Scientists Recover 'Roxy,' 26,000-Year-Old Ice Age Fox Skeleton From Uinta Mountains Cave

Dec 31, 2024, 05:03 PM

A team of scientists from the Utah Division of State Parks and the USDA Forest Service Ashley National Forest, along with a group of Utah cavers, have recovered a nearly complete skeleton of a 26,000-year-old red fox from Whiterocks Cave in the Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah. The skeleton, named 'Roxy,' was found in a less accessible part of the cave at about 8,600 feet elevation and dates back to just before the last glacial maximum during the Ice Ages. Roxy's discovery marks the most complete skeleton of an Ice Age mammal found in the region, and it is among the oldest directly dated records of the red fox species in North America. The recovery process was challenging, involving a 16-hour expedition to navigate the cave's difficult conditions and safely extract the fragile bones. Roxy's skeleton had been lying in the cave for more than 10,000 years when humans first started farming and over 20,000 years before the Giza pyramids were built. Once fully cleaned and stabilized, some of Roxy's bones will be displayed at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum in Vernal.