EARLY PLEISTOCENE PRE-GLACIAL AND GLACIAL ROCKS AND FAUNAS OF NORTH-CENTRAL NEBRASKA MORRIS F. SKINNER Frick Associate Curator Department of Vertebrate Paleontology The American Museum of Natural History CLAUDE W. HIBBARD Curator of Vertebrates Museum of Paleontology Professor of Geology The Uniuersity of Michigan WITH THE COLLABORATION OF E. D. GUTENTAG, G. R. SMITH, J. G. LUNDBERG J. ALAN HOLMAN, J. ALAN FEDUCCIA, AND PAT VICKERS RICH BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY VOLUME 148 : ARTICLE 1 NEW YORK : 1972 BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Volume 148, article 1, pages 1-148, figures 1-60, tables 1-21 Issued July 10, 1972 Price :$6.25 a copy Printed in Great Britain by Lund Humphries CONTENTS ABSTRACT. Morris F . Skinner ........................... 11 INTRODUCTION................................. 11 Abbreviations and Methods ........................... 12 Acknowledgments. Morris F . Skinner and Claude W . Hibbard ............ 13 GEOLOGY. Morris F . Skinner ........................... 14 Previous Work ................................ 14 Regionalsetting ................................ 14 Pleistocene Geology : Succession of Events ..................... 15 Stratigraphy ................................. 19 Pre-Quaternary Deposits Along U.S. Highway 183, North of the Niobrara River ... 19 Cretaceous System .............................. 19 Pierre Formation ............................ 19 Tertiary System .............................. 19 Oligocene ................................ 19 Chadron Formation ........................... 19 Miocene ................................. 19 Rosebud Formation ........................... 19 Pliocene .................................. 20 Valentine Formation ........................... 20 Ash Hollow Formation .......................... 20 Quaternary ................................. 21 Pleistocene Deposits ............................ 21 Keim Formation, New Name .........................21 Long Pine Formation. New Name ..................... 24 Duffy Formation. New Name ....................... 28 Pettijohn Formation. New Name ...................... 29 Locations for Profile Points. Type Sections. and Collecting Sites in Brown and Keya Paha Counties. Nebraska ........................ 30 Locations for University of Michigan Collecting Sites in Brown County. Nebraska . 33 Locations for D . W . Taylor's 1960 Molluscan Faunas in Brown County. Nebraska . 35 SYSTEMATICS.................................. 36 Sand Draw Flora ............................... 36 Pollen ................................... 36 Diatoms ................................... 36 Sand Draw Fauna ............................... 36 Class Gastropoda .............................. 36 Class Pelecypoda .............................. 36 ANALYSISOF OSTRACODESFROM THE SANDDRAW FAUNAL LOCALITIES . E . D . GUTENTAG... 37 Faunal Dating ............................... 37 Ostracode Faunule .............................. 37 Habitat .................................. 39 THESAND DRAW FISH FAUNA . G . R . SMITHAND J . G . LUNDBERG............ 40 Order Semionotiformes ........................... 40 Family Lepisosteidae .......................... 40 Genus Lepisosteus LacCpkde, 1803 .................. 40 BULLETIN AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY VOL . 148 Lepisosteus sp. indet ...................... 40 Order Osteoglossiformes .......................... 40 Family Hiodontidae .......................... 40 Genus Hiodon Lesueur. 1818 ..................... 40 Hiodon cf . alosoides (Rafinesque). 1819 ............... 40 Order Cypriniformes ............................ 40 Family Catostomidae ......................... 40 Genus Ictiobus Rafinesque. 1820 ................... 40 Ictiobus cyprinellus (Valenciennes). 1844 .............. 41 Family Cyprinidae .......................... 41 Genus Pimephales Rafinesque. 1820 .................. 41 Pimephales cf. promelas Rafinesque. 1820 .............. 41 Incertae Sedis ......................... 41 Order Siluriformes ............................. 41 Family Ictaluridae ........................... 41 Genus Ictalurus Rafinesque. 1820 ................... 41 Subgenus Amiurus Gill. 1862 .................... 42 Ictalurus (Amiurus) sawrockensis Smith. 1962 ............. 43 Comparison of Samples and Relationships ............ 46 Order Perciformes ............................. 48 Family Centrarchidae ......................... 48 Genus Chaenobryttus Gill. 1864 .................... 48 Chaenobryttus serratus. New Species ................ 48 Genus Lepomis Rafinesque. 1819 ................... 50 Lepomis cf . humilis (Girard). 1858 ................. 50 ?Lepomis cyanellus Rafinesque. 1819 ................ 50 Family Percicthyidae ......................... 51 Genus Morone Mitchill. 1814 .................... 