Spring Canyon (Eocene of the United States)

Also known as SDSNH 4041, 4042; Upper Pomerado Conglomerate

Where: San Diego County, California (32.9° N, 117.0° W: paleocoordinates 32.3° N, 105.3° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Pomerado Formation, Duchesnean (39.7 - 37.0 Ma)

• said to be late Duchesnean to early Chadronian "about 10 m above the base of the upper member" (Walsh 2010); age refined in Poust et al. to middle to late Duchesnean based on interpretation of upper part of Pomerado Conglomerate as falling within Chron 17n

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; gray, green, silty mudstone

• "Locality 4041 consists of a single large rip-up clast of purplish and greenish mudstone occurring within a pale gray cobble conglomerate... almost certaintly derived from an immediately underlying, laterally extensive bed of pale greenish gray siltstone and mudstone up to 1 m thick, from which Locality 4042 was collected" (Walsh 2010)

Size class: mesofossils

Collection methods: bulk, chemical, sieve

• SDSNH collection

•"Approximately 360 kg of matrix from [4041] and ~3800 kg of matrix from [4042] were screenwashed using 30-mesh screens (0.6 mm square openings)... concentrates were processed... using the heavy liquid tetrabromoethane"

Primary reference: A. W. Poust, P. Z. Barrett, and S. Tomiya. 2022. An early nimravid from California and the rise of hypercarnivorous mammals after the middle Eocene climatic optimum. Biology Letters 18(20220291):1-6 [P. Holroyd/P. Holroyd]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 17039: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 21.09.1999, edited by Patricia Holroyd

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Mammalia
 Theriamorpha - Herpetotheriidae
Herpetotherium valens2 Lambe 1908 marsupial
 Theriamorpha - Peradectidae
Peradectes sp.2 Matthew and Granger 1921 marsupial
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Mesohippus sp.2 Marsh 1875 anchitheriine horse
 Artiodactyla - Hypertragulidae
cf. Hypertragulus sp.2 Cope 1874 ruminant
 Artiodactyla - Agriochoeridae
? Agriochoeridae indet.2 Leidy 1869 agriochoerid
 Artiodactyla - Camelidae
Camelidae indet.2 Gray 1821 camel
 Carnivora - Nimravidae
Pangurban egiae n. gen. n. sp.
Pangurban egiae n. gen. n. sp. Poust et al. 2022 false sabre-tooth
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Mustelidae indet.2 Fischer 1817 mustelid carnivore
 Theriamorpha - Geolabididae
Centetodon cf. magnus2 Clark 1936 placental
 Rodentia - Ischyromyidae
Ischyromys sp.2 Leidy 1856 rodent
 Rodentia - Eomyidae
cf. Metanoiamys sp.2 Chiment and Korth 1996 rodent
Protadjidaumo sp.2 Burke 1934 rodent
cf. Paradjidaumo sp.2 Burke 1934 rodent
 Rodentia - Heliscomyidae
Heliscomys sp.2 Cope 1873 rodent
 Rodentia -
cf. Griphomys sp.2 Wilson 1940 rodent
said to be new
Nonomyinae indet.1 Martin 1980 rodent
said to be new
Nonomys gutzleri n. sp.1 Walsh 2010 rodent
said to be new
 Primates - Microsyopidae
Uintasoricinae indet.2 Szalay 1969 primate