Paleontology Commons^™

Mumm Vs. Minium: A Tale Of Two Quarries, Kale Link, Amanda Peng

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

In 2025, a discrepancy was discovered in the field numbers of a selection of mammal fossils, which had been mistakenly catalogued as originating from the Minium Quarry in Graham County, KS instead of the Mumm Quarry in Rawlins County, KS. While both quarries belong to the Ogallala Formation, they demonstrate differing biostratigraphic ages, faunal assemblages, and taphonomic settings. Mumm is Clarendonian aged, while Minium is Hemphillian. To correct this issue, all the Mumm specimens were assigned to an updated locality with more precise geographic and biostratigraphic data.

A Cave In Miocene Conglomerate: The Törökpince-Abaliget Cave System, Hungary, Krisztina Sebe, Piroska Pazonyi, Márton Bauer, Bálint Szappanos, Márton Szabó, Zoltán Szentesi, Mihály Gasparik, Ákos Juhász, Luca Pandolfi, Máté Gregorits, József Haász, Ágnes Novothny, Zsófia Ruszkiczay-Rüdiger

International Journal of Speleology

Conglomerate caves are rare, and only a few have been described in the scientific literature. Here, we present a newly discovered and significant cave system in SW Hungary, comprising over 500 m of upper passages and a shorter, lower section of a through-cave developed in Lower–Middle Miocene conglomerates. The formation of these cave passages was controlled chiefly by bedding and fractures. Dissolution has produced typical karstification morphologies, whereas corrasion, granular disintegration, and rock collapse have also played a role in shaping the cave. The cave is dominated by vadose-zone morphologies, but sediment infills indicating upward water flow, along with ceiling …

Global, Continental, And Local Scale Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Methods For Interpreting The History Of Miocene North America And The Great Plains, Willow Hue Nguy

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The Miocene of North America is characterized by dynamic changes in herbivore communities, habitat composition, and global climate. Long-term cooling and drying trends influenced large changes in floral and faunal communities. The Great Plains, North America shifted from closed-canopy biomes to open-canopy biomes with C3-grasses to biomes with C4-grasses. This shift affected the herbivore communities as browsing-adapted ungulates were replaced by grazing-adapted ungulates. Much focus has centered on the Great Plains, so it is not well understood how the changes in biomes compare to other regions of North America. The models used for vegetation density indicate open-canopy biomes since at …

An Understanding Of The Feeding Ecology Of Teleoceras Fossiger And Teleoceras Aepysoma Using Dental Microwear And Mesowear Analysis, Gabriel S. Goncalves

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Teleoceras is a genus of rhinocerotids that belongs to the Tribe Teleoceratines and was widespread across North America from the late Early Miocene into the Early Pliocene. This genus was very successful, spreading across the continental United States from Florida and Tennessee to California and Washington state down to central Mexico and Honduras. Teleoceras is characterized by having a large, rounded chest cavity and short limbs with relatively high crowned teeth and lower incisors modified into tusk-like teeth. Initial ecological comparisons were made to the modern hippopotamus based on proportions of the chest cavity and its hypsodont dentition. Stable carbon …

Assessing Unstable Fossils For Long-Term Storage, Carson Cope, Alex Landwehr, Kale Link, Israel Rivera-Molina, Laura E. Wilson

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

In 2022, Fort Hays State University’s Sternberg Museum of Natural History (FHSM) began a project to address the long-term preservation of a Late Miocene mammal collection. Many of the fossils from the collection were poorly consolidated, uncurated, and improperly stored, leaving them unstable and prone to significant degradation. To organize our stabilization efforts, we developed a new assessment workflow consisting of two evaluation tools. These tools have helped us categorize the risk factors for specimens, the priority in which they should be addressed, and how to store the fossils long-term. With these newly developed workflows, we are in a better …

Analyzing The Shark Paleoecology Of Coastal Georgia From The Miocene And Pliocene Epochs, Joshua Lee Clark, Benjamin Angalet

Georgia Journal of Science

The field of shark paleoecology often yields indecisive conclusions based on the limited fossilization of their anatomical structures, with the exception of their teeth. The majority of the Atlantic coast has been studied regarding the presence of certain prehistoric shark species from the Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene epochs. However, information pertaining to the Georgia coast and understanding its potential community structure is relatively understudied. This study was conducted in which thousands of fossil shark specimens and subsequent marine fauna were collected from dredge spoils created by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE): Savannah District. A total of 5,127 fossil …

