Oligocene terrestrial micros from Nebraska

[MarcoSr]

My sons brought back about 3 gallons of ant hill matrix from their September trip to the Nebraska badlands. The matrix is from the Oligocene Brule Member of the White River Group. All I had to do with the matrix was to fine sift it to remove the fine sand.

If you mouse over the pictures you will see the file name which has the specimen size and my best effort at identification. I rarely search terrestrial matrix so I don’t see a lot of terrestrial mammal and reptile micro specimens. If you can identify anything further or you see id errors please contribute to this post.

Below is a gem jar display which shows some of the nicer specimens that I found. Double clique the photo to see an enlarged version. The gem jar cups are 1.75 inches in diameter for size reference of the specimens.

Edited per comments from Jean-Pierre

1. Mammal and reptile bones (Most of the bones are little mammal caudal verts.)

2. Mammal and reptile bones (mostly toe bones)

3. Mammal bones (caudal verts)

4. Reptile vertebrae

5. Claws

6. Mammal teeth/jaw fragments

7. Mammal teeth (rodent incisors)

8. Mammal teeth [Paleolagus (rabbit) teeth]

9. Mammal teeth

10. Mammal teeth/jaw fragments

11. Lizard osteoderms (mostly Glyptosaur Changed Peltosaurus to Glyptosaur based upon input from Dr. Krister Smith )

12. Lizard jaw fragments

Continued in the next reply.

Marco Sr.

Edited December 14, 2019 by MarcoSr
Changed Peltosaurus to Glyptosaur based upon input from Dr. Krister Smith

[MarcoSr]

There were a good number of claws. I think most of these are mammal but some could be reptile or maybe even bird. If you recognize a reptile or bird claw please reply to this post.

Claws:

There were lots of small bones.

Mammal vertebrae:

Amphisbaenian vertebrae (Edited: per a comment by Eric and by Dr. Krister T. Smith):

Snake vertebra:

Continued in the next reply.

Marco Sr.

Edited July 18, 2016 by MarcoSr

[MarcoSr]

A lot of mammal jaw fragments and teeth. Most teeth are rodent but some are bat and there are a number that I don’t recognize.

Mammal jaw fragments:

Continued in the next reply.

Marco Sr.

Edited November 20, 2015 by MarcoSr

[MarcoSr]

Mammal teeth:

Continued in the next reply.

Marco Sr.

Edited November 20, 2015 by MarcoSr

[MarcoSr]

There were a lot of lizard jaw fragments and osteoderms.

Lizard jaws:

Lizard osteoderms (most had the shapes of the first two which are Glyptosaur osteoderms). The third is similar to several that I found.

Marco Sr.

Edited December 14, 2019 by MarcoSr
Changed Peltosaurus to Glyptosaur based upon input from Dr. Krister Smith

[old bones]

Wow, Marco Sr., those are some beautiful micros! What a broad range of finds as well. That is some nice matrix. Your photos are fantastic. I especially like the jaw fragments with teeth.

Julianna

[RickNC]

Anybody have access to this material?

[Auspex]

Fascinating! I've been aware of "ant hill fossils" since I was a wee lad, and have been captivated ever since.

No bird claws in the images...yet.

[snolly50]

Fascinating and, as always, excellent photography.

[MarcoSr]

Fascinating! I've been aware of "ant hill fossils" since I was a wee lad, and have been captivated ever since.

No bird claws in the images...yet.

Chas

From what you had told me and from the illustration I didn't think any of these claws were bird. However, it is still very difficult for me to even id a claw to mammal or reptile or bird or amphibian.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Wow, Marco Sr., those are some beautiful micros! What a broad range of finds as well. That is some nice matrix. Your photos are fantastic. I especially like the jaw fragments with teeth.

Julianna

Julianna

Thank you. I should concentrate more on picture views better for identification. However, when I take pictures I get caught up in the aesthetics of the specimen.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Fascinating and, as always, excellent photography.

