Shelter Cave is an archaeological and paleontological site located in Doña Ana County, New Mexico.
The site is a rock shelter well up on the western side of Bishop's Cap, an outlier of the Organ Mountains. It lies about 450 ft below the summit according to Brattstrom (1964); this would make its elevation about 1500 m. It was originally excavated by the Los Angeles County Museum (LACM) c. 1929 (LACMVP site number 1010). Specimens collected from talus, fill, or other areas are labeled 1010 Dump or 1010D. Specimens collected by Conkling are labeled C 1010. The shelter was excavated in 5-foot sections.
Brattstrom (1964) had access to the original field notes. Two profiles were given. One in Sec. S-5-7, from bottom to top: rock bottom of the shelter, 5" angular fragments, 8" smooth concretionary limestone fragments mixed with brown dust, 6" of ash mixed with angular fragments, 10" of layered gray (volcanic?) ash grading into a layer of brown, 4" of hard burned guano, 4" of unconsolidated bat guano, top. Most bones were found in brown and gray ash. Another section 53" thick, from bottom up: floor of the shelter, 17" of broken concretionary limestone fragments, 16" of brown ash, 12" of gray layered ash grading into the brown below it, 8" of bat guano, top.
Brattstrom (1964:95) gives several quotes from the original field notes: Sloth in place, S-5-4 in upper guano layer and in direct association with bits of knots of vegetative material. S-6-5, sloth bone in upper yellow layer. Mummified rat and snake on top of rocks in bat guano. S-5-6, S-5-5, horse jaws in brown ash. S-5-6, sloth skull fragment in gray ash below overhanging rock. In same section above rock was an Indian grindstone. S-4-7, beads and sandal found beneath guano layer and also below overhanging rock. S-4-9, badger and deer skulls in gray ash.
Rancholabrean (late Pleistocene) and Holocene. One date on sloth dung (Van Devender and Spaulding 1979) of 11,330 ± 370 BP (Before Present). Material has continued to accumulate up to the present. Thompson et al. (1980) list three dates for sloth dung, including that above; the others are 12,330 ± 190 and 12,430 ± 250. They also list dates on desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) scutes and bone (11,280 to 12,520) and dates for middens of packrats in the shelter (11,850 to 31,250).
Fosberg (1936) lists plants identified from Shelter Cave deposits, but without provenance data; they likely are Holocene. He also mentions that there are coprolites of either sloth or horse. Thompson et al. (1980) point out that vegetation from pre-full-glacial middens from the shelter are more mesic than the terminal Pleistocene ones that lack oak, and pinyon pine is rare.
This is the type locality of Stockoceros conklingi (Conkling's pronghorn).
The faunal list includes one or more citations for each taxon. UTEP indicates specimens are deposited in the Resource Collections of the Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens, University of Texas at El Paso.
The Los Angeles County Museum has a large collection from Shelter Cave, including the type of Stockoceros conklingi. Most of the material has yet to be studied.
AMPHIBIA
Scaphiopus cf. couchii Brattstrom 1964
Rana cf. pipiens Brattstrom 1964
REPTILIA
Gopherus agassizii Brattstrom 1961, 1964; Van Devender et al. 1976; UTEP
Eumeces obsoletus Brattstrom 1964
Phrynosoma cornutum Brattstrom 1964
Crotaphytus collaris Brattstrom 1964
Coluber constrictor Brattstrom 1964
Masticophis flagellum Brattstrom 1964
Lampropeltis getula Brattstrom 1964
Pituophis melanoleucus Brattstrom 1964
Elaphe subocularis Brattstrom 1964
Trimorphodon biscutatus UTEP
Crotalus atrox Brattstrom 1964
AVES
Anser ? albifrons Howard and Miller 1933
Anas acuta Howard and Miller 1933
Anas crecca Howard and Miller 1933
Cathartes aura Howard and Miller 1933
Breagyps clarki Howard 1971 (Specimen reported as Gymnogyps californianus by Howard and Miller 1933)
Accipiter striatus Howard and Miller 1933
Buteo jamaicensis Howard and Miller 1933
Buteo swainsoni Howard and Miller 1933
Buteo ? albonotatus Howard and Miller 1933
Buteogallus fragilis Howard and Miller 1933
Aquila chrysaetos Howard and Miller 1933
Polyborus plancus prelutosus Howard and Miller 1933
Falco peregrinus Howard and Miller 1933
Falco sparverius Howard and Miller 1933
Centrocercus urophasianus Howard and Miller 1933
Meleagris crassipes Rea 1980
Callipepla squamata Howard and Miller 1933
Lophortyx sp. Howard and Miller 1933
Oreortyx pictus Harris 1985; Howard and Miller 1933
Porzana carolina Howard and Miller 1933
Fulica americana Howard and Miller 1933
Larus sp. Howard and Miller 1933
Zenaida macroura Howard and Miller 1933
Geococcyx californianus conklingi Harris and Crews 1983; Howard and Miller 1933
Geococcyx californianus californianus Harris 1985; Howard and Miller 1933
Tyto alba Howard and Miller 1933
Otus asio Howard and Miller 1933
Bubo virginianus Howard and Miller 1933
Athene cunicularia Howard and Miller 1933
Aegolius funereus Howard and Miller 1933
Aegolius acadicus Howard and Miller 1933
Aeronautes saxatalis Howard and Miller 1933
Colaptes auratus Howard and Miller 1933
Melanerpes formicivorus Howard and Miller 1933
Sayornis saya Howard and Miller 1933
Eremophila alpestris Howard and Miller 1933
Pica pica Howard and Miller 1933
Corvus corax Howard and Miller 1933
Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus Howard and Miller 1933
Catherpes mexicanus Howard and Miller 1933
Salpinctes obsoletus Howard and Miller 1933
Turdus migratorius Howard and Miller 1933
Sialia sp. Howard and Miller 1933
Toxostoma sp. Howard and Miller 1933
Oreoscoptes montanus Howard and Miller 1933
Lanius ludovicianus Howard and Miller 1933
Molothrus ater Howard and Miller 1933
Pyelorhamphus molothroides Howard and Miller 1933
Carpodacus mexicanus Howard and Miller 1933
Pipilo erythrophthalmus Howard and Miller 1933
Pipilo fuscus Howard and Miller 1933
Calamospiza melanocorys Howard and Miller 1933
Amphispiza bilineata — very recently entombed according to Howard and Miller 1933.
MAMMALIA
Notiosorex crawfordi Harris 1985
Nothrotheriops shastensis Harris 1985
Lepus californicus UTEP
? Geomyidae Harris 1985
Neotoma cinerea Harris 1985; UTEP
Microtus cf. montanus Smartt 1977; UTEP
Canis latrans Harris 1985
Urocyon/Vulpes Harris 1985
Taxidea taxus Harris 1985
Spilogale sp. Harris 1985 as Spilogale putorius
Mephitis mephitis Harris 1985
Lynx rufus Harris 1985
Equus sp. (large) Harris 1985
Equus sp. (small) Harris 1985; UTEP
Camelops sp. Stock 1932a
Odocoileus sp. Harris 1985
Stockoceros conklingi Stock 1930
Capromeryx sp. Harris 1985
Ovis canadensis Harris 1985