Titan’s Shelter (Site F)
Basic information
Sample name: Titan’s Shelter (Site F)
Reference: A. Goede and P. Murray. 1979. Late Pleistocene bone deposits from a cave in the Florentine Valley, Tasmania. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 113:39-52 [ER 3694]
Geography
Country: Australia
State: Tasmania
Coordinate: 42° 34' 57" S, 146° 28' 9" E
Coordinate basis: stated in text
Time interval: Late Pleistocene
Section: 3696
Unit number: 1
Unit order: above to below
Max Ma: 0.03765
Min Ma: 0.03561
Age basis: radiocarbon (uncalibrated)
Geography comments: "Titan's Shelter is located just below the crest of a limestone hill at 400 m elevation within the Florentine River valley, 23 km northwest of Maydena, Tasmania".
Three M. giganteus titan bones from Site F were dated by Cosgrove et al. (2010), including one from the original 1979 excavation. The resulting radiocarbon dates ranged from 37,650 ± 470 to 35,610 ± 360 BP.
Three M. giganteus titan bones from Site F were dated by Cosgrove et al. (2010), including one from the original 1979 excavation. The resulting radiocarbon dates ranged from 37,650 ± 470 to 35,610 ± 360 BP.
Environment
Lithology: limestone
Taphonomic context: carnivore accumulation,cave
Habitat comments: "The cave has developed in a well-bedded Ordovician limestone".
"Site F consists of a remnant undissected cave fill against the west wall of the entrance chamber near its lowest point".
"The deposit consists of an accumulation of limestone fragments. The fragments are contained in a sparse matrix of reddish brown clay-rich sediment, grading downwards into an open accumulation of angular rock fragments coated with calcium carbonate".
"Most of the bones are from the top 40 cm of the deposit. The bones have been extensively chewed and fragmented suggesting derivation from a carnivore's den - probably occupied by Sarcophilus".
"Site F consists of a remnant undissected cave fill against the west wall of the entrance chamber near its lowest point".
"The deposit consists of an accumulation of limestone fragments. The fragments are contained in a sparse matrix of reddish brown clay-rich sediment, grading downwards into an open accumulation of angular rock fragments coated with calcium carbonate".
"Most of the bones are from the top 40 cm of the deposit. The bones have been extensively chewed and fragmented suggesting derivation from a carnivore's den - probably occupied by Sarcophilus".
Methods
Life forms: rodents,other large mammals,other small mammals,birds
Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash
Sample size: 401 specimens
Years: 1979
Sampling comments: "Excavations were made at three sites (E, F and G). Sites E and F were located in the entrance chamber, with Site G in the second chamber".
While vertebrate remains were recovered from all three sites, only minimum numbers were quantified for Site G due to the remains being small, highly altered and mostly unidentifiable. Site E yielded insufficient faunal material for analysis, leaving only Site F with the remains quantified in number of identified specimens.
Bones were apparently sieved, but no specific details are provided.
While vertebrate remains were recovered from all three sites, only minimum numbers were quantified for Site G due to the remains being small, highly altered and mostly unidentifiable. Site E yielded insufficient faunal material for analysis, leaving only Site F with the remains quantified in number of identified specimens.
Bones were apparently sieved, but no specific details are provided.
Metadata
Sample number: 3881
Contributor: Benjamin Carter
Enterer: Benjamin Carter
Created: 2022-02-04 14:55:11
Modified: 2023-04-29 05:38:49
Abundance distribution
7 species
1 singleton
total count 401
geometric series index: 8.5
Fisher's α: 1.205
geometric series k: 0.4216
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.6925
Shannon's H: 1.4055
Good's u: 0.9975
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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Register
| Falco sp. | 10 | |
| Dasyurus viverrinus | 120 | |
| Sthenurus sp. | 1 | |
| †Macropus titan | 19 | |
| Thylogale billardierii | 29 | 5.1 kg |
| Notamacropus rufogriseus | 178 | 14 kg |
| "Macropus rufogriseus" | ||
| Mastacomys fuscus | 44 | |