be answered. It’s a reminder that the discipline of science is a journey, rather than a destination.
The confirmed presence of caribou in Georgia at two different points in the Late Pleistocene creates a whirlwind of questions begging to be answered. It’s a reminder that the discipline of science is a journey, rather than a destination.
Papers covered in this article.
| martin_sneed_reindeer__1_.pdf |
| russell_thermal_enclave_2009.pdf |
| voorhies_1974_peidmont.pdf |
References
- Martin, Robin A.; Sneed, Joel M.; Late Pleistocene Records of Caribou and Elk From Georgia & Alabama, Georgia Journal of Science 47:117-122, 1989
- Russell, Dale A.; Rich, Frederick J.; Schneider, Vicent; Lynch-Stieglitz, A Warm Thermal Enclave in the Late Pleistocene of the Southeastern United States, Biological Reviews, 84, pp.173-202, 2009
- Voorhies, M. R.; Pleistocene Vertebrates with Boreal Affinities in the Georgia Piedmont, Quaternary Research, Volume 4, Issue 1, Pg 85-93, March 1974.
