Gray Fossil Site (Neogene to of the United States)

Where: Washington County, Tennessee (36.4° N, 82.5° W: paleocoordinates 36.6° N, 81.2° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Late/Upper Hemphillian to Late/Upper Hemphillian (10.3 - 4.9 Ma)

• "4.5 to 7 Myr (late Miocene to early Pliocene" (meaning late Hemphillian to early Blancan)"

•Samuels et al., 2018: "Considering the Gray Fossil Site fauna in total, a revised estimate of the age of the Gray Fossil Site is Early Pliocene near the Hemphillian–Blancan transition, likely between 4.9 and 4.5 Ma (Fig. 2)."

• member-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: sinkhole; argillaceous, sandy siltstone and conglomerate

• "highly laminated, organic laden, silty sediments" (Wallace et al. 2002)

•"finely laminated clays, silts, and fine sands intermixed with isolated gravel lenses that fill a former sinkhole... up to 39 m thick... result of a small lake or pond that formed within the sinkhole" (Wallace and Wang 2004)

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils, microfossils

Reposited in the FLMNH

Collection methods: quarrying,

Primary reference: S. C. Wallace and X. Wang. 2004. Two new carnivores from an unusual late Tertiary forest biota in eastern North America. Nature 431:556-559 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 26574: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 17.10.2002, edited by Richard Hulbert, Evangelos Vlachos, Mark Uhen, Patricia Holroyd, Jonathan Marcot, Grace Varnham, Bethany Allen and Nicholas Famoso

