Response of Mammals to Late Quaternary Global Warming

从密苏里州南部到爱荷华州北部沿密西西比河中部流域分布的14个地点的哺乳动物化石将被用来重建过去20 ka的古气候变化。为了完成这个项目，将对来自7个地点的动物遗骸（约4500-5000个标本）进行鉴定和分析。来自四个地点的化石已经被识别和分析，电子目录中的数据可以被捕获用于本研究的分析。对另外四个场址进行了分析和出版；他们的数据将从文献中编码。地形学调查将有助于确定动物样本的集水区的大小。放射性碳测年将建立绝对的年表。骨日期将基于两种氨基酸部分（脯氨酸和羟脯氨酸），以确保日期的准确性，并直接确定单个小型哺乳动物物种的日期。定量的古气候重建将基于气候空间同情（CSS）和响应面分析（RSA）。这些技术，或其变体，分别提供了甲虫和植被的古气候解释。将这两种技术用于哺乳动物数据库的比较应能阐明地方和区域差异。哺乳动物的RSA将直接与花粉的RSA相比较；因此，它应该提供另一种检查本地和区域气候模式的方法。该项目的结果将记录哺乳动物在第四纪晚期对全球变暖的反应，但它们也应该有助于了解未来气候变化的潜在影响。

Mammal fossils from 14 sites distributed along the central Mississippi River valley from southern Missouri to northern Iowa will be used to reconstruct paleoclimatic changes for the last 20 ka. To accomplish this project faunal remains (ca. 4500-5000 specimens) from seven sites will be identified and analyzed. Fossils from four sites have already been identified and analyzed and data from electronic catalogs can be captured for analysis in this study. An additional four sites have been analyzed and published; their data will be encoded from the literature. Taphonomic investigations will assist in defining the size of the catchment areas for the faunal samples. Radiocarbon dates will established absolute chronologies. Bone dates will be based on two amino acid fractions (proline and hydroxyproline) to insure the accuracy of dates and to directly date individual species of small mammals. Quantitative paleoclimatic reconstructions will be based upon both Climate Space Sympatry (CSS) and Response Surface Analysis (RSA). These techniques, or variations thereof, have provided paleoclimatic interpretations of beetles and vegetation, respectively. Comparisons of these two techniques for the mammalian database should elucidate local and regional variations. The mammalian RSA will be directly comparable to the pollen RSA; therefore, it should provide another means of examining local and regional climate patterns. Results from this project will document mammalian responses to global warming in the late Quaternary, but they should also facilitate knowledge of potential affects for future climate change.