Riverbluff Cave

{{Short description|Cave in Missouri, U.S.}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} The '''Riverbluff Cave''' is a paleontological site discovered in the United States, near Springfield, Missouri. The entrance is filled with stalactites, stalagmites and columns. The cave is approximately 830,000 years old (making it the oldest known fossil cave site in the US<ref>[http://muconf.missouri.edu/interface/Interface_a/sessions_friday_a.html Return to Riverbluff Cave, Matt Forir, Springfield Park Board, Becky Baker, Missouri State University]</ref>) and {{cvt|2000|ft}} long, featuring Pleistocene fossils, notably of the short-faced bear (''Arctodus simus'') the largest bear species on the Earth (around 5–6 feet tall at the shoulder and weighing in the area of {{cvt|2000|lb}}).<ref name=Figueiridio_et_al_2010>{{cite journal|title=Demythologizing Arctodus simus, the 'short-faced' long-legged and predaceous bear that never was|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|year=2010|volume=30|issue=1|pages=262–275|doi=10.1080/02724630903416027|author=Figueirido|s2cid=85649497|display-authors=etal|hdl=10630/33066|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

The cave is located in the widespread karst landscape of the Springfield Plateau of the western Missouri Ozarks and developed within the soluble Mississippian limestones of the region. It was unveiled accidentally on September 11, 2001, when engineers were blasting for a new road..<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.riverbluffcave.com/category/history|title=Riverbluff Cave: History|publisher=Riverbluff Cave|access-date=2009-08-30}}</ref>

The cave is not open to the public, but has virtual tours on YouTube<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WbUq6jCW7o |title=River Bluff Cave part 2 |date=2025-04-24 |last=Ozarks First |access-date=2025-07-26 |via=YouTube}}</ref>.

Approximately {{cvt|50|ft}} from the cave is a museum which holds multiple rocks and fossils.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.riverbluffcave.com/ RiverbluffCave.com] *[http://www.fantasticcaverns.com/fall06news/Ozarks_adventure_fall06.pdf ''Riverbluff Cave: A Walk through the Ice Age''] *[http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004AM/finalprogram/abstract_76957.htm The Riverbluff Cave paleontological site and its importance as an educational tool] *[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7283494 Missouri Cave Is an Ice Age Time Capsule] from American National Public Radio

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Category:Caves of Missouri Category:2001 in science Category:Museums in Greene County, Missouri Category:Natural history museums in Missouri Category:Protected areas of Greene County, Missouri Category:Paleontology in Missouri Category:Fossil museums in the United States