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Mammalian Body Size Change During the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming

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Mammalian Body Size Change During the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming MAMMALIAN BODY SIZE CHANGE DURING THE PALEOCENE–EOCENE THERMAL MAXIMUM IN THE POWDER RIVER BASIN, WYOMING by Deborah Eileen Wagner B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2000 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment Of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science Department of Museum and Field Studies 2013 This thesis entitled: Mammalian Body Size Change during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming written by Deborah Eileen Wagner has been approved for the Department of Museum and Field Studies _____________________________________ Dr. Jaelyn Eberle, Committee Chair ____________________________________ Dr. Peter Robinson, Committee Member ____________________________________ Dr. Christy McCain, Committee Member Date ______________ The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline iii Wagner, Deborah Eileen (M.S. Museum and Field Studies [Paleontology]) Mammalian Body Size Change during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming Thesis directed by Associate Professor Jaelyn J. Eberle The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) represents a rapid global warming at the Paleocene–Eocene (PE) boundary. Research by others in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin has demonstrated that certain mammalian taxa (e.g., the ‘condylarths’ Ectocion and Copecion, and the perissodactyl Sifrhippus [=Hyracotherium]) experienced a decrease in body size during the height of the PETM. To date, this phenomenon has not yet been documented in North American PE boundary-spanning mammalian faunas outside of the Bighorn Basin. East of the Bighorn Basin in Johnson County, Wyoming, strata of the “Wasatch” formation in the Powder River Basin contain terrestrial records of the PETM, with mammalian faunas (in direct superposition) spanning latest Paleocene (late Clarkforkian) through earliest Eocene (early Wasatchian, including Wa0 and Wa1). Research from localities spanning the PETM allows us to test whether the dwarfing of mammalian taxa observed by researchers in the Bighorn Basin occurs in the Powder River Basin (and is therefore a more regional pattern). Using tooth crown area as a proxy for body size, I looked for patterns of body size change during the PETM. The inclusion of the order Rodentia in our study adds an additional facet to the analysis of body size changes during the PETM. Results from the plesiadapiform Arctodontomys, the true primate Cantius, “condylarths” Apheliscus and Hyopsodus, and the rodent Paramys suggest that dwarfing occurred in the Powder River Basin during the Wa0 interval, similar to what others noted in the Bighorn Basin. However, the rodent Acritoparamys iv seems to show an increase in body size from late Clarkforkian to earliest Wasatchian (Wa0) time. I also document the first occurrence of the rare cylindrodontid rodent Tuscahomys cf. T. majori and describe four distinct rodent lower incisor morphologies. The recovery of additional teeth and further analysis of fossils from the Powder River Basin is critical to testing whether body size changes in mammalian taxa during the PETM extend beyond the boundaries of the Bighorn Basin. From a larger perspective, studies such as this should provide insight into the impacts of current and future global warming on today’s mammalian fauna. DEDICATION For Dad, the smartest man I’ll ever know. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members Peter Robinson and Christy McCain, and my advisor Jaelyn Eberle for their fantastic guidance and support throughout this study. I owe a debt of gratitude to Jaelyn for her patience, support, and enthusiasm. In addition, this study could not have happened without Peter’s many years of meticulous collecting in the Powder River Basin. I am especially grateful for his limitless knowledge and advice. Special thanks to Toni Culver for her never-ending encouragement and willingness to go out of her way to make sure I always had what I need. She was a major force in my path towards collections management and will take my knowledge with me. I owe a huge thank you to volunteers Pike Holman and Gloria Carbaugh from the Western Interior Paleontological Society for their countless hours or sorting anthill matrix. Thanks to Laura Wilson and Talia Karim for their advice and much needed humor. And of course, my fellow MFS-ers, especially Rachel Asquith, Taormina Lepore, Gillian McGinnis, Kate Zullo, and everyone else in the LDS! You helped me hold onto my sanity and our bonds will last thought out our lives. Finally, I would like to thank my mother, Kay, and brothers, David and Daniel, for their encouragement and support. I could not have done this without them! This project was funded in part by the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies and the CU Museum of Natural History. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Goals ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 History of Collection at the University of Colorado Museum (UCM) ............................ 2 1.2 The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) ...................................................... 2 1.3 Background to North American Land Mammal Ages (NALMA) ................................... 4 1.3.1 Historical background ............................................................................................... 4 1.3.2 Clarkforkian .............................................................................................................. 5 1.3.3 Wasatchian ................................................................................................................ 6 2. BERGMANN’S RULE ........................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 Bergmann’s rule in Paleontology.............................................................................. 9 2.2 Examples of Bergmann’s rule in the Fossil Record ....................................................... 11 2.2.1 Bergmann’s rule in Pleistocene Neotoma ............................................................... 11 2.2.2 Bergmann’s rule in the Bighorn Basin at the PETM .............................................. 12 3. GEOLOGIC SETTING ......................................................................................................... 15 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 15 3.2 Biotratigraphy................................................................................................................. 20 4. MATERIALS AND METHODS .......................................................................................... 24 4.1 Dental Terminology and Measurements ........................................................................ 24 4.2 Paleontological Methods ................................................................................................ 27 4.3 Estimating Body Mass ................................................................................................... 29 5. SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY ..................................................................................... 31 6. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION............................................................................................ 49 6.1 Primates .......................................................................................................................... 50 viii 6.1.1 Arctodontomys cf. A. wilsoni .................................................................................. 50 6.1.2 Cantius .................................................................................................................... 51 6.2 ‘Condylarthra’ ................................................................................................................ 53 6.2.1 Hyopsodus ............................................................................................................... 53 6.2.2 Apheliscus ............................................................................................................... 54 6.3 Rodentia ......................................................................................................................... 56 6.3.1 Paramys taurus ....................................................................................................... 56 6.3.2 Acritoparamys atwateri .......................................................................................... 57 7. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................... 59 8. REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 62 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Measurements (in mm) of Arctodontomys cf. A. wilsoni from the Powder River Basin. ....................................................................................................................................................... 33 Table 2: Measurements
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