Thank you. I guess if I see enough of these terrestrial specimens at some point I'll be able to id them a little better.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Anybody have access to this material?

I looked through all of the matrix that I had. My sons go out to Nebraska every year but they are interested in the macro skulls not this small micro stuff, so they don't usually bring ant hill matrix back.

Marco Sr.

[PA Fossil Finder]

Those are amazing little teeth! Those colors are great. I've always wanted to collect fossils off of anthills - all those little fossil collecting ants, sorting and setting them out where I can find them

Edited November 21, 2015 by PA Fossil Finder

[Pagurus]

What a world there is beneath our feet. Your enthusiasm for tiny fossils is contagious and I always look forward to seeing your latest finds and wonder-full photos.

[jpc]

That's a pretty impressive collection from a 3 gallon bucket. I collect a fair amount in the White River (mostly Wyoming) and the only anthill I have seen to have fossils was in NE. I wonder if those NE ants are better trained.

Most of the bones in your No.1 gen jar are little mammal caudal verts.

2... mostly toe bones...mammal or reptile is a tough call

3... caudal verts

6... beautiful little mammalteeth

7... rodent incisors

8... Paleolagus (rabbit) teeth

11... mostly Peltosaurus scutes.

Edited November 20, 2015 by jpc

[JohnJ]

Wow, Marco...really great work. Thanks for taking the time to image this material and show us.

[Coco]

Hi,

Very good matrix and marvelous fossils. I love your pics ! Congrats Marco !

Coco

[Sacha]

That's it for those boring sharks and rays. You're on a new trend line to accumulate North America's most complete collection of terrestrial micro fossils. Someone has to do it if the museums can't.

[RickNC]

I looked through all of the matrix that I had. My sons go out to Nebraska every year but they are interested in the macro skulls not this small micro stuff, so they don't usually bring ant hill matrix back.

Marco Sr.

Thanks Marco. If they ever bring some back I'd be interested in trading or purchasing some.

[Al Dente]

Nice fossils as usual Marco. I acquired some ant hill matrix not too long ago. Small mammal fossils were something new to me so I had to find a good reference to start me off. Luckily there is a series of publications on the White River Group that were helpful. The title of these publications are "The Mammalian Fauna of the White River Oligocene" and there are several parts. You can find them in jstor.

One thing I learned is identification is easier with worn teeth (molars) than with pristine teeth. Here's an example with Eumys teeth-

I was able to identify these to the genus Eumys and then did a publication search and found an article with nice line drawings of Eumys elegans that seemed to be a good match.

[jcbshark]

Wow Marco, great specimens and pics as always: ) I love the teeth in jaw pieces!

[MarcoSr]

That's a pretty impressive collection from a 3 gallon bucket. I collect a fair amount in the White River (mostly Wyoming) and the only anthill I have seen to have fossils was in NE. I wonder if those NE ants are better trained.

Most of the bones in your No.1 gen jar are little mammal caudal verts.

2... mostly toe bones...mammal or reptile is a tough call

3... caudal verts

6... beautiful little mammalteeth

7... rodent incisors

8... Paleolagus (rabbit) teeth

11... mostly Peltosaurus scutes.

Jean-Pierre

Thank you for the id help. I found 3 or 4 times as many specimens as in the gem jar display but a lot were only fragments of bone or teeth. The NE ants do a really nice job of concentrating the fossils.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Those are amazing little teeth! Those colors are great. I've always wanted to collect fossils off of anthills - all those little fossil collecting ants, sorting and setting them out where a I can find them

Most formations aren't worth carrying out because of the very low fossil concentration. The ants at some sites do a great job of concentrating the fossils.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

What a world there is beneath our feet. Your enthusiasm for tiny fossils is contagious and I always look forward to seeing your latest finds and wonder-full photos.

Thank you. As more and more of the MD/VA area fossil sites have been over collected for the macro fossils, I've turned more to collecting the micro fossils.

Marco Sr.