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©Staatl. Mus. f. Naturkde Karlsruhe & Naturwiss. Ver. Karlsruhe e.V.; download unter www.zobodat.at carolinea, 62 (2004): 63-68, 2 Abb., 1. Taf.; Karlsruhe, 15.12.2004 63

H. D ieter Schreiber Faunal characterisation of Neogene and localities of the State Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract The collection at the MPG (see fig. 1) contains fossil The collection of the Museo de Paleontología de Guadalajara, remains of vertebrates (Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, Jalisco, Mexico (MPG) contains fossils of vertebrates from Amphibia, Pisces) and plant remains (e.g. siliceous several localities in the State Jalisco, SW-Mexico. The locali­ ties are up to Pleistocene in age. Based on investiga­ wood) from Miocene up to localities. tions during a visit at the MPG in 2003 a faunal list and a short Unfortunately, precise coordinates of the localities or characterisation of the faunal assemblage are presented in strata of most fossils are unknown. Whereas coordi­ comparison to the localities Rancho la Brea (California, USA) nates and stratum are reported for a skeleton of a re­ and Mina (Nuevo León, NE-Mexico). Potential projects for fur­ cently excavated gomphotherid, the lack of precise de­ ther investigations on the fossil material and the localities are proposed. tails on the fossil sites and in consequence their ages is a result of the historic origin of the collection. Kurzfassung Faunistische Charakterisierung von Neogenen und Plei- stozänen Fundstellen des Staates Jalisco, Mexiko Die Sammlung des Museo de Paleontología de Guadalajara, Origin of the collection Jalisco, Mexico (MPG) umfasst Wirbeltierfossilien aus mehre­ ren Fundstellen im Bundesstaat Jalisco, SW-Mexiko. Das Al­ Fossil remains were always the special private interest ter dieser Fundstellen reicht vom Miozän bis ins Pleistozän. of Federico A. Solórzano Barreto, an engineer of phar­ Aufbauend auf den Untersuchungen während eines vierwöchi­ gen Aufenthaltes in Guadalajara 2003 wird eine Faunenliste macology and chemistry, who for 50 collected und kurze Charakterisierung der Faunenassoziation der fossil remains from Neogene and in the Sammlung des MPG im Vergleich zu Rancho la Brea (Kalifor­ State of Jalisco and especially Guadalajara. After a nien, USA) und Mina (Nuevo León, NE-Mexico) präsentiert. short time he became known as a person being inter­ Mögliche zukünftige Projekte zur weitergehenden Bearbeitung ested in ‘old bones’, which occasionally were found by der Sammlung und Erforschung der Fundstelle werden formu­ liert. people in the countryside. Over the years most of the fossil material was donated to him. In these circum­ Autor stances detailed information about the fossil sites, H. Dieter Schreiber, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Kar­ such as stratigraphic and taphonomic information, are lsruhe, Erbprinzenstraße 13, D-76133 Karlsruhe, e-mail: die- largely lacking. [email protected] . During the last decade, interest in the collection on the part of official institutions, especially the University of Guadalajara, has increased, but no decisions have Introduction been made for the future of the collection. Only the most complete material became a part of the exhibi­ The faunal characterisation based on the first visit at tion in the Museo Regional de Guadalajara. Later on the Museo de Paleontología de Guadalajara, Jalisco, the City of Guadalajara offered Mr. Solórzano Barreto Mexico (MPG) in September and October 2003 con­ a building in the Parque Agua Azul to store the collec­ cerning the agreement between the Museo del Desier­ tion and to create a museum that would serve as an to (Saltillo), Museo de Paleontología (Guadalajara), University of Karlsruhe (TH), and the State Museum of institution for educational and scientific work on the Natural History (Karlsruhe) for scientific exchange and fossils from the region of Jalisco. This Museum was support. opened in February 2000 as the Museo de Paleon­ The objective of the visit to the MPG was the paleonto­ tología de Guadalajara (MPG) with the support of the logical collection of Neogene and Pleistocene fossil re­ City of Guadalajara and the Instituto Nacional de mains from different localities in the State of Jalisco Antropología e Historia (INAH). Diana Solórzano (Mexico). The aims were to meet colleagues and to Perez, the daughter of Mr. Solórzano Barreto, became check out potential future projects within the scientific the first director. framework and scientific support of the MPG. ©Staatl. Mus. f. Naturkde Karlsruhe & Naturwiss. Ver. Karlsruhe e.V.; download unter www.zobodat.at 64 carolinea, 62 (2004)