Exploring The Relationships Between Mammalian Functional Trait Distributions And Regional Biomes, With Application To Miocene Paleoecology, Devra Hock-Reid

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Paleoecology relies on understanding relationships between modern animals and their environment. Animals are adapted to niches in their environments, and those physical adaptations, or functional traits, are utilized as proxies to interpret aspects of paleo-ecosystems. Much is known about individual functional traits in extant mammals and their relationship to the environment. Less is known about how multiple functional traits across a community can be utilized for paleoecological interpretations. I develop models utilizing traits in mammalian communities at the biome level. For Chapter 1, I build a model for North American regional biomes using mammalian trait frequencies. I quantify changes in …

Ashfall Fossil Beds: From Waterhole To Rhino Barn, Sandy Mosel

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Twelve million years ago a volcanic super-eruption in what is now southwestern Idaho created an enormous ashfall that blanketed the Great Plains with several inches of volcanic ash, devastating the local wildlife. Evidence of this geologic event lies within the hills of the Niobrara River Valley in northeast Nebraska, at a place aptly named the Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. Located near the tiny village of Royal, the Ashfall Park has been developed around a waterhole where animals succumbed after breathing in the volcanic dust. Buried deeply by windblown volcanic ash in the weeks following the eruption, the skeletons …

Middle Miocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Of The Central Great Plains From Stable Carbon Isotopes In Large Mammals, Willow H. Nguy

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Middle Miocene (18-12 Mya) mammalian faunas of the North American Great Plains contained a much higher diversity of apparent browsers than any modern biome. This has been attributed to greater primary productivity, which may have supported greater browser diversity that commonly corresponds with densely vegetated habitats. However, several lines of proxy evidence suggest that open woodlands or savannas dominated middle Miocene biomes; neither of which support many browsers today. Stable carbon isotopes in mammalian herbivore tooth enamel were used to reconstruct vegetation structure of middle Miocene biomes.

Stable carbon isotopes in C₃ dominated environments reflect vegetation density and herbivores …

Five Species Of Fossil Equids Preserved In-Situ At Ashfall Fossil Beds, Rick E. Otto

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

Fully articulated, three-dimensionally preserved skeletons from five species of fossil Equids are now represented, and preserved in-situat the Ashfall Fossil Beds in northcentral Nebraska. The site is well known for dozens of barrel-bodied rhino (Teleoceras major) skeletons. A diversity of horse species that inhabited Nebraska during the late Miocene Epoch have been exposed in the fossil bed. Genera include Cormohipparion, Neohipparon, Pliohippus, Protohippus, and Pseudhipparion. An exceptionally well-preserved skeleton of the small-sized, three-toed species Pseudhipparion gratumwas recently exposed, and is on display only a few feet from where visitors stand.

Early Miocene Quantitative Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy From The Tropical Atlantic, Waheed A. Albasrawi

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Quantitative analysis for the Lower Miocene of Ocean Drilling Program Hole 959A from the West African margin was performed to document all the calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic events present. Combined with data from previous investigations of the Lower Miocene from the tropical Atlantic, this research identifies and tests the viability of markers used in current zonation scheme, identifies alternative markers for age boundaries, and examine statistically the most probable order of event in the Lower Miocene using the Ranking and Scaling method (RASC).

The examination of Hole 959A was performed on a 112 samples. Seven additional sites that collectively span the …

Reconstructing The Paleoecology And Biogeography Of Rhinoceroses (Mammalia: Rhinocerotidae) In The Great Plains Of North America, Leading Up To Their Extinction In The Early Pliocene, Bian Wang

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Members of the family Rhinocerotidae first appeared in the middle Eocene and were one of most successful mammal groups of the Oligocene and Miocene in North America. Their extinction in the early Pliocene has been attributed to several causes, including cooling climate, an expansion of C₄ grasslands, and faunal turnover favoring high-crowned, open habitat-adapted mammalian taxa. This study tests whether the extinction of North American rhinoceroses in the Great Plains was abrupt or gradual by examining changes in their paleogeographic distribution in a series of time-slices through the Barstovian, Clarendonian, and Hemphillian North American land-mammal ages. It further examines …

