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Occurrence of the Musk Ox, Symbos Cavifrons, from Southeastern Idaho and Comments on the Genus Bootherium

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Occurrence of the Musk Ox, Symbos Cavifrons, from Southeastern Idaho and Comments on the Genus Bootherium Great Basin Naturalist Volume 47 Number 2 Article 9 4-30-1987 Occurrence of the musk ox, Symbos cavifrons, from southeastern Idaho and comments on the genus Bootherium Michael E. Nelson Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas James H. Madsen Jr. Antiquities Section, Utah Division of State History, Salt Lake City Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation Nelson, Michael E. and Madsen, James H. Jr. (1987) "Occurrence of the musk ox, Symbos cavifrons, from southeastern Idaho and comments on the genus Bootherium," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 47 : No. 2 , Article 9. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol47/iss2/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. OCCURRENCE OF THE MUSK OX, SYMBOS CAVIFRONS, FROM SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO AND COMMENTS ON THE GENUS BOOTHERIUM Michael E. Nelson' and James H. Madsen, Jr." Abstract.—A set of ovibovine horn cores collected from Pleistocene sediments in southeastern Idaho provides additional evidence for sexual dimorphism in the helmeted musk ox, Symhos cavifrons. Specimens previously assigned to Boothchum sargenti are placed in synonomy with Symbos cavifrons as sexual dimorphs (females). Bootherium bomhifrons is a \alid taxon and is probably not closely related to Symbos. The taxonomic status of the e.xtinct musk figures and descriptions, pronounced that ox, Bootherium, has been questioned since Bootherium cavifrons (= Symbos cavifrons) Leidy (1852a, 1852b) proposed the name for was a male and B. bomhifrons a female. He two extinct species of ovibovines, B. bomh- then assigned these specimens to a new taxon, ifrons (Bos bomhifrons of Harland 1825, Wis- Ovihos priscus. Dawkins (1872) came to a sim- tar 1818) and B. cavifrons. Later, Dawkins ilar conclusion but chose to call the duo Ovi- (1867) and then Leid\' (1869) synonvmized hos cavifrons. Lydekker (1885, 1898) was also these extinct forms with the extant musk ox, convinced that B. bomhifrons and B. cav- Ovihos. Osgood (1905a) erected the genus ifrons { =S. cavifrons) were sexual dimorphic Scaphoceros for a musk ox, S. ttjrreUi, col- forms of the same species. lected from the Yukon Territory of Canada but Osgood (1905a), as Allen (1913) so aptly later discovered that Scaphoceros was preoc- stated, cupied; he therefore replaced it with the set forth the real facts of the case. [S\\nce bombifrons name Symbos (1905b). In addition, Osgood and cavifrons have been considered by several authors as (1905a, 1905b) observed that Symhos cav- being not only congeneric, but conspecific, the establish- ifrons and Bootherium bomhifrons were dis- ment of a separate genus for each ma\' appear surprising. While it may be possible, from an examination of the tinct species and definitely separable from the figures only, to construct a hypothesis to the effect that extant Ovihos moschatus. Gidley (1908) cavifrons represents the male and bombifrons the female named a second species of Bootherium, B. of one species, it is inconceivable that any modern tax- sarg^enti, from a late-Pleistocene deposit in onomist would reach such a conclusion after comparing Michigan. the original types. Taxonomists (see Kurten and Anderson Allen (1913) certainly agreed when he stated. 1980) now generally agree that all extant musk Upon carefully reading Osgood's paper I felt sure that he ox belong to Ovihos moschatus and that the had correctly soKed the problem. various proposed species q{ Symhos, e.g., S. tyrrelli Osgood, S. austraUs Brown, Liops zu- Evidently Hay (1924) did not believe the niensis Gidley (preoccupied, changed to problem had been solved and did "not accept Lissops zuniensis Gidley), and Gidleya zu- this opinion [of Allen and Osgood]." Hay be- niensis (Cossman) are all assignable to Syjnhos lieved that some of the 25 skulls of Symbos cavifrons (for a different opinion see McDon- cavifrons that he examined "must have been ald 1985). However, the taxonomic status of females. Bootherium has remained in question. Bison appalachicohis, originally named by Confusion surrounding Bootherium has Rhoads (1895), was assigned to Bootherium arisen from the supposed sex of various appalachicohis by Ray (1966a) and described Bootherium and Symbos skulls. Is as "closely related, if not conspecific" with Bootherium a female Sijmbos? Rutimever Bootherium sargenti. Bootherium nivicolens (1867), on the basis of Leidy's (1852a, 185'2b) was erected b\- Hay (1915) for a specimen from Department of Earth Sciences and Sternberg Memorial Museum. Fort Hays State University. Hays, Kansas 67601-4099 -Antiquities Section, Utah Division of State Historv'. 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101. 