Museo de Paleontología de Guadalajara (MPG) the MVB, and the JB and fiiiea with Plio-Pleistocene fluvial and lacustrine deposits. Today the lakes of Ato- During the last three years the Museo de Paleon­ tonilco, Zacoalco, San Marcos, Chapala and Sayula tología has established itself as a place for scientific are present indications that the widespread intramon­ education and paleontological research. In addition to tane basin was temporarily occupied by lakes. the permanent exhibition, public services are en­ Most of the fossil sites, like Chapala, Zacoalco, Te- hanced by temporary exhibitions (e.g. an exhibition colotlan, and Juchitlan, which yielded the main part of about osteopathological diseases in the prehispanic the assemblage in the MPG collection, are genetically population of Jalisco). A recently excavated complete associated with the graben system. Those deposits skeleton of a gomphotherid became a part of the col­ represent mainly palaeo-lakes connected by rivers, lection. It will be described scientifically, published, which existed at certain times in the basins. and subsequently mounted in the exhibition. The internal organisation of the museum at the time of Overview of the faunal assemblage in the collection the visit was divided in the curatorial (fig. 2), and edu­ Besides complete skeletons ( Mammuthus, Stego- cational departments, one graphic designer, techni- mastodon, Neochoerus), isolated skulls, mandibles, cans, and the administration. Director: Diana isolated teeth, postcranial material and bone fragments Solórzano Perez, curatorial staff: Javier Juarez (Cura­ occur in a huge range of stages of bone preservation. tor), Ricardo Aguilar Alonso (working on Elephan- Additionally the material shows different colours from toidea), Óscar Rojas Santana (working on Equidae, white, brown colours, reddish and yellowish to black. Aves), Martha Castrejón (working on Camelidae), All together, a provisional summary allows the conclu­ Juan Baez Corpuss (working on Tayassuidae). sion that the fossils very likely come from different sites in the region of Guadalajara which should be distin­ guishable by taphonomical reasons. There should be Geology of the region and the fossil sites sites with low energy lacustrine, reducing environments yielding articulated dark coloured skeletons (e.g. Lake The basement in the region of Guadalajara is a result Chapala or Zacoalco), and higher energy, fluviatile, of tectonic developments since the (see more oxidising environments with isolated (disarticulat­ Ferrari et al. 2000). It is a composite of the Paleo­ ed), light coloured bones (probably like Juchitlan). gene volcanic rocks of the Sierra Madre Occidental The most detailed investigations on different material (SMO) in the north, of the mainly Mesozoic volcanic to achieve an overview and some details of the sam­ rocks of the Jalisco Block (JB) in the south, and of the ple have started with tooth material of the Gom- Plio-Pleistocene volcanic rocks of the western Mexi­ photheridae (pi. 1a) and Elephantidae (pi. 1b), been can Volcanic Belt (MVB) between them. As a result of continued with tooth material of Equidae (pi. 1c), tectonic movement in the continental crust, a graben Camelidae (pi. 1 d), and finally with material of system developed in the boundary area of the SMO, Rhinocerotidae (pi. 1e). A first unpublished faunal list

Fig. 1 : Fossil sam­ ple from Chapala in the exhibition of the MPG.. - All Photos D. SCHREIBER. ©Staatl. Mus. f. Naturkde Karlsruhe & Naturwiss. Ver. Karlsruhe e.V.; download unter www.zobodat.at

