Colorado Cave Yields Trove of Ice Age Mammal Fossils

Ancient, fingernail-size rodent skulls plucked from the dirt with tweezers are forcing scientists to rethink their assumptions about the arrival of much larger mammals in North America.

In recent years, bones from the world's oldest mountain goat, coyote and black-footed ferret—and several teeth from one of the oldest cheetahs ever found—have been pulled from Porcupine Cave in Colorado, said Russ Graham, chief curator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Subtle evolutionary changes in the tiny prehistoric rodents allowed scientists to date the larger animals. Those studies suggest that some Ice Age beasts were here hundreds of thousand of years earlier than scientists had thought, Graham said. It's even possible that some evolved here, then spread to the rest of the world.

The conventional view is that many Ice Age mammals came to North America from Eurasia and elsewhere relatively recently—tens of thousands of years ago, not hundreds of thousands or a million.

But at Porcupine Cave, researchers have found a mountain goat, a black-footed ferret, a coyote and a cheetah that date to 780,000 years ago, 1 million years ago, 1.5 million years ago, and 1 million years ago, respectively, Graham said.

Kentucky Boy In Cave Rescued

A teenager trapped overnight in an isolated cave was rescued Monday and airlifted to a hospital. The 15-year-old boy fell from a ledge into a 25-foot chasm and was unable to climb out because of his injuries, said Cave City fire Chief Kenneth Moulder. The boy, identified as Tyler Branstetter, was pulled from the cave about 9:15 a.m. The boy suffered a possible broken arm and leg, and also received cuts and bruises.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Malaysian researchers should follow up on cave paintings

Thanks to the discoveries of French speleologist Luc-Henri Fage, in Kalimantan, the island of Borneo is now credited with hosting the earliest prehistoric cave paintings.

I would like to congratulate him and his team for this extraordinary contribution in the field of archaeology.

In doing so, I would also request him to look at these paintings from a special, peaceful Islamic perspective, and to accept participation from researchers in Malaysia and Indonesia, not by way of interference but as a measure of commitment to such initiatives.

The recurrent theme of the Fage caves is embedded in a human hand, stencilled on walls an ceilings.

The hand bears important dots, lines and patterns.

It will take time and eminent expertise to get down to the official meaning behind these drawings.

But the ball has been set rolling by Lafarge.

Both Malaysia and Indonesia should take notice, and consider this as a landmark in their archaeological position.

In time, these findings will lead to new archaeological truths and magnify the name of a partnerless God in the universe of early man.

Source: M. Yusuff Woozeer. New Straits Times [Kuala Lumpur] 07 June 2001: 11.

Bodies Of Cave Divers Found

The bodies of two Georgia scuba divers were found more than 500 feet inside a treacherous spring cave, police said. Mark Anthony Granger, 19, and William Anthony Ridenour, 34, both of Kingsland, Ga., received their diving certifications Sunday and were on a dive with their instructor when they died, authorities said. Rescue divers found Granger's body Monday morning in 40 feet of water 500 feet inside the Royal Springs cave, police said. Ridenour's body, which Hall said was hard to find because of silt in the water, was later recovered about 50 feet farther in.

Source: Orlando Sentinel