Homestead cave Ichthyofauna

Biological evidence on the climatic and hydrographic history of the intermountain region would be much richer, if we had more than the present dribble of paleontological data on the fishes (Hubbs and Miller, 1948, p. 25). In this passage from their landmark synthesis of historical fish biogeography in the Great Basin, Hubbs and Miller lament the dearth of available fish fossil evidence and suggest that a far more detailed picture of past climates and hydrography would emerge were this situation to change. To Hubbs and Miller, the geographic distributions, both past and present, held the "least assailable" evidence of past hydrographic connections and climatic history of the Great Basin since "...fishes appear to occur only in habitats which they have been able to reach through surface water connections, by means of either active or passive migration. The dispersal of fishes is therefore closely linked with the history of water courses." The key assumption of this approach followed the earlier pioneering work of Jordan (1905) and was succinctly paraphrased by Smith, G. R. (in press): "fish are where they can swim and stop there.