The Stratigraphic Position Of Fossil Vertebrates From The Pojoaque Member Of The Tesuque Formation (Middle Miocene, Late Barstovian) Near Española, New Mexico, Garrett R. Williamson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The stratigraphy of the Pojoaque Member of the Tesuque Formation near Española, NM is not well understood. This region, during the Middle Miocene, represented a dynamic alluvial fan-fluvial-lacustrine environment within the Española Basin while the Rio Grande Rift was active. Cavazza (1986) identified two paleodrainage systems (lithosome A, basin-margin facies and B, basin-floor facies) by means of sandstone and conglomerate petrology, paleocurrent, and sedimentary facies analyses. After x-ray diffraction analyses of claystones within lithosome B, mordenite was discovered, which is a zeolite mineral commonly found within volcanic rocks. This is significant because the presence of mordenite confirms Cavazza’s (1986) conclusion …

Peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) From The Late Miocene To Early Pliocene Gray Fossil Site: Regional Implications With A Review Of Tayassuinae, Evan M. Doughty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Analysis of the Gray Fossil Site peccary material indicates the presence of up to three species. Comparisons with the tayassuid material known from the Tyner Farm and Bone Valley Formation of Florida allows the identification of Mylohyus elmorei and at the GFS. Within the GFS material, Prosthennops cf. P. serus and cf. Catagonus sp. are also tentatively recognized but further verification is required. The known range for Prosthennops is expanded into the Appalachian region. Presence of M. elmorei at the Gray Fossil Site provides the first known occurrence of this species outside of the Palmetto fauna of Florida, indicating that …

New Records Of Colubrids From The Late Hemphillian Gray Fossil Site Of Northeastern Tennessee, Derek J. Jurestovsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Gray Fossil Site is a rich Hemphillian (North American Land Mammal Age) locality located in northeastern Tennessee which has produced tens-of-thousands of fossils of multiple taxa including hundreds of individual snake skeletal remains. Analyzed here are cranial and vertebral fossils identified as belonging to various colubrid taxa including Carphophis sp., Gyalopion sp., Heterodon sp., Natricinae indeterminate, Thamnophis sp., and a new, undescribed genus and species. In addition, multiple new features of snake vertebrae are described, some of which question the validity of the genus Neonatrix. Finally, the distribution and paleoecology of the listed genera allows an interpretation of …

Constraining Neogene Temperature And Precipitation Histories In The Central Great Plains Using The Fossil Record Of Alligator, Evan Whiting

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Most amphibians and reptiles (excluding birds) are poikilothermic; their internal body temperature varies with that of their external environment. This makes them useful as climate proxies, especially when linked to geographic distributions of ambient climate. I evaluate the utility of the extant crocodylian genus Alligator as a paleoclimate proxy for the Central Great Plains (CGP) using species distribution modeling. Alligator is a readily identifiable taxon with a good CGP fossil record during the Neogene (~23–2.6 Ma). Alligator first appeared in the CGP in the late Eocene (~37 Ma), was absent during most of the Oligocene, reappeared in the early Miocene …

Additional Research And Taxonomic Resolution Of Salamanders (Amphibia: Caudata) From The Mio-Pliocene Gray Fossil Site, Tn, Hannah E. Darcy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Gray Fossil Site (GFS), a Mio-Pliocene (4.5–7 Ma) locality in the southern Appalachians, boasts the most diverse pre-Pleistocene salamander fauna in North America: Desmognathus sp., Plethodon sp., Notophthalmus sp., a Spelerpinae-type plethodontid, and Ambystoma sp. Because greater taxonomic resolution can result in more precise paleobiological interpretations, additional specimens were studied here. ETMNH 8045, a nearly complete articulated ambystomatid, appears most like Ambystoma maculatum in dentition and vertebral proportions. ETMNH 18219, an isolated vomer, is consistent with modern Pseudotriton and Gyrinophilus in possessing a postdentigerous process and a similar dentigerous row morphology. If these taxa, or species …

Fossil Crocodilians From The High Guajira Peninsula Of Colombia, And The History Of Neogene Crocodilian Diversity In Tropical South America, Jorge W. Moreno-Bernal

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The greatest diversity of Cenozoic crocodilians occurred during the Miocene in equatorial South America. However, the origin of this high diversity and its relationship to environmental factors are poorly understood. Most described species come from localities assigned to Laventan (13.8-11.8 Ma) and Huayquerian (9.0-6.8 Ma) South American land mammal ages (SALMAS), whereas the record is sparse in the early to middle Miocene and after the latest Miocene and Pliocene. Field research in the Castilletes (early Miocene-Pliocene) Formation in the High Guajira Peninsula of Colombia provides new fossil data on the origin of Neotropical crocodylian diversity. The Castilletes Formation crops out …

