Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T23:08:06.412Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The first Mid-Blancan occurrence of Agriotherium (Ursidae) In North America: A record from Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Joshua X. Samuels
Affiliation:
1Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA, ,
Julie A. Meachen-Samuels
Affiliation:
1Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, USA, ,
Philip A. Gensler
Affiliation:
2Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Hagerman, Idaho 83332, USA,

Extract

Members of the subfamily Ursinae dispersed into North America from Africa and Asia during the Miocene, with the appearance of Ursavus (Schlosser, 1899), Indarctos (Pilgrim, 1913), and Agriotherium (Wagner, 1837) (Dalquest, 1986; Miller and Carranza-Castañeda, 1996; Hunt, 1998). However, none of these genera were thought to have survived past the Hemphillian Land Mammal Age in North America. It is thought that these genera were replaced, and possibly out-competed, by members of the extant genus Ursus (Linnaeus, 1758), or Plionarctos (Frick, 1926), as suggested by several sources (Bjork, 1970; Dalquest, 1986; Bell et al., 2004). It has also been suggested that the Ursavini (Agriotherium and Indarctos) may have given rise to the extant ursids and the Tremarctinae (Harrison, 1983; Miller and Carranza-Castañeda, 1996). Of the Ursavini, Agriotherium is consistently found in the Hemphillian Land Mammal Age, and so is used as an index fossil in that its absence is assumed to indicate that a site is Blancan rather than Hemphillian (Lundelius et al., 1987; Bell et al., 2004; Hunt, 2004).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The Mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto.Google Scholar
Bell, C. J., Lundelius, E. L. Jr., Barnosky, A. D., Graham, R. W., Lindsay, E. H., Ruez, D. R. Jr., Semken, H. A. Jr., Webb, S. D., and Zakrzewski, R. J. 2004. The Blancan, Irvingtonian, and Rancholabrean mammal ages, p. 232314. In Woodburne, M. O. (ed.), Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America. Columbia University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berggren, W. A., Kent, D. V., Swisher, C. C. III, and Aubry, M.-P. 1995. A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy, p. 129212. In Berggren, W. A., Kent, D. V., Aubry, M.-P., and Hardenbol, J. (eds.), Geochronology, Time Scales and Global Stratigraphic Correlation. SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) Special Publication 54.Google Scholar
Bjork, P. R. 1970. The Carnivora of the Hagerman Local Fauna (late Pliocene) of southwestern Idaho. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 60:154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blumenbach, J. F. 1799. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte. Sechste Auflage, 8 vo, Göttingen, XVI, 708 p.Google Scholar
Bowditch, T. E. 1821. An Analysis of the Natural Classifications of Mammalia for the Use of Students and Travelers. J. Smith, Paris, 151 p.Google Scholar
Carl, E. A. 1971. Population control in arctic ground squirrels. Ecology, 52:395413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carranza-Casteñeda, O. and Miller, W. E. 2001. Machairodus, recorded in the Blancan of Guanajuato, Mexico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 21(S3):38A.Google Scholar
Cope, E. D. 1879. Observations of the faunae of the Miocene Tertiaries of Oregon. Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. F. V. Hayden, Geologist in charge, 5:5569.Google Scholar
Cope, E. D. 1893. A preliminary report on the vertebrate paleontology of the Llano Estacado. Geological Survey of Texas (fourth annual report), 137 p.Google Scholar
Cuvier, F. 1825. Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères, Vols. I–VII (1818–1842).Google Scholar
Dalquest, W. W. 1986. Lower jaw and dentition of the Hemphillian Bear, Agriotherium (Ursidae), with the description of a new species. Journal of Mammalogy, 67:623631.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fabrini, E. 1890. Machairodus (Meganthereon) de Valdarno superiore. Comitzto Geologico; Bollettino, XXI:121144, 161–177.Google Scholar
Falconer, H. 1868. Paleontological memoirs and notes of the late Hugh Falconer with a biographical sketch of the author. Murchison, C. (ed.), Hardwicke, London.Google Scholar
Frick, C. 1926. The Hemicyoninae and an American Tertiary bear. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 56:1119.Google Scholar
Gazin, C. L. 1933a. A new shrew from the upper Pliocene of Idaho. Journal of Mammalogy, 14:142144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gazin, C. L. 1933b. New felids from the upper Pliocene of Idaho. Journal of Mammalogy, 14:251256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gazin, C. L. 1935. A new antilocaprid from the upper Pliocene of Idaho. Journal of Paleontology, 9:390393.Google Scholar
Gazin, C. L. 1938. Fossil peccary remains from the upper Pliocene of Idaho. Journal of the Washington Academy of Science, 28:4149.Google Scholar
