SAN ANTONIO – A recent discovery and recovery effort at Natural Bridge Caverns is giving insight into prehistoric felines that could have roamed the San Antonio and South Texas area centuries ago.
Wildcat bones and tracks were discovered in the caves over the past few years dating back to 2019. The most recent discovery was last year.
In an effort to preserve the remains, paleontologists from the University of Texas at Austin and a Natural Bridge Caverns caving team went back into the caves this month to excavate the fossils.
Part of the expedition involved repelling up to 70 feet into a deep pit named the Inferno Room, which has the remains of at least one cat. Another deep pit named the Dungeon has remains as well.
The cat bones in both pits were estimated to be up to 20,000 years old and were embedded in cave formations.
The paw prints were covered in a soil crust that suggests they are similarly ancient.
After days of cave diving, the team identified and retrieved two separate fossil remains from the Inferno Room. Both appear to be adult wildcats.
The bones were packed for carbon dating and shipped to a lab where they will be studied by John Moretti, a doctoral student at UT-Austin, who led the fossil collection effort.
The process of determining how old the fossils are or whether they are related to any existing wildcats in Texas is expected to take a month.
The fossils and prints could be linked to a number of potential options from bobcats to margays to jaguarundis.
Researchers and the cave team are also attempting to determine how these ancient wildcats entered the caverns to begin with.
Part of the expedition focused on an area with a second set of cat tracks to see if they can determine a possible spot where the cats may have entered the cave.
A previous area that was accessible thousands of years ago that is now blocked, leaving researchers to wonder if there is another opening at the caverns that has not been discovered.
Moretti said cats are solitary creatures that makes them rare fossil finds.
Scientists hope to learn more about the diversity, distribution and behavior of these wildcats and how they compare with today’s species.
A KSAT crew was invited to be part of the expedition with the Natural Bridge Caverns caving team. Below are some photos of their findings.
(Image courtesy: Natural Bridge Caverns.) (Chris Higgins Photography)(Image courtesy: Natural Bridge Caverns.) (Chris Higgins Photography)(Image courtesy: Natural Bridge Caverns/Chris Higgins.) (Copyright 2023 by KSAT – All rights reserved.)(Image courtesy: Natural Bridge Caverns/Chris Higgins.) (Copyright 2023 by KSAT – All rights reserved.)(Image courtesy: Natural Bridge Caverns/Chris Higgins.) (Copyright 2023 by KSAT – All rights reserved.)(Image courtesy: Natural Bridge Caverns/Chris Higgins.) (Copyright 2023 by KSAT – All rights reserved.)