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

unclassified
  -
Angiospermae
 Caryophyllales - Caryophyllaceae
Caryophyllaceae indet. Jussieu 1789 carnation
 Asterales - Asteraceae
Asteraceae indet. Berchtold and Presl 1820 daisy
"Ambrosia-type ('ragweed')"
 Lamiales - Oleaceae
Fraxinus sp. Linnaeus 1753 ash
 Poales - Poaceae
"Gramineae indet." = Poaceae
"Gramineae indet." = Poaceae Barnhart 1895 true grass
 Poales - Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae indet. Jussieu 1789 sedge
 Fagales - Fagaceae
Quercus sp. Linnaeus 1753 oak
 Fagales - Juglandaceae
Carya sp. Nuttall 1818 hickory
 Fagales - Betulaceae
Betula sp. Linnaeus 1753 birch
Alnus sp. Miller 1754 alder
 Rosales - Ulmaceae
Celtis sp. Linnaeus 1753 hackberry
Ulmus sp. Linnaeus 1753 elm
 Malpighiales - Salicaceae
Salix sp. Linnaeus 1753 willow
Pinopsida
 Pinales - Pinaceae
Tsuga sp. Carrière 1855
Pinus sp. Linnaeus 1753 pine
Gnathostomata
  -
Aves
 Passeriformes -
Passeriformes indet. Linnaeus 1758 perching bird
Reptilia
 Crocodylia - Alligatoridae
Alligator sp. Daudin 1809 alligator
 Testudines - Testudinidae
Testudinidae indet.7 Batsch 1788 turtle
"smaller testudinid"
Hesperotestudo sp.7 Williams 1950 turtle
 Testudines - Emydidae
Emydidae indet.7 Rafinesque 1815 turtle
"Emydoidea/Emys"
Terrapene sp.7 Merrem 1820 box turtle
"or Terrapene-like taxon"
Chrysemys sp. Gray 1844 painted turtle
Trachemys sp.7 Agassiz 1857 slider
Trachemys haugrudi n. sp.7 Jasinski 2018 slider
 Testudines - Chelydridae
Chelydra sp.7 Schweigger 1812 Snapping turtle
 Testudines - Kinosternoidea
Sternotherus sp.3 Gray 1825 musk turtle
Sternotherus palaeodorus n. sp.4 Bourque and Schubert 2015 musk turtle
ETMNH 13912 (Figs. 2, 3), nearly complete carapace and plastron of an adult. Specimen is missing the right P2, right epiplastron, right hyoplastron, right xiphiplastron, and right hypoplastral buttress
 Squamata -
Heloderma sp.8 Wiegmann 1829 beaded lizard
 Squamata - Anguidae
Anguinae indet.8 Gray 1825 squamates
 Squamata - Scincidae
Scincidae indet.8 Gray 1825 skink
 Squamata - Colubridae
Pantherophis sp.8 Fitzinger 1843 colubrid snake
ETMNH-9510 (midtrunk vertebra)
cf. Neonatrix sp.8 Holman 1973 colubrid snake
ETMNH-9262 (caudal vertebra)
cf. Regina sp. Baird and Girard 1853 crayfish snake
Nerodia sp.8 Baird and Girard 1853 water snake
ETMNH-9362 (midtrunk vertebra)
Thamnophis sp.8 Fitzinger 1843 garter snake
ETMNH-9261 (posterior trunk vertebra); ETMNH-9448 (posterior trunk vertebra); ETMNH- 11961 (midtrunk vertebra)
Colubrinae indet.8 Oppel 1811 colubrid snake
possibly Coluber sp. or Masticophis sp.; ETMNH-9244 and ETMNH-9401 (midtrunk vertebra);
Zilantophis schuberti n. gen. n. sp.8 Jasinski and Moscato 2017 colubrid snake
Holotype: ETMNH-9557 (posterior trunk vertebra); ETMNH-9245, caudal vertebra; ETMNH- 9273, midtrunk vertebra; ETMNH-9292, caudal vertebra; ETMNH 9324, anterior trunk vertebra; ETMNH-9413, trunk vertebra; ETMNH-9431, anterior trunk vertebra.
Masticophis sp.8 Baird and Girard 1853 whip snake
ETMNH-11115 (axis)
Pituophis sp.8 Holbrook 1842 gopher snake
ETMNH-9451 (posterior trunk vertebra)
 Squamata - Boidae
Boidae indet.8 Gray 1825 boa
 Squamata - Crotalidae
cf. Sistrurus sp. Garman 1883 pigmy rattlesnake
 Squamata - Viperidae
Viperidae indet.8 Oppel 1811 viper
Mammalia
 Proboscidea - Mammutidae
Mammut sp.12 Blumenbach 1799 mastodon
 Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae
Gomphotheriidae indet. Hay 1922 gomphothere
 Carnivora - Felidae
cf. Machairodus sp. Kaup 1833 cat
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Arctomeles dimolodontus n. sp. Wallace and Wang 2004 badger
Gulo sudorus n. sp.10 Samuels et al. 2018 wolverine
ETMNH 3663
 Carnivora - Ailuridae
Pristinailurus bristoli n. gen. n. sp.
Pristinailurus bristoli n. gen. n. sp. Wallace and Wang 2004 red panda
 Carnivora - Ursidae
Plionarctos sp. Frick 1926 bear
 Carnivora - Canidae
Canidae indet. Fischer de Waldheim 1817 canid
Borophagus sp.2 Cope 1892 bone-crushing dog
ETMNH 10545, right humerus
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
cf. Cormohipparion sp.6 Skinner and MacFadden 1977 hipparionine horse
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Teleoceras aepysoma n. sp.11 Short et al. 2019 rhinoceros
 Perissodactyla - Tapiridae
"Tapiravus polkensis" = Tapirus polkensis
"Tapiravus polkensis" = Tapirus polkensis Olsen 1960 tapir
 Artiodactyla - Camelidae
cf. Megatylopus sp. Matthew and Cook 1909 camel
 Artiodactyla - Tayassuidae
cf. Mylohyus elmorei5 White 1942 peccary
ETMNH 6767
Mylohyus elmorei5 White 1942 peccary
Prosthennops serus5 Cope 1877 peccary
ETMNH 410, 5615, UF/TRO 413, UF 220251
 Theriamorpha - Soricidae
Soricidae indet. Fischer 1814 shrew
 Theriamorpha - Talpidae
Parascalops grayensis n. sp.9 Oberg and Samuels 2022 mole
Neurotrichus sp.9 Günther 1880 shrew mole
Mioscalops sp.9 Ostrander et al. 1986 mole
Magnatalpa fumamons n. gen. n. sp.9 Oberg and Samuels 2022 mole
 Placentalia -
Rodentia indet. Bowdich 1821 rodent
Amphibia
  -
Amphibia indet.13 Linnaeus 1758 tetrapod
 Caudata - Urodela
Desmognathus sp.1 Baird 1850 lungless salamander
Plethodon sp.1 Tschudi 1838 woodland salamander
Notophthalmus sp.1 Rafinesque 1820 newt
"Ambystoma sp." = Amblystoma1 Tschudi 1838 mole salamander
 Salientia - Ranidae
Rana sp.8 Linnaeus 1758 frog