Gervais, F. L. P. 1855. Mammifères. Animaux Nouveaux, ou Rares, Recueillis Pendant l'Expédition dans les Perties Centrales de l'Amérique du Sud. P. Bertrand, Paris.Google Scholar
Gidley, J. W. 1930. A new Pliocene horse from Idaho. Journal of Mammalogy, 11:300303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, J. E. 1825. An outline of an attempt at the disposition of Mammalia into Tribes and Families, with a list of genera apparently appertaining to each Tribe. Annals of Philosophy, new series, 10:337344.Google Scholar
Harrison, J. A. 1983. The Carnivora of the Edson Local Fauna (Late Hemphillian), Kansas. Smithsonian Contributions in Paleobiology, 54:142.Google Scholar
Hart, W. K. and Brueseke, M. E. 1999. Analysis and dating of volcanic horizons from Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument and a revised interpretation of eastern Glenns Ferry Formation chronostratigraphy. National Park Service Report 1443-PX9608-97-003, 37 p.Google Scholar
Hart, W. K., Brueseke, M. E., Renne, P. R., and McDonald, H. G. 1999. Chronostratigraphy of the Pliocene Glenns Ferry Formation, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho. Abstracts with Programs, Geological Society of America, 31:15.Google Scholar
Hendey, Q. B. 1977. Fossil bear from South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 73:112116.Google Scholar
Hendey, Q. B. 1980. Agriotherium (Mammalia, Ursidae) from Langebaanweg, South Africa, and relationships of the genus. Annals of the South African Museum, 81:1109.Google Scholar
Hibbard, C. W. 1959. Late Cenozoic microtine rodents from Wyoming and Idaho. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, 52:115131.Google Scholar
Hibbard, C. W. 1969. The rabbits (Hypolagus and Pratilepus) from the upper Pliocene, Hagerman Local Fauna. Michigan Academician, 1(1):8197.Google Scholar
Hibbard, C. W. and Schultz, C. B. 1948. A new sciurid of Blancan age from Kansas and Nebraska. Bulletin of the University of the Nebraska State Museum, 3:1929.Google Scholar
Hunt, R. M. Jr. 1998. Ursidae, p. 174195. In Janis, C. M., Scott, K. M., and Jacobs, L. L. (eds.), Evolution of Tertiary mammals of North America, Vol. 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulatelike Mammals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hunt, R. M. Jr. 2004. Cenozoic carnivores and global climate. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 285:135156.Google Scholar
Johnston, C. S. 1938. Preliminary report on the vertebrate type locality of Cita Canyon, and the description of an ancestral coyote. American Journal of Science, Series 5, 31:2750.Google Scholar
Johnston, C. S. 1939. A Skull of Osteoborus validus from the Early Middle Pliocene of Texas. Journal of Paleontology, 13(5):526530.Google Scholar
Kaup, J. J. 1833. Description d'ossements fossiles de mammifères inconnus jusqu'a présent qui se trouvent au Muséum grand-ducal de Darmstadt, 31 p.Google Scholar
Kellogg, L. 1911. Rodent fauna of the late Tertiary beds at Virgin Valley and Thousand Creek, Nevada. University of California Publications of the Geological Society, 5:421437.Google Scholar
Kidwell, S. M. and Flessa, K. W. 1996. The quality of the fossil record: populations, species, and communities. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 24:433464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kurtén, B. 1966. The Pleistocene bears of North America, I: Genus Tremarctos. Acta Zoologica Fennica, 115:1120.Google Scholar
Kurtén, B. 1967. The Pleistocene bears of North America, II: Genus Arctodus. Acta Zoologica Fennica, 117:160.Google Scholar
Kurtén, B. and Anderson, E. 1980. Pleistocene Mammals of North America. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1854. On Bison latifrons, Arctodus pristinus, Hippodon speciosus and Merycodus necatus. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 7:8990.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1873. Contributions to the extinct vertebrate fauna of the western territories. Report of the USGS of the Territories, Hayden, F. V., U.S. Geologist in Charge, p. 14358.Google Scholar
Lindsay, E. H., Opdyke, N. D., and Johnson, N. M. 1984. Blancan-Hemphillian land mammal ages and Late Cenozoic mammal dispersal events. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 12:445488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindsay, E. H., Mou, Y., Downs, W., Pederson, J., Kelly, T. S., Henry, C., and Trexler, J. 2002. Recognition of the Hemphillian/Blancan boundary in Nevada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 22:429442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae per egna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Vol. 1: Regnum animale. Editio decimal, 1758. Societatis Zoologicae Germanicae, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Lundelius, E. L. Jr., Churcher, C. S., Downs, T., Harrington, C. R., Lindsay, E. H., Schultz, G. E., Semken, H. A., Webb, S. D., and Zakrzewski, R. J. 1987. The North American Quaternary sequence, p. 211235. In Woodburne, M. O. (ed.), Cenozoic Mammals of North America: Geochronology and Biostratigraphy. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Madden, C. T. and Dalquest, W. W. 1990. The last rhinoceros in North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 10(2):266267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, H. G., Link, P. K., and Lee, D. E. 1996. An overview of the geology and paleontology of the Pliocene Glenns Ferry Formation, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. Northwest Geology, 26:1645.Google Scholar
