A single foot bone from an indeterminate species of Equus. Invertebrate Fauna Fossil Insects A total of 99 taxa of insect were identified from samples spanning the interval of 125,000 to 77,000 years ago. These fossils are the oldest known Pleistocene high elevation insect faunas from the Rocky Mountains. The fossil assemblages were dominated by beetles, ants, midges, and caddisflies, which were used to document the climatic oscillations during the time represented by the samples. Mollusks and Ostracodes Sediments containing terrestrial and aquatic mollusks and ostracods span 130,000 to 87,000 years ago. These sediments produced 12 identifiable taxa of terrestrial gastropods, 5 taxa of aquatic bivalves, 8 taxa of aquatic gastropods, along with 7 taxa of ostracodes. These taxa indicate that the ancient lakeshore was a shallow, well-vegetated, fresh water wetland during the time periods sampled. Fossil Flora A diverse assemblage of plant macrofossils and pollen was collected during Snowmastodon. Approximately 99 taxa of plant macrofossil, including seeds, leaves, needles, cones, twigs and wood were identified. Over 300 specimens of fossil wood were collected ranging in size from small stems to logs greater than 50 cm in diameter and more than 10 m in length. The majority of wood fossils came from the “beach” horizon at the lake margin. Species of fir, Douglas fir, spruce and pine were represented. The pollen collected includes species of sagebrush, spruce, pine, oak, Douglas fir, fir, juniper, as well as herbaceous and aquatic plants. See also Denver Museum of Nature and Science List of fossil sites Pitkin County, Colorado Pleistocene megafauna Snowmass Village, Colorado Southern Rocky Mountains References External links PBS Nova program on the Snowmass excavation project, broadcast February 1, 2012 Geography of Pitkin County, Colorado Cenozoic paleontological sites of North America Paleontology in Colorado 2010 in paleontology