The Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Stick-Nest Rat Middens in Australia
Issue Date
1999-01-01Keywords
LeporillusMuridae
arid environment
paleoecology
spatial variations
paleoenvironment
temporal distribution
Theria
Eutheria
Myomorpha
Rodentia
terrestrial environment
mass spectra
spectra
Australia
Mammalia
Australasia
Holocene
Chordata
Tetrapoda
Vertebrata
paleoclimatology
Cenozoic
Quaternary
C 14
carbon
dates
isotopes
radioactive isotopes
absolute age
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Pearson, S., Lawson, E., Head, L., McCarthy, L., & Dodson, J. (1999). The spatial and temporal patterns of stick-nest rat middens in Australia. Radiocarbon, 41(3), 295-308.Journal
RadiocarbonAdditional Links
http://radiocarbon.webhost.uits.arizona.edu/Abstract
The spatial and temporal distribution of 145 radiocarbon dates on 66 Australian stick-nest rat middens (Muridae: Leporillus spp.) range from modern to 10,900 +/90 BP. As in American packrat middens, age frequency follows a logarithmic decay, both continentally and at major sites. This is probably a result of natural decay processes. Unlike American middens of similar age, relatively few range changes in plant distribution have been detected in Australia. The distribution of 14C ages and the associated midden materials provide important paleoenvironmental information from the arid interior of Australia. The middens record subtle changes in vegetation and dramatic changes in the fauna unlike those interpreted from sites on the coastal rim or the southeastern periphery of the arid zone.Type
Articletext
Language
enISSN
0033-8222ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1017/S0033822200057155