Systematics, Climate, And Ecology Of Fossil And Extant Nyssa (Nyssaceae, Cornales) And Implications Of Nyssa Grayensis Sp. Nov. From The Gray Fossil Site, Northeast Tennessee, Nathan R. Noll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Late Hemphillian (latest Miocene or earliest Pliocene, 7-4.5 Ma) Gray Fossil Site in northeastern Tennessee is interpreted to represent a lacustrine paleokarst fed by a river or stream. This research focuses on the morphological and systematic relations of Nyssa endocarps (fruit pits) from the fossil site to extinct and extant Nyssa species. A combination of metric and nonmetric traits allows recognition of a new species: Nyssa grayensis sp. nov. This fossil species shares the most similarities with the extant Nyssa ogeche Bartram ex Marshall from southeast North America and the Eocene fossil Nyssa eolignitica Berry from western Tennessee. Affinities …

Extreme Variation In The Sagittal Crest Of Tapirus Polkensis (Mammalia Perissodactyla) At The Gray Fossil Site Northeastern Tn., Aaron Randall Abernethy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The preservation and quantity of fossil tapirs (Tapirus polkensis) from the Gray Fossil Site in northeastern Tennessee provides a unique opportunity for comparison and analysis of skeletal characters. Intraspecifically, modern tapirs show little to no variation in the morphology of the sagittal crest. However, several different morphologies exist within the sample at Gray. No osteological evidence of sexual dimorphism exists for tapirs, and no correlation between crest shape and sex was observed. Several juveniles display well defined crests, while some adults have only minor thickening of the temporal ridges; therefore, no distinct correlation between age and crest state …

The Application Of Biostratigraphy And Paleoecology At Southern Ocean Drill Sites To Resolve Early To Middle Miocene Paleoclimatic Events, Ryan Farmer

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The diatom biostratigraphy and paleoceanography of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 744 on the Southern Kerguelen Plateau, southern Indian Ocean are documented for the early to middle Miocene to improve chronostratigraphic age control for the Southern Ocean and Antarctic region. Paleoenvironmental fluctuations in the Southern Ocean are inferred from changes in fossil diatom abundance, preservation, and assemblage composition. A robust, new age model for Holes 744A and 744B is constructed using Constrained Optimization (CONOP) model ages for diatom biostratigraphic datum levels and new magnetic polarity data, which enables assessment of a nearly continuous record of paleoenvironmental change from ~20.25 to …

The Occurrence Of An Abdominal Fauna In An Articulated Tapir (Tapirus Polkensis) Recovered From The Miocene Gray Fossil Site Northeast Tennessee., Shannon M. Mcconnell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The analysis of samples recovered from the abdominal area of an articulated tapir from the Late Miocene (4.5-7 million bp) Gray Fossil Site, revealed a rich palyno-fauna comprised of about 94% egg/oocyst-like structures and 6% pollen and other palynomorphs. In addition, a tight grouping of six hickory nuts (Carya) was recovered from the same area suggesting that the samples represent the abdominal contents. The analysis of a sample from immediately outside the tapir produced a sample with 98% pollen and less than 0.5% egg-like structures. The size, shape, and general morphology of egg-like structures were analyzed with light …

The Dinoflagellate Flora Of The Late Oligocene - Early Miocene Old Church Formation Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, Alan P. Hoffmeister

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Old Church Formation contains the only presently known exposed Oligocene sediments in the North American mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. Some ambiguity concerning the exact age of the Old Church Formation exists because it may include both Oligocene and Miocene sediments. Two outcrops and four cores containing the Old Church Formation were examined for dinoflagellates to determine the composition of the dinoflagellate flora in the Old Church Formation, the age of the Old Church Formation as indicated by this flora, general depositional environment of the Old Church Formation and correlative relationships of the Old Church Formation with other Coastal Plain units. …

New Members Of The Gering Formation (Miocene) In Western Nebraska, Including A Geological Map Of Wildcat Ridge And Related Outliers, Carl F. Vondra, C. Bertrand Schultz, Thompson M. Stout

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

A New Genus And Species Of Rhinoceros, Epiaphelops Virgasectus From The Lower Miocene Of Nebraska, Erwin Hinckley Barbour

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.