Table 2.
Plant and animal remains identified from the paleofecal samples
| Plant order/family genera (common name) | Molecular
|
Macro
|
Animal family/genera (common name) | Molecular
|
Macro
|
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | II | III | I | II | III | I | II | III | I | II | III | ||
| Asterales/asteraceae (sunflower) Helianthus, many genera | 7 | 3 | 4 | Antilocapridae Antilocapra (pronghorn) | 2 | ||||||||
| Caryophyllales/cactaceae (cacti) Opuntia | √b | √ | Bovidae (sheep)gOvis | 11 | |||||||||
| Ericales/fouquieriaceae (ocotillo) Foquieria | 1 | Cricetidaee (packrats, cotton rats) Sigmodon, Neotoma | √ | √ | √ | ||||||||
| Fabales/fabaceae (legumes) Acacia, Prosopis, Sophora, Mimosa | 7 | √c | Leporidae (cottontail)hSylvilagus | 1 | |||||||||
| Fagales/fagaceae (oak) Quercus | 7 | 1 | Osteichthyes (bony fish) | √ | |||||||||
| Liliales/lilliaceae (lily) Yucca, Allium, Dasylirion, Nolina | 10 | 4 | √a | √ | √ | Sciuridae (squirrels)fCitellus | √ | ||||||
| Rhamnales/rhamnaceae (buckthorn) Karwinskia, Condalia, Colubrina | 10 | ||||||||||||
| Rosales/ulmaceae (elm) Celtis | 8 | 12 | 5 | √d | |||||||||
| Solonales/solanaceae (nightshade) Nicotiana, Physalis, Lycium, Datura | 6 | ||||||||||||
Plant (families/orders) and animal (families/genera) remains found by molecular and microscopic analysis for the three paleofecal samples (I, II, III). The assignment of possible plant genera is based on contemporary flora of the lower Pecos region, Texas, and comparison with previous work (17). The number of clones assigned to each taxon are given. Taxa identified morphologically were:
Allium sp., Agave sp., and Yucca sp.;
Opuntia sp.;
Prosopis sp.;
Celtis sp.;
Neotoma and Sigmodon sp.;
Citellus sp.;
not found near the site at present, but previously present in the Guadalupe and Chisos mountains;
no macroremains in these paleofecal specimens, although commonly found in other Hinds Cave paleofeces (17).