Church Buttes (Eocene of the United States)

Where: Uinta County, Wyoming (41.2° N, 110.5° W: paleocoordinates 45.2° N, 96.8° W)

• coordinate based on political unit

When: lower Member (Bridger Formation), Bridgerian (50.3 - 46.2 Ma)

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; lithology not reported

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collected by Marsh, Smith

Primary reference: C. L. Gazin. 1976. Mammalian Faunal Zones of the Bridger Middle Eocene. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 26:1-25 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Marcot]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 16201: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 26.03.1995, edited by Roger Benson, Terri Cleary, Matthew Carrano and Evangelos Vlachos

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Mammalia
 Primates - Notharctidae
"Notharctus tenebrosus" = Notharctus tenebrosus12, "Notharctus pugnax" = Notharctus tenebrosus5
"Notharctus tenebrosus" = Notharctus tenebrosus12 Leidy 1870 primate
"Notharctus pugnax" = Notharctus tenebrosus5 Leidy 1870 primate
"low down in Horizon B"; matches second, much larger group of "N. tenebrosus" specimens in chart of Robinson 1957; see also Gingerich 1979a
 Primates - Omomyidae
Washakius insignis2 Leidy 1873 tarsier
Bridger B
 Perissodactyla - Brontotheriidae
"Palaeosyops paludosus n. sp." = Palaeosyops paludosus, "Palaeosyops laevidens" = Palaeosyops paludosus6
"Palaeosyops paludosus n. sp." = Palaeosyops paludosus Leidy 1870 brontothere
from Bridger B1; see Osborn 1929; said by Osborn 1908 to be from Cottonwood Creek
"Palaeosyops laevidens" = Palaeosyops paludosus6 Leidy 1870 brontothere
lower Bridger B
 Perissodactyla - Hyrachyidae
Hyrachyus modestus17 Leidy 1870 odd-toed ungulate
Bridger B
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Xenicohippus craspedotum4 Cope 1880 horse
 Artiodactyla - Homacodontidae
Microsus cuspidatus15 Leidy 1870 even-toed ungulate
"South of Church Buttes" in Bridger B
 Creodonta -
Limnocyon verus13 Marsh 1872 creodont
level not stated
Thinocyon velox13 Marsh 1872 creodont
"probably" lower Bridger
 Creodonta - Hyaenodontidae
Tritemnodon agilis Marsh 1872 creodont
lower Bridger, see Thorpe 1923a
Sinopa sp.10 Leidy 1871 creodont
Bridger B2; compared to S. pungens and S. rapax and definitely not the same as the type of S. major, which was said to be from Church Buttes by Thorpe 1923a, although this was questioned by Gazin 1976 on biochronological grounds
Sinopa minor18 Wortman 1902 creodont
Sinopa major n. sp.18 Wortman 1902 creodont
 Theriamorpha -
"Miacis hargeri" = Vulpavus hargeri
"Miacis hargeri" = Vulpavus hargeri Wortman 1901 placental
level not stated; see also Thorpe 1923a
 Acreodi - Mesonychidae
Mesonyx obtusidens13 Cope 1872 condylarth
 Condylarthra - Hyopsodontidae
Hyopsodus paulus n. sp.10 Leidy 1870 condylarth
of Leidy from "Lower Bridger," said by Redline 1997 to be from "Smith's Fork," and Gazin 1976 to be from general "Fort Bridger" area; also specimen of West 1979 from "low B"
Hyopsodus minusculus14 Leidy 1873 condylarth
"low B"
 Cimolesta - Esthonychidae
Trogosus gazini11 Miyata 2007 tillodont
"low in Bridger B" 2 mi S of Church Buttes
Trogosus gazini11 Miyata 2007 tillodont
Reptilia
 Testudinata - Baenidae
Baena arenosa9 Leidy 1870 turtle
A second nearly complete specimen of a shell of Baena was discovered by Dr. J. Van A. Carter at Church Buttes, on Black's Fork of Green River, three miles north of Fort Bridger, and was obligingly sent to the writer as a gift.
Baena affinis n. sp.1 Leidy 1871 turtle
ANSP 10055 (type specimen of Baena affinis Leidy, 1871a, p. 367; Leidy, 1873, p. 163, pl. 13 fig. 3), a shell, collected by J. Van A. Carter
 Testudines - Geoemydidae
"Echmatemys ocyrrhoe n. sp." = Echmatemys stevensoniana7
"Echmatemys ocyrrhoe n. sp." = Echmatemys stevensoniana7 Leidy 1870 turtle
AMNH 5933 (holotype), an almost complete shell (Hay 1908, figs. 432, 433)
 Testudines - Carettochelyidae
Anosteira ornata7 Leidy 1871 turtle
some of the four, now lost, types (possibly including USNM 4062), others were from Grizzly Buttes [PaleoDB collection 16228]
 Testudines - Pantrionychidae
Trionyx heteroglyptus n. sp.7 Cope 1873 turtle
AMNH 1039, holotype hinder half of a carapace and the complete nuchal bone collected in 1872, by Professor Cope, on the summit of Church Butte
Trionyx guttatus n. sp.8 Leidy 1869 turtle
lost holotype carapace reported by Leidy (1869)
 Squamata -
Boavus occidentalis3 Marsh 1871 snake
AMNH 6058, portions of 28 thoracic vertebrae
Aves
  -
"Aquila antiqua n. sp." = Minerva antiqua16
"Aquila antiqua n. sp." = Minerva antiqua16 Shufeldt 1913 bird
1905 Sinclair specimen from "Church Buttes"
Baptemys wyomingensis
  -
Baptemys wyomingensis7 Leidy 1870
First reported by Leidy