PBDB Collection

Rattlesnake: Hemphillian, Oregon

List of taxa

Where & when

Geology

Taphonomy & methods

Metadata & references

Taxonomic list

Reptilia - Testudines

	Clemmys hesperia n. sp. Hay 1903	Hay 1903
	nomen dubium belonging to Testudinoidea
	UCMP 2219 (holotype), a left hyoplastron
Mammalia - Megalonychidae

	Megalonychidae indet. Gervais 1855
	= cf. Megalonyx sp. Harlan 1825	Fremd 1994
	replaces ID of Hirschfeld and Webb 1968: "Megalonychid?" from UC 3061; "Sinclairia oregoniana" (reference unclear)
Mammalia - Chiroptera - Vespertilionidae

	cf. Myotis sp. Kaup 1829	Fremd 1994
	a bat; "Vespertilionidae indet." of Martin 1983: SDSM V-832
Mammalia - Proboscidea - Proboscidea

	Proboscidea indet. Illiger 1811
	said to be "Tetralophodon sp." by Fremd et al. 1994
Mammalia - Proboscidea - Mammutidae

	Mammut matthewi (Osborn 1921)	von Koenigswald et al. 2023
Mammalia - Carnivora - Ursidae

	? Indarctos oregonensis n. sp. Merriam et al. 1916
	said in discussion of "Hipparion anthonyi" to be from UC 3058

	Plionarctos sp. Frick 1926	Hunt 1998
	UC 3045; includes "Amphicyonid or Ursid" according to Tedford and Martin 2001
Mammalia - Carnivora - Mustelidae

	Mustela sp. Linnaeus 1758
	(1 measurement)
	= Lutravus cf. halli Furlong 1932	Furlong 1932
	from UC 3045; said to "probably" be halli

	Martes sp. Frisch 1775	Fremd 1994
Mammalia - Carnivora - Ailuridae

	Pliocyon marshi n. sp. Thorpe 1921
	(1 measurement)
	= Simocyon primigenius Wagner 1858	Thorpe 1921
	from "about a mile west of Cottonwood, on the East Fork of the John Day River" in the Rattlesnake Fm.; see also Tedford et al. 1987; includes "Canis cf. davisi" from UC 3048 according to Tedrow et al. 1999
Mammalia - Carnivora - Canidae

	Borophaginae indet. Simpson 1945
	"Osteoborus" Fremd et al. 1994

	Vulpes stenognathus Savage 1941	Tedford et al. 2009
	"Rattlesnake 3, UCMP locality 3042"
Mammalia - Carnivora - Felidae

	Felidae indet. Gray 1821
	large and small forms, latter at UC 3058

	Machairodus lahayishupup Orcutt and Calede 2021	Orcutt and Calede 2021
	equivalent to large felid sp. A of Merriam et al. 1925
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Equidae

	Neohipparion cf. leptode Merriam 1915	Tedford et al. 1987
	includes "Hipparion leptode or Hipparion occidentale" from UC 884, probably "H. occidentale" from UC 887, and possibly "H. sinclairi" from UC 3068; JA pers. obs. 4.2.95

	Hippotherium sp. Kaup 1832
	JA pers. obs. 4.2.95: "Hipparion occidentale" from UC 3057, "H. anthonyi" from UC 3058, 3062

	Pliohippus spectans (Cope 1880)
	= Dinohippus spectans Cope 1880	Alroy 2002
	UC 3060
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae

	Teleoceras sp. Hatcher 1894
	"? Teleoceras, near fossiger" at UC 3060 and rhino at UC 3068; cf. Teleoceras sp. is present at SDSM V-832, see Martin 1983
Mammalia - Tayassuidae

	Prosthennops oregonensis n. sp. Colbert 1938
	(6 measurements)
	= Platygonus oregonensis Colbert 1938	Colbert 1938
	from CIT 21 "north of Rattlesnake Creek"; also reported by Martin 1983 from SDSM V-832 but specimen is just an incisor
Mammalia - Camelidae

	Pliauchenia sp. Cope 1875
	= Camelidae indet. Gray 1821	Fremd 1994

	Alticamelus sp. Matthew 1901
	= Camelidae indet. Gray 1821	Fremd 1994

	Hemiauchenia cf. vera (Matthew 1909)	Martin 1983
	recombined as Pleiolama vera
	a larger camel. is also present at UC 3068 and type Rattlesnake locality
Mammalia - Antilocapridae

	Sphenophalos sp. Merriam 1909
	UC 3045; additional antilocaprine at UC 3057
Mammalia - Lagomorpha - Leporidae

	Hypolagus vetus (Kellogg 1910)
Mammalia - Rodentia - Mylagaulidae

	Mylagaulus sp. Cope 1878
	= Mylagaulidae indet. Cope 1881	Fremd 1994
Mammalia - Rodentia - Cricetidae

	Peromyscus sp. Gloger 1841	Martin 1983
	SDSM V-832
Mammalia - Rodentia - Sciuridae

	Otospermophilus gidleyi n. sp. (Merriam et al. 1925)
	= Spermophilus gidleyi Merriam et al. 1925	Alroy 2002
	recombined as Citellus (Otospermophilus) gidleyi
	UC 3058
Mammalia - Rodentia - Castoridae

	Dipoides cf. stirtoni Wilson 1934	Shotwell 1955
	UCMP V-4825; "D. sp." of Stirton 1935

	Castor californicus Kellogg 1911	Samuels and Zancanella 2011
	area lies within the type area of Merriam, on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management
see common names

Geography

Country:	United States	State/province:	Oregon	County:	Grant
Coordinates:	44.5° North, 119.3° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:	44.4° North, 116.6° West
Basis of coordinate:	based on political unit

Time

Period:	Neogene
10 m.y. bin:	Cenozoic 6
*Period:	Tertiary	*Epoch:	Miocene
Key time interval:	Hemphillian
Age range of interval:	9.40000 - 4.70000 m.y. ago
* legacy (obsolete) database fields

Stratigraphy

Formation:

Rattlesnake

Lithology and environment

Primary lithology:	siltstone
Environment:	terrestrial indet.

