A nearly complete skeleton of a red fox dating back to the Ice Age has been unearthed in a cave in northeastern Utah.
A team of scientists from the Utah State Park Service and the USDA Forest Service's Ashley National Forest, along with a group of Utah cavers, made the discovery at White Rocks Cave in the Uinta Mountains, about 8,600 feet above sea level.
“This specimen is one of the earliest directly dated records of a red fox species,” said Greg McDonald, a former National Park Service paleontologist and Ice Age mammal expert. “It's the first in Utah, but one of the oldest in North America.”
Radiocarbon dating revealed that the fox skeleton was approximately 26,000 years old. In other words, it existed in caves long before humans began farming and long before the Great Pyramid of Giza was built.
“It was an amazing specimen,” said John Foster of the Utah Natural History Fieldhouse State Park Museum, lead organizer of the project. “Almost the entire animal was lying where it had been for a long time and was well preserved, with almost all bones intact. Such specimens are not often seen.”
According to Utah wildlife officials, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the most widespread terrestrial carnivore in the world.
They appeared in North America from Eurasia between 300,000 and 130,000 years ago. Since then, most North American red foxes have lived in the western and northern parts of the continent.
Utah State Parks said the body was found in a remote area deep inside the cave, lying partially articulated on its left side. After a museum-wide vote, the name “Roxy” was chosen.
The team of paleontologists said it was unclear how the fox ended up so deep inside the cave.
“Perhaps the most common question is how the red fox managed to get nearly a half-mile into the cave in complete darkness,” said David, a geologist with the Ashley National Forest who helped plan and lead the expedition.・Mr. Herron said.
Wildlife officials said the fox skeleton was discovered several years ago but was not recovered because the fragile bones were difficult to remove from the cave and mountain. After further planning, the team decided to participate this summer.
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It took the nine-person team nearly 16 hours to complete the entire expedition.
Wildlife officials said not many Ice Age animals have been found in northeastern Utah.
The only major discovery before Roxy was a camel shank bone discovered near Vernal in the 1980s.
After scientists study the bones, some will be displayed at the Utah Natural History Fieldhouse State Park Museum in Vernal.
“Roxy has been in total darkness for 26,000 years, but now she's finally seen the light of day,” Foster said. “We look forward to sharing her with our visitors in the near future.”
