Geographically, the Edwards Plateau is the heart of Texas.
This geological formation stretches from the southernmost region of the Great Plains, from San Angelo to Austin and San Antonio to Del Rio. It’s proved to be a rich resource for scientists of all ilk, including paleontologists, helping them chart the extinction of mammoths, saber-tooth cats and other megafauna living in Ice Age grasslands.
However, until recently, this information was only gathered from dry caves. New explorations of water caves in the area have only recently begun, and will certainly add volumes to both the general knowledge and scholarship about the megafauna that once roamed Central Texas, not to mention traces of flora that will help us better understand the ecology of the area during the Pleistocene Era.
This Saturday, John Moretti of the University of Texas at Austin will discuss this new area of research in a public talk at the Phil Hardberger Park Conservancy. His work in the Texas water caves puts him at the nexus of vertebrate paleontology, zooarchaeology and conservation biology.
Moretti’s discussion, “Exploring for Ice Age Fossils in the Water Caves of Central Texas,” will provide a brief introduction to the caves, the challenges of working in these spaces, his latest fossil discoveries and their place in the Anthropocene.
Free, 1 p.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, Phil Hardberger Park Conservancy, Urban Ecology Center Gathering Hall, 8400 NW Military Highway, (210) 492-7472, philhardbergerpark.org.
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This article appears in Dec 26, 2024 – Jan 1, 2025.