Taphonomy

Modes of preservation:	body
Size of fossils:	macrofossils

Collection methods and comments

Reason for describing collection:	taxonomic analysis
Museum repositories:	SDSM
Taxonomic list comments:preliminary list given by Merriam 1917 ignimbrite above fauna dated at 6.6 +/- 0.1 and 6.8 +/- 0.2 Ma (KA on sanidine): Tedford et al. 1987; according to Tedford and Martin 2001, this is the same as the Rattlesnake Ash Flow Tuff dated at 7.2 Ma (SCLF AA) by Fremd et al. 1994 and 7.05 +/- 0.02 Ma (Ar/Ar) by Perkins et al. 1998 possibly relevant: Indarctos(?) sp. at UC 3042 status of "Hipparion sp." of Tedford et al. 1987 unclear in light of figured material "Prosthennops rex": a nomen dubium from possible Rattlesnake exposures from Wilson's Springs, Crooked River, Oregon according to Colbert 1938; Merriam et al. were uncertain of the type's provenance but described an additional tayassuid at UC 3060

Metadata

Also known as:	SDSM V-832; UC 3045, 3058, 3060
Database number:	19015
Authorizer:	J. Alroy, E. Vlachos, N. Famoso, J. Marcot, J. Orcutt	Enterer:	J. Alroy, N. Famoso, E. Vlachos, J. Orcutt, J. Marcot
Modifier:	N. Famoso	Research group:	vertebrate
Created:	1993-09-27 00:00:00	Last modified:	2023-09-29 17:11:04
Access level:	the public	Released:	1993-09-27 00:00:00
Creative Commons license:	CC BY

Reference information

Primary reference:

2581.

J. C. Merriam, C. Stock, and C. L. Moody. 1925. The Pliocene Rattlesnake Formation and fauna of eastern Oregon, with notes on the geology of the Rattlesnake and Mascall deposits. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 347(3):43-92 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Marcot]

Secondary references:

6294		J. Alroy. 2002. Synonymies and reidentifications of North American fossil mammals. [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Kouvari]
1252		E. H. Colbert. 1938. Pliocene peccaries from the Pacific Coast region of North America. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 487(6):241-269 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Marcot]
1547		T. Fremd. 1994. John Day Basin paleontology field trip guide and road log: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument 94-1 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Uhen]
1565		E. L. Furlong. 1932. A new genus of otter from the Pliocene of the northern Great Basin province. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 418(5):93-103 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Marcot]
64727		O. P. Hay. 1903. Two new species of fossil turtles from Oregon. University of California Publications, Bulletin of the Department of Geology 3(10):238-248 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos/P. Holroyd]
1976		R. M. Hunt, Jr. 1998. Ursidae. In C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (eds.), Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America 1:174-195 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Uhen]
2410		J. E. Martin. 1983. Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Sciences 62 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
77044		J.D. Orcutt and J.J.M. Calede. 2021. Quantitative analyses of feliform humeri reveal the existence of a very large cat in North America during the Miocene. Journal of Mammalian Evolution [J. Orcutt/J. Orcutt]
82388		J. X. Samuels and J. Zancanella. 2011. An early Hemphillian occurrence of Castor (Castoridae) from the Rattlesnake Formation of Oregon. Journal of Paleontology 85(5):930-935 [N. Famoso/N. Famoso]
3108		J. A. Shotwell. 1955. Review of the Pliocene Beaver Dipoides. Journal of Paleontology 29(1):129-144 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Ju]
6198		R. H. Tedford, T. Galusha, M. F. Skinner, B. E. Taylor, R. W. Fields, J. R. Macdonald, J. M. Rensberger, S. D. Webb, and D. P. Whistler. 1987. Faunal succession and biochronology of the Arikareean through Hemphillian interval (late Oligocene through earliest Pliocene epochs) in North America. In M. O. Woodburne (ed.), Cenozoic Mammals of North America: Geochronology and Biostratigraphy 153-210 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/P. Wagner]
52058		R. H. Tedford, X. Wang, and B. E. Taylor. 2009. Phylogenetic Systematics of the North American Fossil Caninae (Carnivora: Canidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 325:1-218 [J. Marcot/J. Marcot/G. Lloyd]
3409		M. R. Thorpe. 1921. Two new fossil Carnivora. American Journal of Science 1(6):477-483 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Marcot]
85881		W. von Koenigswald, C. Widga, and U. Göhlich. 2023. New mammutids (Proboscidea) from the Clarendonian and Hemphillian of Oregon – a survey of Mio-Pliocene mammutids from North America. Bulletin of the Museum of Natural History, University of Oregon 30:1-63 [N. Famoso/N. Famoso]