Mammals of Mesa Verde National Park, ColoradoAnderson, Sydney
Science
Mammals of Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Anderson, Sydney
Mammals -- Colorado -- Mesa Verde National Park
Five considerations prompted me to undertake a study of the mammals of
Mesa Verde National Park: First, the relative lack of disturbance;
second, the interesting position, zoogeographically, of the Mesa that
extends as a spur of higher land from the mountains of southwestern
Colorado and that is almost surrounded by arid country typical of much
of the Southwest; third, the discovery in the Park of _Microtus
mexicanus_, a species of the Southwest until then not known from
Colorado; fourth, the co-operative spirit of the personnel at the Park
when I visited there in 1955; and finally, the possibility of making a
contribution not only to our knowledge of mammals, but to the
interpretive program of the Park Service.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. Map of the "four corners" region showing the
position of Mesa Verde National Park (in black) relative to the mass of
the Southern Rocky Mountains above 8000 feet elevation (indicated by
stippled border) to the northeast in Colorado, and the positions of
other isolated mountains in the region.]
A Faculty Research Grant from The University of Kansas provided some
secretarial help and field expenses for August and early September,
1956, when my wife, Justine, and I spent our vacation enjoyably
collecting and studying animals in the Park. The co-operation of Dr. E.
Raymond Hall is greatly appreciated; a grant to him from the American
Heart Association provided field expenses for work by Mr. J.R. Alcorn,
collector for The University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, in
1957.
Mr. Harold R. Shepherd of Mancos, Colorado (Senior Game Biologist for
the State of Colorado, Department of Game and Fish), provided advice in
the field, helped in identifying plants, and saved specimens of rodents
(in 1958 and 1959) taken in his studies of the effect of rodents on
browse utilized by deer. Mr. J.D. Hart, Assistant Director of the
Department of Game and Fish, issued a letter of authority to collect in
Colorado; and Superintendent O.W. Carlson approved my appointment as a
collaborator. Mr. "Don" Watson, then Park Archeologist, and Mrs. Jean M.
Pinkley, now Park Archeologist, assisted us in 1956, and since then have
provided advice and assistance, and have reviewed the manuscript of this
report.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account