A LATE PLEISTOCENE VERTEBRATE ASSEMBLAGE FROM THE ST MARKS RIVER, WAKULLA-COUNTY, FLORIDA

The St. Marks River in the central panhandle of Florida contains a well known, apparently late Pleistocene vertebrate assemblage that has been only superficially examined and reported. Previous collections are reviewed, and we report on new fossil materials recently obtained. Included are 37 species of mammals, 26 birds, 13 reptiles, 2 amphibians, and 9 fish. Of these, 14 species of mammals and 2 reptiles are limited solely to the Pleistocene. The fauna is mixed and reflects heterochronous deposition over time beginning at least in the late Pleistocene (Wisconsinan) and extending through the Recent. The species present reflect mixed woodland and grassland terrestrial communities as well as mixed estuarine and freshwater aquatic communities. The St. Marks River assemblage compares well to other contemporaneous late Pleistocene Florida panhandle sites. One extralimital taxa is reported, Pylodictic cf. P. olivaris, the flathead catfish, whose natural range has not been reported east of the Mobile Bay drainage basin.