239 240 Great Basin Naturalist Vol. 47, No. 2 Fig. 1. Stjmbos cavifrons, UVP083; A, Dorsal view of horn cores. B, Posterodorsal view. Bar represents 10 cm. Eschscholtz Bay, Alaska, while Hesse (1942) the specific taxonomy (not to mention the generic status) named Bootherium brazosis from Brazos o{ Bootherium is not yet well understood. County, Texas. The latter has been identified Nelson and Madsen (1978) documented the by Ray (1966b) as conspecific with Boother- existence of 21 individual musk ox from late- ium sargenti. Pleistocene sediments of Utah. They assigned Hibbard and Hinds (1960) reported. the four specimens of Bootherium to It is very likely that Bootherium is the female woodland Bootherium sp. indet., although Stokes and musk ox since all specimens ofSijmhos based on skulls are Hansen (1937) had previously assigned one considered those of bulls. specimen (BYUG 834) to B. bombifrons. Evidently Hibbard and Hinds examined the Harington (written communication 1978) type of B. sargenti and made their decision on synonymized Bootherium nivicolens with B. the basis of this specimen. It is not known if sargenti. He also believed that B. sargenti they intended to also include B. bombifrons was probably the female oi Symbos cavifrons as a female Symbos. because the differences between the speci- Semken et al. (1964) reviewed the litera- mens parallel the morphological differences ture and decided between male and female specimens of Ovi- that Bootherium bombifrons represents a genus distinct bos moschatus. from Symbos. However, B. sargenti, the specimen exam- In Kurten and Anderson's (1980) summa- ined by Hibbard and Hinds (1960), may be a female rization of Pleistocene mammals of North Symbos. America, Bootherium sargenti and Symbos Ray et al. (1967) excavated an ovibovine cranium eavifrons were synonymized, while the type from Saltville, Virginia, that was assigned to specimen of B. bombifrons was questionably Bootherium sp. indet., and stated that left as a separate species. April 1987 Nelson, Madsen: Fossil Musk Ox 241 t ^^^^''' ^ Fig. 2. Symbos cavifrons , UUVP8540, left lateral view. Bar represents 10 cm. White (personal communication 1984, F;AM- Frick Collection, American Museum of Natural 1985) reviewed the musk ox of Idaho and con- Historv cluded that two cranial fragments of Bootherium collected from Pleistocene sedi- Collection Background ments in Idaho (IMNH 68001; LACM 6671) could not be assigned with confidence to es- In 1980 Chris and Jack Dukes of Salt Lake tablished species. However, the size of the City, Utah, brought a partial cranium with a cranial fragment (LACM 6671) collected from complete, although broken, set of horn cores Minidoka Dam "suggests it may be referable to the Antiquities Section of the Utah Division " to B. sargenti. of State History. A laboratory assistant labeled the specimen "Bison, collected from Idaho" J. N. McDonald (Radford University) is studying a mummified specimen of and entered the specimens into the collec- Bootherium collected from a permafrost local- tions. In examining these collections during ity at Fairbanks Creek, Alaska (F:AM A- the winter of 1985, we recognized the horn 293-5286). Other than a preliminary report cores as ovibovine and not bison. The horn (McDonald 1984), little has been published cores resembled the numerous horn cores of on this interesting specimen. Symbos cavifrons in the Division of State His- Institutional abbreviations are as follows: tory and Utah Museum of Natural History collections, but the frontal area of the cranium UVP- Utah Division of State Hist()r\ , .\nti<}uities Sec- lacked the characteristic exostosis and median tion, Vertebrate Collection UUVP- University of Utah, \'ertebrate PaleontoloR\ cranial sulcus of Symbos. Comparisons with Collection Utah specimens of Bootherium revealed no IMNH- Idaho Museum of Natural History close resemblances. This discovery prompted KUVP- Kansas University, Vertebrate Paleontoloe;\ a review of all Utah and Idaho musk ox speci- LACM- Los Angeles County Museum of Natural Historx- preparation of GRPM- Grand Rapids Public Museum mens and ultimately led to the ANSP- Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia this report. TAMC- Te.xas A & M Uni\ersity Collection BYUVP, BYUG-Brigham Young University, Wrtebrate Paleontology Collection Age and Str.\tigr.\phy USU- Utah State University, Geology Collection USNM- United States National Museum of Natural His- Precise locality information and strati- tory graphic data were garnered after the discov- 242 Great Basin Naturalist Vol. 47, No. 2 Fig. 3. Bootheriumbomhifrons, USNM 215066 (cast), original ANSP 2994, right lateral view. Bar represents 10 cm. erer of record, Jerry Davis of Soda Springs, Beach section of McDonald and Anderson Idaho, was located. Davis collected the speci- (1975). men 3 March 1977 during the excavation of a Field relationships indicate that the new grain elevator shaft in American Falls, Idaho. musk ox specimen (UVP 083) was collected This elevator, located at the intersection of from the same sediments as the Dam l.f. and is Oregon Trail and Elevator Streets in Ameri- therefore a part of the Dam l.f. can Falls, has the following legal description: NEl/4, Sec 29, T7S, R31E, Power County, Systematic Paleontology Idaho.
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