PRIOVAC: a paleontological resource inventory of Virginia caves

An inventory of the paleontological resources in Virginia caves was initiated by the authors in 1996. Invertebrate and vertebrate fossil occurrences in Virginia were examined to understand the range and scope of fossils present in caves to aid in determination as to what should constitute cave significance in the documentation of paleontological resources for Virginia’s Significant Cave List. This cave study reviewed previously known vertebrate fossil sites and new vertebrate and invertebrate fossil sites before focusing on vertebrate fossil occurrences and the evidence of how they came to be deposited. As part of the inventory, to address the question of the percentage of Virginia caves that are paleontologically significant, 229 Virginia caves were examined to identify 100 caves with exposed non-human bones and/or teeth. Thirteen of the 100 caves yielded extinct or significant extirpated taxa, including one determined to have been excavated by E.D. Cope in 1867. Thirteen percent of the 100 bone caves examined or 5.7 % of the 229 study caves were documented as paleontologically significant. A selection of vertebrate cave fossils were radiocarbon dated and ranged in age from 11,986 +/- 76 to 39,300 +/- 1100 YBP. Uranium-thorium dating at one site suggests the fossil were older than 300,000 years and may be older than 450,000 YBP, indicating the age of this bone deposit is Pleistocene (Irvingtonian). A total of 43 cave sites were documented as paleontologically significant in the inventory and reported in Appendix C. PRIOVAC was recognized as an NSS Project from 2001 through 2006 and progress talks were presented at NSS Conventions in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, and a version of this summary in 2023 with abstracts published in the NSS Journal of Cave and Karst Studies and talks at the UIS Congresses in 1997 (Switzerland), 2001 (Brazil), and 2009 (US) published as papers in the UIS Proceedings. This paper is a summary report on PRIOVAC and the first publication of some of the bone dates and the U-Th dates.