An expansion of late Pleistocene microvertebrate fossil remains from Clark Quarry, coastal Georgia

The late Pleistocene of North America witnesses the extinction of over seventy percent of large mammal species (>45 kg). Although the ecological mechanisms for this extinction have been heavily debated for decades, a clear explanation has yet to be achieved. One area of particular interest to addressing these questions is coastal Georgia given its removal from glacial dynamics during this period. In this study, we present a microvertebrate assemblage from a locality called Clark Quarry in Brunswick, Georgia dating to ~60,000 years ago. This assemblage builds on existing microvertebrate collections from this locality and includes and additional 15,000 new samples. This collection is dominated by fish remains (N= ~7,000), but also includes the remains of reptiles (N= ~50), amphibians (N=<10) and other large vertebrate fragments (N= ~5,000). Of particular interest are new rodent dental elements including molars and incisors (N=23). Over the coming months, this collection will be further investigated for insights into site formation processes as well as paleoecological implications, thereby contributing to ongoing conversations focused the ecological dynamics of late Pleistocene extinctions in North America.