Land Animals Found In Marine Environments

[bmorefossil]

Here is a list of the currently known terrestiral mammals from the Calvert Cliffs:

St. Mary's Formation (Zones 20-24): Procamelus cf. P. minor [camel]

Desmathyus sp. [peccary]

Tapirus sp. [tapir]

Neohipparion lenticulare [horse]

Equidae sp. (bigger than Parahippus) [horse]

Rhinoceratidae undet. [rhino]

Choptank Formation (Zones 16-19) ?Synthetoceras sp. [horned ruminant]

Prosynthetoceras sp. [horned ruminant]

cf. Gomphotherium calvertensis [proboscidean]

Desmathyus [peccary]

"Prosthenops niobrarensis ("Hesperhys" of others) [peccary]

(Zone 14/15) ?Aphelops sp. [rhino]

(Zones 14) Aphelops sp. [rhino]

Prosynthetocers cf. P texanus [horned ruminant]

Amphicyon cf. A. frendens [bear-dog]

?Gomphotherium sp. [proboscidean]

"Prosthenops" ziphodonticus [peccary]

(Zone 13 or 14) Gomphotherium calvertensis [proboscidean]

?Aphelops sp. [rhino]

?Merychippus sp. [horse]

(Zone 13) ?Merychippus sp. [horse]

(Zone 12) cf. Equidae [horse]

Camelidae indet. [camel]

Cynorca proterva [peccary]

(Zone 11) ?Equidae [horse]

(Zone 10) Cynorca proterva [peccary]

Tomarctus sp. [canid]

Rich thank you so much for this!

[RichW9090]

The occurrenceof Gomphotherium in the Calvert Zone 13 or 14 is of great interest, because it is right at the so-called "Proboscidean Datum" - the earliest occurrence of elephants in the Western Hemisphere. They appear from the west coast ( Gomphotherium or Miomastodon) to the east coast at just about the beginning of the Barstovian. Apparently they spread very quickly.

Edited October 27, 2013 by RichW9090

[siteseer]

That is also about the time true cats appear in North America. The occurrence of Pseudaelurus in the STH Bonebed is among the oldest known.

The occurrenceof Gomphotherium in the Calvert Zone 13 or 14 is of great interest, because it is right at the so-called "Proboscidean Datum" - the earliest occurrence of elephants in the Western Hemisphere. They appear from the west coast ( Gomphotherium or Miomastodon) to the east coast at just about the beginning of the Barstovian. Apparently they spread very quickly.

[cowsharks]

Cowsharks, could you please post pictures of your Calvert land mammals in a photo gallery? I'm particularly intersted in the deer tooth. As I noted in another thread, true deer aren't known from the Barstovian. I'd like to see if we can figure out what it is. I'm also interested in the rhino material as well.

As others have noted, terrestrial mammals are occassionally found in some marine sediments. Both Sharktooth Hill and the Calvert Cliffs are well known for their terrestrial mammals. Along the Calvert Cliffs, the peccary Cynorca proterva is particularly well known, represented by several hundred specimens.

Some references:

Gazin, C. L. and R. L. Collins, 1950, Remains of Land Mammals from the Miocene of the Chesapeake Bay Region; Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 116, Number 2.

Wright, David B. and Ralph E. Eshleman, 1987, Miocene Tayassuidae (Mammalia) from the Chesapeake Group of the mid-Atlantic Coast and their bearing on marine-nonmarine correlation; Journal of paleontology, V. 61 (3):604-618.

Ralph Eshleman, Brian Beatty and Daryl Doming; Terrestrial Mammalian Remains from the Miocene Chesapeake Group of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland and comparisons with Miocene terrestrial mammal faunas of he mid-Atlantic coast; (I have a pdf of this paper if anyone is interested, message me with your email and I'll send it along)

Rich

Will do Rich. The pics are on my other computer. I'll retrieve them and post back soon...

Daryl.

[cowsharks]

Below are pics of a rhino jaw section and teeth found several years ago and then acquired by Dale Thomas in Chesapeake Beach, MD. The pic of the possible deer tooth (unerupted?) and the unknown mammal tooth fragment (~1" long) are personal finds of mine. As soon as I locate the pics of my rhino teeth I'll post them. My rhino material was found at the same general area of Calvert Cliffs as the rhino material shown here. My rhino teeth are much smaller though.

Edited October 29, 2013 by cowsharks

[Fallingfossils]

Great photos Daryl. I'm looking forward to seeing your rhino material too

The list of known terrestrial mammals from the Calvert Cliffs is also much appreciated

[shark57]

^{Daryl, I have in situ peccary, horse, and land tortoise bones from the Calvert Formation. Gomp remains have also been found in situ. These are definitely Miocene. I asked Dave Bohaska of the Smithsonian about all the peccary in the Calvert and he said although peccaries are the most abundant land animal in our area, they are very rare in other east coast locations. Most likely many of the remains we find are from animals that lived on/near the beaches or got washed out in rivers. See you at the next MGS meeting.}