Meachen, J. A. 2005. A New Species of Lamine from the Plio-Pleistocene of Florida. Florida Museum Bulletin, 45(4):435447.Google Scholar
Merriam, J. C. and Stock, C. 1925. Relationships and structure of the short-faced bear, Arctotherium, from the Pleistocene of California. Carnegie Institute of Washington Publications, 347(1):135.Google Scholar
Miller, W. E. and Carranza-Castañeda, O. 1996. Agriotherium schneideri from the Hemphillian of Central Mexico. Journal of Mammalogy, 77:568577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mooser, O. and Dalquest, W. W. 1975. Pleistocene Mammals from Aguascalientes, Central Mexico. Journal of Mammalogy, 56(4):781820.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Müller-Schwarze, D. and Sun, L. 2003. The Beaver - Natural History of a Wetlands Engineer. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 190 p.Google Scholar
Neville, C., Opdyke, N. D., Lindsay, E. H., and Johnson, N. M. 1979. Magnetic stratigraphy of Pliocene deposits of the Glenns Ferry Formation, Idaho, and its implications for North American mammalian biostratigraphy. American Journal of Science, 279:503526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World (sixth edition). The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 2015 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen, R. 1845. Observations on certain fossils from the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 3:9396.Google Scholar
Pilgrim, G. 1913. The correlation of the Siwaliks with mammal horizons of Europe. Records of the Geological Society of India, 43:264326.Google Scholar
Pohlig, H. 1912. Sur une vieille mandibule de “Tetracaulodon ohiotocum” Blum., avec défense in situ. Bulletin de la Société Belge Géologique, 26:187193.Google Scholar
Ruez, D. R. Jr. and Gensler, P.A. 2008. An unexpectedly early record of Mictomys vetus (Arvicolinae, Rodentia) from the Blancan (Pliocene) Glenns Ferry Formation, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho. Journal of Paleontology, 82(3):638642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlosser, M. 1899. Über die Bären und bärenähnlichen Formen des europäischen Tertiärs. Palaeontographica, 197:95146.Google Scholar
Sellards, E. H. 1916. Fossil vertebrates from Florida: A new Miocene fauna; new Pliocene species; the Pleistocene fauna. Florida State Geological Survey Annual Report, 8:79119.Google Scholar
Sorkin, B. 2005. Ecomorphology of the giant short-faced bears Agriotherium and Arctodus. Historical Biology, 18:120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephens, J. J. 1959. A New Pliocene Cat from Kansas. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, p. 4146.Google Scholar
Tedford, R. H., Albright, L. B. III, Barnosky, A. D., Ferrusquia-Villafranca, I., Hunt, R. M. Jr., Storer, J. E., Swisher, C. C. III, Voorhies, M. R., Webb, S. D., and Whistler, D. P. 2004. Mammalian biochronology of the Arikareean through Hemphillian interval (late Oligocene through early Pliocene Epochs), p. 169231. In Woodburne, M. O. (ed.), Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America. Columbia University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valkenburgh, B. van and Koepfli, K. P. 1993. Cranial and dental adaptations to predation in canids. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London, 65:1537.Google Scholar
Wagner, A. 1837. Gelehrte Anzeigen herausgegeben von Mitgliedern der K. Bayer, Akadamie Wissenschaften Müchen. Paläontologische Abhandlungen, 5:334–5.Google Scholar
Waterhouse, G. R. 1839. On the skull and dentition of the American badger (Meles labradoria). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 6:153154.Google Scholar
Wilson, R. W. 1932. Cosomys, a new genus of vole from the Pliocene of California. Journal of Mammalogy, 13:150154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, R. W. 1933. A rodent fauna from later Cenozoic beds of southwestern Idaho. Contributions to Paleontology, Carnegie Institute of Washington, Publication, 440:117135.Google Scholar
Wood, H. E., Chaney, R. W., Clark, J., Colbert, E. H., Jepsen, G. J., Reeside, J. B. Jr., and Stock, C. 1941. Nomenclature and correlation of the North American Continental Tertiary. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 52:148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zakrzewski, R. J. 1969. The rodents from the Hagerman Local Fauna, upper Pliocene of Idaho. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, the University of Michigan, 23:136.Google Scholar