Macropodoids from the Middle Miocene Namba Formation, South Australia, and the homology of some dental structures in kangaroos

1986 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 418-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Flannery ◽  
Thomas H. V. Rich
Keyword(s):  
Middle Miocene ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Local Fauna

Macropodoids from the Tarkarooloo local fauna, including Nambaroo tarrinyeri n. gen. and sp., N. saltavus n. sp., N. novus n. sp. and Palaeopotorous priscus n. gen. and sp., include the most plesiomorphic macropodids and potoroids known. Together with the newly discovered macropodoids from the Pinpa and Yanda local faunas they are also the oldest macropodoids described. Study of the morphology of these plesiomorphic macropodoids indicates that the trigonid of the M2 in potoroids and macropodids is composed of different structures (the protoconid and metaconid in macropodids and the protoconid and protostylid in potoroids). Also, the posterior cingulum in macropodids is a neomorphic structure, and not homologous with the posterior cingulum (the posthypocristid and postentocristid) in potoroids and phalangerids. A unique M2 trigonid configuration, where the cristid obliqua connects with the protostylid, is here recognized as being present in plesiomorphic macropodoids and phalangerids, and possibly represents a synapomorphy for a clade containing members of those groups.

An early heron (Aves, Ardeidae, Ardea) from the Middle Miocene of Nebraska

1986 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 968-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan J. Becker
Keyword(s):  
Brown Coal ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Mining District ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Local Fauna ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Specific Identification ◽  
Upper Miocene ◽  
Living Species

The genus Ardea includes all living species of large herons. Brodkorb (1963) listed five fossil species of Ardea, and only one fossil species has since been described. Of these six, only two are unquestionably members of the genus Ardea. Ardea brunhuberi von Ammon, 1918, from the Upper Miocene Brown Coal Formation, Württemburg, Germany, was moved by Brodkorb (1980) to the Phalacrocoracidae as Phalacrocorax brunhuberi. Brodkorb (1980) considered A. lignitum Giebel, 1860, from the Sarmatian Brown Coal of Rippersroda, Thuringia, Germany, to be a large owl in the genus Bubo. Olson (1985) similarly regards A. perplexa from the Astaracian of Sansan, France, to be a large owl, possibly in the genus Bubo. The type of Ardea aureliensis Milne-Edwards, 1871, from the Oreleanian of Suevres, France, has never been illustrated or restudied and its affinities need to be confirmed (Olson, 1985). The valid fossil species are Ardea polkensis Brodkorb, 1955, from the late Hemphillian Bone Valley Mining District, Florida, and A. howardae Brodkorb, 1980, from the Plio/Pleistocene Shungura Formation, Omo Basin, Ethiopia. A large species of Ardea is also known from the late Clarendonian Love Bone Bed local fauna, Florida, but is based on material too fragmentary for specific identification (Becker, 1985). This note reports the earliest certain occurrence of Ardea now known.

scholarly journals The biochronology and palaeobiogeography of Baru (Crocodylia: Mekosuchinae) based on new specimens from the Northern Territory and Queensland, Australia

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam M. Yates
Keyword(s):  
Middle Miocene ◽  
New Records ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Late Oligocene ◽  
Drainage Basins ◽  
Local Fauna ◽  
The North ◽  
North Western

New records of the Oligo–Miocene mekosuchine crocodylian, Baru, from Queensland and the Northern Territory are described. Baru wickeni and Baru darrowi are accepted as valid species in the genus and their diagnoses are revised. Both species are present in Queensland and the Northern Territory but are restricted in time, with B. wickeni known from the late Oligocene and B. darrowi from the middle Miocene. The broad geographic distributions and restricted time spans of these species indicate that this genus is useful for biochronology. The record of B. wickeni from the Pwerte Marnte Marnte Local Fauna in the Northern Territory establishes that the species inhabited the north-western margin of the Lake Eyre Basin (LEB) drainage system. More southerly Oligo–Miocene sites in the LEB contain only one crocodylian species, Australosuchus clarkae. The Pwerte Marnte Marnte occurrence of B. wickeni indicates that the separation of Baru and Australosuchus did not correspond with the boundaries of drainage basins and that palaeolatitude was a more likely segregating factor.

Three-toed browsing horse Anchitherium (Equidae) from the Miocene of Panama

2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce J. MacFadden
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
North America ◽  
New World ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Panama Canal ◽  
Local Fauna ◽  
Recent Addition ◽  
Current Report

During the Cenozoic, the New World tropics supported a rich biodiversity of mammals. However, because of the dense vegetative ground cover, today relatively little is known about extinct mammals from this region (MacFadden, 2006a). in an exception to this generalization, fossil vertebrates have been collected since the second half of the twentieth century from Neogene exposures along the Panama Canal. Whitmore and Stewart (1965) briefly reported on the extinct land mammals collected from the Miocene Cucaracha Formation that crops out in the Gaillard Cut along the southern reaches of the Canal. MacFadden (2006b) formally described this assemblage, referred to as the Gaillard Cut Local Fauna (L.F., e.g., Tedford et al., 2004), which consists of at least 10 species of carnivores, artiodactyls (also see recent addition of peccary in Kirby et al., 2008), perissodactyls, and as described by Slaughter (1981), rodents. Prior to the current report, the horses (Family Equidae) from the Gaillard Cut L.F. consisted of only four fragmentary specimens including: two isolated teeth, i.e., one each of Archaeohippus sp. Gidley, 1906 and Anchitherium clarencei Simpson, 1932; a heavily worn partial dentition with p2-p4 of A. clarenci; and a partial calcaneum of Archaeohippus. Although meager, these fossils appear to represent two distinct taxa of three-toed horses otherwise know from the middle Miocene of North America, i.e., the dwarf-horse Archaeohippus sp. and the larger Anchitherium clarencei.