Schreiber : Neogene and Pleistocene of Jalisco 65

was made by Federico A. So lo r za n o Ba r r e to (1977) Xenarthra (taxa mentioned in his list are marked here with *). Ad- Eremotherium laurillardi Ve ditional information comes from the Museo Regional Glyptotherium cylindricum (Brachyostracon cylindricus*)[ pi. 1g] CZ de Guadalajara (marked with **). Some taxa in the sp. (americanus? *) sample are assigned to localities (in the exhibition): Glossotherium sp. (herlani*,**) [pi. 1f] Tecolotlan (Te), Juchitlan (Ju), Atotonilco el Bajo (At), ? Dasypus novemcinctus * Venustiano Carranza (Ve), Chapala, Zacoalco (CZ). ? Holmesina septentrionalis * Today the collection at the MPG contains the following ? Megalonyx jeffersoni * Ve taxa (known as of October 2003): ? Nothrotherium shastense * Ve Aves Marsupialia IDideiphis sp. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos * Insectívora ? ~Mycteria wetmorei* Chiroptera Phalacrocorax sp. * Primates Homo sapiens * Phalacrocorax olivaceus * CZ Carnívora Felis {=Profelis) concolor Phoenicopterus sp. * -Felis panthera * Phoenicopterus ruber * Smilodon sp. (californicus *, **) CZ - Chen hyperborea * Lutra canadensis * ~ Buteogallus fragilis * Conepatus mesoleucos * ~Pliolymbus baryosteus * lupus * CZ Ardea herodias * Canis latrans *, ** ~Anas acuta * Osteoborus cyonoides Ju ~Aythya affinis * Procyon lotor * Chelonia Chelonia indet. Te Arctodus pristinus *, ** Chelone sp. * Rodentia Cynomys mexicanus * Pseudemys (=Trachemys) scripta CZ ? Sigmodon hispidus * Pseudemys (=Trachemys) sp. Neochoerus sp. * At, CZ Kinosternon sp. Lagomorpha Syiviiagus * Squamata Natrix sp. * Leporidae indet. Crocodylia Crocodylia indet. Te Artiodactyla Platygonus ticuli * CZ Caiman sp. * Camelops sp. * Amphibia Rana sp. * CZ Camelops hesternus At, CZ Osteichthyes Salmo sp. Camelops traviswhitei - Maxostema poecilurum * Hemiauchenia sp. - Algansea tincella * Alforjas sp. - Chirostoma lucius * ? Titanotylopus sp. - Chapalichthys encaustus * Megatylopus sp. Micropterus relictus * Lama sp. * Ictalurus dugesi * CZ Tetrameryx sp. (*, conglinki**) CZ Ictalurus spodius CZ Hexameryx sp. Ju ~Tapatía occidentalis Amatitán, 1 Hexobelomeryx sp. * Mollusca indi Odocoileus virginianus * CZ Arthropoda Crustacea indet. * Odocoileus hemionus * Plantae Pinus sp. * - Cervus intertuberculatus * -Gramínea sp. (cheneyh, **) At Quercus * Cetacea indet. Ichnofossils ** Perissodactyla [~ unclear synonomy] ? Tapirus tarijensis * Teleoceras fossiger * Te, Ju Furthermore the collection contains a large number of Nannippus sp. (minor *) Te vertebrate bone material with traces of animal actions Astrohippus stockii Te (bite marks, gnawing traces) and certainly also by hu­ Dinohippus mexicanus Te mans (cuttings, drillings and smashings). A vertebra of Equus sp. CZ a whale found in the Chapala region was likely to have ? Equus caballus ** been dislocated by humans, because there are no ma­ Equus mexicanus (Asinus mexicanus1') At Equus conversidens * rine deposits in that region. Equus simplicidens The bulk of the fossils derives from the lake deposits Equus complicatus of Chapala and Zacoalco, and is considered to be late Proboscidea Cuvieronius sp. CZ Pleistocene in age. The asphalt deposits of Rancho la Stegomastodon cf. primitivus Brea in the region of Los Angeles yielded a huge num­ Stegomastodon cf. mirificus (Chapala specimen) ber of late Pleistocene fossil remains and a rich record Mammuthus columbi (Elephas columbi *)At, CZ of biodiversity at that time slot (see S t o c k 1992). Ran- ? - Mastodon serridens * ©Staatl. Mus. f. Naturkde Karlsruhe & Naturwiss. Ver. Karlsruhe e.V.; download unter www.zobodat.at 66 carolinea, 62 (2004)

