Merrell (Pleistocene of the United States)

Where: Beaverhead County, Montana (44.6° N, 112.6° W: paleocoordinates 44.6° N, 112.6° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Late/Upper Pleistocene (0.1 - 0.0 Ma)

• "faunal remains were recovered from at least two ages" represented by stratum D ("ca. 27,000 BP and 22,000 BP") and stratum B and upper stratum A ("ca. 40,000 BP")

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: fluvial; lithology not reported

• "a stream, marsh, or lake setting" with "perennial, slow-moving water" based on the fauna

Size class: macrofossils

Collected in 1988, 1989

• Museum of the Rockies collection

Primary reference: R. G. Dundas. 2005. The Late Pleistocene vertebrate fauna. In C. Hill, L. B. Davis (eds.), The Merrell Locality & Centennial Valley, Southwest Montana, Pleistocene Geology, Paleontology & Prehistoric Archaeology, Bureau of Land Management Cultural Resources Series No. 4, Montana State Office 79-90 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 93182: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 06.01.2010

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Gnathostomata
  -
Actinopterygii indet. ray-finned fish
"Osteichthyes" and compares "best with the Catosomitdae... and Cyprinidae"
Amphibia
 Salientia - Ranidae
cf. Rana sp. Linnaeus 1758 frog
Aves
 Anseriformes - Anatidae
Anatidae indet. Vigors 1825 waterfowl
Anas cf. platyrhynchos Linnaeus 1758 mallard
"Olar buccinator" = Cygnus buccinator Richardson 1832 trumpeter swan
Mammalia
 Proboscidea - Elephantidae
Mammuthus columbi Falconer 1857 Columbian mammoth
 Carnivora - Felidae
"Homotherium serum" = Homotherium latidens
"Homotherium serum" = Homotherium latidens Owen 1846 scimitar toothed cat
 Carnivora - Ursidae
Ursus sp. Linnaeus 1758 bear
 Carnivora - Canidae
Canis latrans Say 1823 coyote
Canis lupus Linnaeus 1758 gray wolf
 Artiodactyla - Camelidae
Camelops sp. Leidy 1854 camel
 Artiodactyla - Antilocapridae
cf. Antilocapra americana Ord 1815 pronghorn
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
Bison sp. Hamilton-Smith 1827 bison
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
Cervidae indet. Gray 1821 deer
large
cf. Odocoileus sp. Rafinesque 1832 New World deer
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Equus sp. Linnaeus 1758 horse
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Ondatra zibethicus Linnaeus 1766 muskrat
Lemmiscus curtatus Cope 1868 sagebrush vole
 Rodentia - Castoridae
Castor canadensis Kuhl 1820 American beaver
 Rodentia - Sciuridae
Spermophilus sp. Cuvier 1825 ground squirrel
Bivalvia
  -
Bivalvia indet. Linnaeus 1758 clam
Gastropoda
  -
Gastropoda indet. Cuvier 1795 snail