51 Morone chrysops (Rafinesque. 1820) ................ 51 Family Sciaenidae ........................... 52 Genus Aplodinotus Rafinesque. 1819 .................. 52 Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque. 1819 ............... 52 Paleoecology of Sand Draw Fishes ....................... 52 Acknowledgments .............................. 54 AMPHIBIANSAND REPTILES.J . ALANHOLMAN ..................... Class Amphibia ............................... Order Urodela ............................... Family Ambystomatidae ........................ Genus Ambystoma Tschudi. 1838 ................... Ambystoma tigrinum (Green. 1825) ................. Order Anura ............................... Family Pelobatidae .......................... Genus Scaphiopus Holbrook. 1836 .................. Scaphiopus cf . Scaphiopus bombifrons Cope. 1863 ........... Family Ranidae ............................ Genus Rana Linnaeus. 1758 ..................... Rana catesbeiana Shaw. 1802 ................... Rana pipiens Schreber. 1782 ................... SKINNER AND OTHERS: ROCKS AND FAUNAS I Class Reptilia ................................ Order Testudines ............................ Family Kinosternidae ......................... Genus Kinosternon Spix. 1824 ...................... KinosternonJavescens (Agassiz. 1857) ................ Family Emydidae ........................... Genus Chrysemys Gray. 1844 ..................... Chrysemys picta (Schneider. 1783) ................. Pseudemys sp .......................... Family Testudinidae .......................... Genus Geochelone Fitzinger. 1836 ................... Subgenus Caudochelys Auffenberg. 1963 ............... Caudochelys sp .......................... Subgenus Hesperotestudo Williams. 1950 ............... Geochelone (Hesperotestudo) oelrichi. New Species ........... Description and Comparison of the Holotype ........... The Shell ........................ The Skull ........................ Postcranial Skeleton .................... Thecarpus ....................... Was the Forelimb of Geochelone oelrichi Modified for Burrowing? . Phyletic Relationships ................... Geochelone (Hesperotestudo) sp . indet ................. Family Trionychidae .......................... Trionyx sp ........................... Order Squamata ............................. Family Iguanidae ........................... Genus ?Sceloporus Sp. indet ...................... Genus Phrynosoma Wiegmann. 1828 .................. Phrynosoma cornutum (Harlan. 1825) ................ Family Teidae ............................ Genus Cnemidophorus Wagler. 1830 .................. Cnernidophorus cf . C . sexlineatus (Linnaeus. 1766) ........... Family Scincidae ........................... Genus Eumeces Wiegmann. 1834 ................... Eumeces obsoletus (Baird and Girard. 1852) ............. Family Colubridae .......................... Genus Natrix Laurenti. 1768 .................... Jlratrix sipedon (Linnaeus. 1758) .................. Thamnophis sp ......................... Genus Hetemdon Latreille. 1802 ................... Heterodon platyhinos Latreille. 1802 ................ Coluber or Masticophis sp . indet .................. Genus Elaphe Fitzinger. 1833 .................... Elaphe vulpina (Baird and Girard. 1853) .............. Conclusions ................................ Acknowledgments .............................. CLASSAVES .J . ALANFEDUCCIA AND PATVICKERS RICH ................ 6 BULLETIN AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY VOL. 148 Order Podicipediformes .......................... 72 Family Podicipedidae ......................... 72 Genus Podiceps Latham. 1787 .................... 72 Podicepsauritus (Linnaeus) Zarudny and Loudon. 1902 ........ 72 Order Ciconiiformes ............................ 72 Family Ciconiidae ........................... 72 Genus Ciconia Brisson. 1769 ..................... 72 Ciconia maltha L . Miller. 19 10 .................. 72 Order Anseriformes ............................ 73 Family Anatidae ........................... 73 ?Cygnus sp. or ?Olor sp...................... 73 Genus Branta Scopoli. 1769 ..................... 73 Branta canadensis (Linnaeus) Scopoli. 1769 ............. 73 Genus Anas Linnaeus. 1758 ..................... 74 Anassp ............................ 74 Genus Bucephala Baird. 1858 .................... 74 Bucephala cf . albeola (Linnaeus) Baird. 1858 ............ 74 Genus Oxyura Bonaparte. 1826 .................... 74 Oxyurasp........................... 74 Order Gruiformes ............................. 75 Family Rallidae ............................ 75 Order Strigiformes ............................. 75 Family Strigidae ........................... 75 Genus Speotyto Gloger. 1842 ..................... 75 Speotyto cunicularia Molina. 1782 ................. 75 Order Passeriformes ...........................