An early Pleistocene record of a giant koala (Phascolarctidae: Marsupialia) from western Victoria.

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
KJ Piper
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
New South ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Local Fauna ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Early Pliocene ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
Western Victoria

THE pre Holocene-Late Pleistocene record of Phascolarctos in Australia is extremely meagre. There are at least two, possibly three extinct species of Phascolarctos in addition to the extant Phascolarctos cinereus (Black 1999). P. yorkensis (syn. Cundokoala yorkensis; Black and Archer 1997) is known from the Early Pliocene Curramulka Local Fauna, South Australia (SA), and the Late Pleistocene Wellington Caves Local Fauna, New South Wales (Archer et al. 1997; Pledge 1992). P. stirtoni occurs in the Late Pleistocene Cement Mills Local Fauna, Queensland, and is known only from a partial maxilla containing P3-M2 (Bartholomai 1968, 1977). Phascolarctos material from the mid- Pleistocene Victoria Fossil Cave and Spring Cave, Naracoorte, SA, have also been referred to P. cf. stirtoni but remain undescribed (Reed and Bourne 2000; Moriarty et al. 2000). P. maris is known from a single lower molar from the Early Pliocene Sunlands Local Fauna, SA (Pledge 1987). Black (1999) cast doubt on its validity, suggesting its features may fall within the intraspecific variation of P. stirtoni. If P. maris is referable to P. stirtoni it is another South Australian instance of this species, and extends its range back to the Early Pliocene. The new phascolarctid material documented here is from the early Pleistocene Nelson Bay Local Fauna, Portland, Victoria (141o 35? E; 38o 36? S). It is therefore an important additional southern occurrence of a species larger than the living P. cinereus, and is the only pre- Late Pleistocene record of the Phascolarctidae in Victoria.

scholarly journals The biochronology and palaeobiogeography of Baru (Crocodilia: Mekosuchinae) based on new specimens from the Northern Territory and Queensland, Australia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam M Yates
Keyword(s):  
Middle Miocene ◽  
New Records ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Late Oligocene ◽  
Drainage Basins ◽  
Local Fauna ◽  
The North ◽  
North Western

New records of the Oligo-Miocene mekosuchine crocodilian, Baru, from Queensland and the Northern Territory are described. B. wickeni and B. darrowi are accepted as valid species in the genus and their diagnoses are revised. Both species are present in Queensland and the Northern Territory but are restricted in time, with B. wickeni known from the late Oligocene and B. darrowi from the middle Miocene. The broad geographic distributions and restricted time spans of these species indicate that this genus is useful for biochronology. The record of B. wickeni from the Pwerte Marnte Marnte Local Fauna in the Northern Territory establishes that the species inhabited the north-western margin of the Lake Eyre Basin drainage system. More southerly Oligo-Miocene sites in the Lake Eyre Basin contain only one crocodilian species, Australosuchus clarkae. The Pwerte Marnte Marnte occurrence of B. wickeni indicates that the separation of Baru and Australosuchus did not correspond with the boundaries of drainage basins and that palaeolatitude was a more likely segregating factor.

Miocene rhinoceroses from the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain

1987 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 388-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R. Prothero ◽  
Earl M. Manning
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
North America ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain ◽  
Local Fauna ◽  
Southeast Texas ◽  
A New Species

Four species of rhinoceros occur together in the Barstovian (middle Miocene) faunas of southeast Texas, a unique situation in the Miocene of North America. Two are assigned to normal contemporary High Plains species of Aphelops and Teleoceras, and two to dwarf species of Peraceras and Teleoceras. The dwarf Peraceras is a new species, P. hessei. The dwarf Teleoceras is assigned to Leidy's (1865) species “Rhinoceros” meridianus, previously referred to Aphelops. “Aphelops” profectus is here reassigned to Peraceras.The late Arikareean (early Miocene) Derrick Farm rhino, erroneously referred to “Caenopus premitis” by Wood and Wood (1937), is here referred to Menoceras arikarense. Menoceras barbouri is reported from the early Hemingfordian (early Miocene) Garvin Gully local fauna of southeast Texas. The rhinos from the early Clarendonian Lapara Creek Fauna are tentatively referred to Teleoceras cf. major.The three common genera of middle late Miocene rhinoceroses of North America (Aphelops, Peraceras, Teleoceras) are rediagnosed. Aphelops and Peraceras are more closely related to the Eurasian Aceratherium and Chilotherium (all four together forming the Aceratheriinae) than they are to the American Teleoceras. Contrary to Heissig (1973), Teleoceras is more closely related to the living rhinoceroses and their kin (together forming the Rhinocerotini) than it is to the Aceratheriinae.

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