East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2016 Peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene Gray Fossil Site: Regional Implications with a Review of Tayassuinae Evan M. Doughty East Tennessee State Universtiy Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Paleontology Commons Recommended Citation Doughty, Evan M., "Peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene Gray Fossil Site: Regional Implications with a Review of Tayassuinae" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3053. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3053 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene Gray Fossil Site: Regional Implications with a Review of Tayassuinae A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Geosciences East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Geosciences by Evan Doughty May 2016 Dr. Steven C. Wallace, Chair Dr. Blaine Schubert Dr. Jim I. Mead Keywords: Gray Fossil Site, Hemphillian, Miocene, Peccary, Tayassuidae, Tayassuinae ABSTRACT Peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene Gray Fossil Site: Regional Implications with a Review of Tayassuinae by Evan Doughty Analysis of the Gray Fossil Site peccary material indicates the presence of up to three species. Comparisons with the tayassuid material known from the Tyner Farm and Bone Valley Formation of Florida allows the identification of Mylohyus elmorei and at the GFS. Within the GFS material, Prosthennops cf. P. serus and cf. Catagonus sp. are also tentatively recognized but further verification is required. The known range for Prosthennops is expanded into the Appalachian region. Presence of M. elmorei at the Gray Fossil Site provides the first known occurrence of this species outside of the Palmetto fauna of Florida, indicating that the species once exhibited a larger range within the southeastern United States than previously known. Overall, the presence of M. elmorei indicates another parallel to the Palmetto Fauna of the Bone Valley Formation whereas Prosthennops cf. P. serus may indicate a connection to the Hemphillian of the western United States. 2 Copyright 2016 by Evan Doughty All Rights Reserved 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my thanks to the members of my thesis committee—Drs. Steven Wallace, Blaine Schubert, and Jim Mead—for all of their aid and advice throughout all stages of this thesis project. Further thanks must be given to Sandra Swift, Shawn Haugrud, Brian Compton, April Nye, and Anthony “Brett” Woodward for access to ETSU collections and the work they have put into making the collection what it is today. Additional thanks are due for Sandra Swift, for her help in learning how to produce the images used in the figures present in this thesis. I wish to thank Dr. Ronald Richards and Dr. James Farlow for their help and advice regarding the Pipe Creek paleosinkhole, and providing access to the Pipe Creek material housed at the Indiana State Museum and University of Purdue at Ft. Worth. Special thanks to must also be given to Dr. Richard Hulbert for access to the University of Florida (UF) collections and providing references related to this project. Special recognition also goes to Sean Moran for his photographing UF specimens under NSF grant CSBR 1203222. Further thanks must be provided to Suzanne McLaren (Carnegie Museum of Natural History) for their aid in acquiring reprints and other literature. Within the ETSU Geosciences Department special thanks go to fellow students—both current and past—Aaron Woodruff, Lauren Lyon, Hannah Darcy, Mark Shelleman, and Diana Velasco, among others. Funding for travel and research was provided by the Don Sunquist Center of Excellence in Paleontology. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................2 COPYRIGHT ...................................................................................................................................3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................9 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................10 Chapter: 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................12 2. BACKGROUND ..............................................................................................................15 Tayassuidae ............................................................................................................15 General Information ...................................................................................15 Morphological Characters ..........................................................................16 Synapomorphic Characters ........................................................................16 Apomorphic Characters .............................................................................16 Tayassuinae ............................................................................................................17 Sexual Dimorphism ...............................................................................................19 Extant Tayassuids ..................................................................................................20 Range and Habitat ....................................................................................20 Ecology .....................................................................................................21 Overview of Hemphillian Tayassuids ....................................................................21 Mylohyus Cope, 1889 ...............................................................................21 Catagonus Ameghino, 1904 ......................................................................23 5 Prosthennops Gidley, 1904 .......................................................................24 Platygonus Le Conte, 1848 ......................................................................25 3. METHODS AND MATERIALS .....................................................................................27 Gray Fossil Site ......................................................................................................27 Methods..................................................................................................................28 Collection and Conservation ......................................................................28 Linear Measurements and Photography.....................................................29 Dental and Skeletal Nomenclature .............................................................33 Taxonic Identification ................................................................................33 Sexual Dimorphism ...................................................................................34 Museums and Species ................................................................................34 Abbreviations .........................................................................................................35 Dental Nomenclature ................................................................................35 Dental Measurements ...............................................................................35 Skeletal Measurements .............................................................................35 Museums and Fossil Collections .................................................................36 4. RESULTS .........................................................................................................................37 Mylohyus Cope, 1899.............................................................................................37 Mylohyus elmorei (White 1942) Wright and Eshelman, 1984 ..................37 Referred Specimens .......................................................................37 Diagnosis........................................................................................37 Description .....................................................................................38 Remarks .........................................................................................50 Prosthennops Gidley, 1904 ....................................................................................53 6 Prosthennops cf. P. serus Cope, 1878 .......................................................53 Referred Specimens .......................................................................53 Diagnosis........................................................................................53 Description .....................................................................................53