Figur 2: .Visible1 collection in the Cu­ raduría of the MPG.

cho la Brea was selected to characterise the Ran- (C ar ro ll 1993), Alforjas, Megatylopus, cholabrean Land Age (S avag e 1951). In Hexameryx, Nannippus refered the Miocene (Carroll comparison with the vertebrate fauna of Rancho la 1993), Teleoceras from the early Pliocene (P rothero Brea, the collection at the MPG shows the following 1998), Glyptotherium cylindricum from the late features. Pliocene and (Carroll 1993)] verify The taxa Felis concolor, Canis lupus, Canis latran, the occurrence of older stratigraphical elements in the Procyon lotor, Sylvilagus, Camelops hesternus, Hemi- collection. auchenia, Odocoileus hemionus, Equus conversidens, Of course a general taxonomic revision of the collec­ Mammuthus columbi, Megalonyx jeffersoni, tion in the MPG is still pending, and a lot of nomenclat­ Nothrotheriops shastensis, Glossotherium herlani, ura! differences could be the result of taxonomic prob­ Phalacrocorax, and Rana occur at both fossil sites. lems. Also the many taxa, like Talpidae, Soricidae, The genera Smilodon, Arctodus, Platygonus, Cervus, Chiroptera, Lynx, Mustelidae, Canis dims, Canis famil- Bison, Tapirus occur at both sites, but with different iaris, Ursus, Spermophilus, Geomyidae, Heteromyi- species. The taxa Cynomys mexicanus, ISigmodon dae, Cricitidae, Lepus, Capromeryx, Antilocapra, Eu- hispidus, Neochoerus sp., Camelops traviswhitei, IT i- ceratherium, Ovis, Mammut (americanum), Lacertilia, tanotylopus, Alforjas sp., Megatylopus sp., Odocoileus Urodela, and Pisces, which occur at Rancho la Brea, virglnianus, Tetrameryx sp., Hexameryx sp., Nannip- but are not yet recognised in the Jalisco-sample, show pus minor, Astrohippus stockii, Dinohippus that a revison of the assemblage at the MPG is cer­ mexicanus, Equus mexicanus, Equus simplicidens, tainly worthwhile. The comparison between both fossil Equus complicatus, Teleoceras fossiger, Cuvieronius sites promise a great potential of more detailed taxo­ sp., Stegomastodon cf. primitivus, Stegomastodon cf. nomic and stratigraphic data in the MPG-collection. minficus, ? Dasypus novemcinctus, ? Holmesia septen- In distinction to the MPG-collection Mammuthus jeffer­ trionalis, Glypthotherium cylindricum, and Crocodilia soni occurs in the north Mexican locality Mina (NW occur only in the collection of the MPG. This greater Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, Valley of Rio Salinas, number of taxa which don’t occur in Rancho la Brea near the ford of Paso de Lobo, see Franzen 1993) [by suggests that the faunal assemblage of the MPG con­ its tooth pattern a higher derived elephantoid species tains more than late Pleistocene taxa. In fact some of as Mammuthus columbi in ], The main these taxa [ISigmodon hispidus refered to the late faunal assemblage of Mina is similar or equivalent to

Plate 1: a. Stegomastodon, M3, sin., occlusal view; b. Mammuthus columbi, M3, sin., occlusal view; c. Equidae, M1 or M2, dex., occlusal view; d. Camelidae, fragmentary maxilla with P3-M3, sin., occlusal view; e. Rhinocerotidae, fragmentary maxilla with M2-M3, sin., occlusal view; f. Glossotherium, mandible, dex., buccal view; g. Glyptotherium, fragment of the ca.rapax, dorsal view. Scale 50 mm. ©Staatl. Mus. f. Naturkde Karlsruhe & Naturwiss. Ver. Karlsruhe e.V.; download unter www.zobodat.at

