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Then scientists added climate data to their findings. They made a table
of the climate and listed the animals that lived during that time. They
observed how the numbers and kinds of animals changed as the climate
changed over 10,000 years. They discovered that some kinds of small
mammals were present only during times when the climate was warmer.
When the climate was colder, different small mammals were common
in the area.
Rebecca Terry was one of the biologists studying Homestead Cave. She
was a student in college at the time. Her findings are helping biologists
predict how climate change in the future will impact the small mammals
in the Great Basin. This information will help scientists develop plans to
protect the habitat of the animals living in the Great Basin.
Biologist Rebecca Terry studies owl pellets to reconstruct
ancient environments in the Great Basin.
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