UT AUSTIN: UT Paleontologists Collecting Ancient Cat Fossils from Natural Bridge Caverns

In January, paleontologists from The University of Texas at Austin will be heading deep within areas of Natural Bridge Caverns that are not accessible to the public to collect a cache of ancient wildcat fossils that could help researchers learn more about wild Texas felines – which are rare and mysterious in both the prehistoric past and present.

The scientists don’t know yet what species the cat fossils are from. They do know they were small – about the size of today’s domestic cats, according to John Moretti, a doctoral student at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences who is leading the fossil collection effort.

Moretti said that the cat tracks on the floor of a cavern chamber immediately brought to mind his own cats creeping around the cave... Read more