Schreiber : Neogene and Pleistocene of Jalisco 67

g ©Staatl. Mus. f. Naturkde Karlsruhe & Naturwiss. Ver. Karlsruhe e.V.; download unter www.zobodat.at 68 carolinea, 62 (2004) the MPG-collection. Excluding taxonomic or nomen­ References clatura! problems, the difference seems to be an ex­ Carroll , R. L. (1993): Paläontologie und Evolution der pression of either different stratigraphic position or dif­ Wirbeltiere. - german edition, 684 S., 710 Abb., Stuttgart, New York, NY (Georg Thieme Verlag). ferent climatic conditions between northeast and Ferrari , L , Pasquare , G., Venegas -Salgado , S. & Romero- southwest Mexico or both. Rios , F. (2000): Geology of the western Mexican Volcanic The faunal assemblage of the Jalisco region fills a gap Belt and adjacent Sierra Madre Occidental and Jalisco in the faunal history of North America. It contributes Block. - Geological Society of America. Special Paper, decisive information to the understanding of the faunal 334: 65-83, 8 fig., 2 tab. history and the history of migration patterns in the New Franzen , J. L. (1993): Eine eiszeitliche Säugetierfauna aus World, determined by the geographical position of Mina, N.L. (Mexiko). - Der Präparator, 39(2): 67-72, 5 Abb. Jalisco between North and with differ­ Prothero , D. R. (1998): Rhinocerotidae. - In: Janis , C. M., Scott, K. M. & Jacobs , L. L. (eds.): Evolution of ent climatic conditions today and in the past, with Neo­ of North America, pp. 595-605, Cambridge, New gene and Quaternary fossil sites yielding a fossil York, Melbourne. record before, during, and after the faunal interchange Savage , D. E. (1951): Late Vertebrates of the San between North and South America in the late Francisco Bay Region. - Bulletin of the Department of Geo­ Pliocene. These aspects make the collection at the logical Sciences, 28(10): 215-314, 51 fig. MPG and the fossil sites in Jalisco to a crucial piece of Solörzano Barreto , F. A. (1977): Catalogo de Sitios y Loca- the puzzle. lidades fosiliferos, en el occidente de Mexico. - 71 pp., Guadalajara, Jalisco (unpublished). Stock , C. (1992): Rancho La Brea: A record of Pleistocene life in California. - No. 37 Science Series, 7. edit., 113 pp., Potential projects 35 fig., Los Angeles, California.

Future scientific objectives should comprise surveys to locate the fossil sites according to the preservation status as well as the investigation for precise geo­ graphical, geological and stratigraphical data in the dif­ ferent areas. The next step after the rediscovery of the probable sites should be excavations. The most promising regions for such a survey are: - Chapala, and Zacoalco for Pleistocene material and - Juchitlán, and Tecolotlán for Pliocene and Pleis­ tocene material. The aim of the excavations would be to get informa­ tion about the geological and sedimentary setting of the fossil sites, stratigraphical data, samples for geochronological dating, stratified fossils, taphonoml- cal data, and a model (composite hypothesis) for the preservation of fossils. Within that dataset, it should be possible to identify the probable localities of the fossil remains in the collection. In that case, a successful survey for potential localities would establish the sci­ entific value of the fossil assemblage from the fossil sites of Jalisco.

Acknowledgements The visit at the Museo de Paleontología de Guadalajara (MPG) in 2003 was supported by the University of Guadala­ jara, the MPG and by private engagement. But the most im­ portant and personal support came from all members of the MPG. Especially, I thank Diana Solórzano Perez (Director), Javier Juarez (Curator), and Ricardo H. Aguilar Alonso, Óscar Rojas Santana, Martha Castrejón, Juan Baez Corpuss, and Mayra M. Valdez Lizarraga. All of them were involved in the work on the fossil material, the scientific discussions and in the creating of a convenient environment. Additional I thank Krister Smith, Martin Rücklin and Samuel Giersch for reading the manuscript and their critical comments.