Small vertebrates of the Bidahochi Formation, White Cone, northeastern Arizona Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Baskin, Jon Alan, 1947- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 29/09/2021 06:34:07 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/555052 SMALL VERTEBRATES OF THE BIDAHOGHI FORMATION, WHITE CONE, NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA by Jon Alan Baskin A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF GEOSCIENCES In Partial Fulfillm ent of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1 9 7 5 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has "been submitted in partial ful­ fillm ent of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interest of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the a u th o r . SIGNED: APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown belowi At' A t o r / t. mr EVERETT H .7LINDSA^LINDSAY D a te Associate Professor of Geosciences ACKNOWLEDGMENTS E. H. Lindsay directed this study and provided invaluable help throughout. G. G. Simpson offered many helpful suggestions and criticism s of this work. D. Schumacher made helpful comments concerning the manu­ script. R. Scarborough of the Department of Geosciences provided potassium-argon dates. W. G. Spaulding of the Department of Geosciences identified and analyzed pollen. T. R. VanDevender of the Department of Geosciences assisted in the identification of amphibians and reptiles. E. H. Lindsay, N. Johnson of Dartmouth University, and N. Opdyke of Columbia University provided paleomagnetic data. L. L. Jacobs provided both assistance and stim ulat­ ing discussion concerning Hemphillian rodents. I wish to express my gratitude to the residents of Navajo D istrict Seven for their cooperation in making this study possible. A summer research grant from the Museum of Northern Arizona made it possible to devote the summer of 1974 to field work. My wife, Christine, assisted me in the field, typed the manuscript, and drew Figure 7. I want to thank her for her patience and assistance during this study as well as that of both of our parents, Myer and Beverly Baskin, and Maxime and Vera Fuel. i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS P age LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS....................................... v i LIST OF TABLES ............................................ ........................................... v i i ABSTRACT .......................................................................... ............................. v i i i INTRODUCTION................................... .... .................................................. 1 PREVIOUS WORK.............................................................................................. 3 GEOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY.................... ..... ......................... 6 SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF THE FAUNA ........................................ 13 Class Amphibia Linnaeus, 1758 13 Scaphiopus sp, ................................................................. 13 Bufo cf. Woodhousi Girard, 185^ ...... 13 Class R eptilia Laurenti, 1?68 ......... 13 C ro ta p h y tu s s p . , . 1^ Eumeces sp. ................ In- H e te ro d o n s p .................................................. 14 Pituophis sp. ....................................... 14- Lampropeltis sp, ............. 14- Class^Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758 15 Family Talpidae Vicq d’Azyr, 1792 .................... 15 ?Domninoides sp ......................... ...... 15 Family Soricidae Vicq d’Azyr, 1792 .... 16 Notiosorex sp, ....................................... 16 Family Leporidae Brandt, 1855 ....... 19 Hypolagus vetus (Kellogg), 1910 . 19 Family Mylagaulidae Cope, 1881 ...... 21 Mylagaulus monodon Cope, 1882 , . , 22 Family Sciundae Gray, 1821 ........ 25 S p e rm o p h iiu s s p ....................................................... 25 Subfamily Sciurinae gen. et sp, indet. 27 F a m ily C a s to r id a e G ray . 1825 .......................... 27 Dipoides williamsi Stirton, 1936 . 28 Family Heteromyidae Allen and Chapman, 1893 ................................................................................ 35 iv V TABLE OF CONTENTS— C o n tin u e d Page Perognathus sp ..................................................................... Perognathoides bidahochiensis n. sp. Family Cricetidae Rocheburne," lbS'3 ......................... .... Bensonom ys y a z h i n . s p ............................................ Bensonomys bradyi n. sp .. ......... Copemys s p ............................................. ....... Paronychomys alticusois n. sp. .^.................... Subfamily Cricitinae gen, et sp. indet. Family Procyonidae Bonapart. 1850 ....... 67 o f . P ro c y o n S t o r r . 1780 ............................................. Family M ustelidae Swainson, 1835 ........ 67 Martes (Plionictis) repenningi n. ,sp. 67 Subfamily Mustelinae gen. et sp. indet. 71 Family Camelidae Z ittel. 1893 ......... 72 Subfamily Camelinae indet. A .............................. 72 Subfamily Camelinae indet. B. .................... 72 PALE0EC0L0GY OF THE WHITE CONE FAUNA 73 TAPH0N0MY OF THE WHITE CONE FAUNA 77 AGE OF THE WHITE CONE FAUNA............................................................ 79 RELATIONSHIP OF THE WHITE CONE FAUNA TO OTHER HEMPHILLIAN SMALL MAMMAL FAUNAS ........ 86 SUMMARY............................................................................................................. 91 APPENDIX Ai CATALOGUED SPECIMENS BELONGING TO THE NAVAJO AND HOPI INDIAN T R I B E S ........................................ 93 ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS................................................................. 99 REFERENCES CITED 100 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Study Area in Navajo County, Arizona .................... 7 2. Notiosorex sp,, ?Domninoides sp., and Spermonhilus sp. of the White Cone Fauna . 1? 3. Dipoides william si and Mylagaulus monodon of the White Cone F au n a .................................... 2 4 4. Heteromyidae of the White Cone F au n a .................... 36 5. Bensonomys of the White Cone F au n a .........................50 6 . Additional Cricetidae of the White Cone Fauna . 60 7. Martes (Plionictis) repenningi of the White Cone F a u n a ............................................ ............................. 68 8 . Idealized North-South Cross Section Through White Cone Diatreme and White Cone Peak . 81 9. Paleomagnetic Section at White Cone Peak . 84 v i LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. White Cone Peak Measured Section .............................. .... n 2. Measurements of Domninoides sp. and Notiosorex s p . ................................................................................................... 16 3. Measurements of Mylagaulus monodon, Spermophilus sp. and Sciurinae gen, et sp. indet. ................................................................ .... 23 4. Measurements of Dipoides w illiam si ...........................29 5 . M e asu rem en ts o f P e r o e n a th u s s p ................................ 38 6 . Measurements of Perognathoides bidahochiensis . 45 7. Measurements of Bensonomys yazhi ................................... 51 8 . Measurements of Bensonomys b ra d y i ......................... • 57 9. Measurements of Copemys sp ................................................. 61 10. Measurements of Paronychomys alticuspis .... 61 11. Measurements of Martes (Plionictis). repenningi . 71 12. Pollen from the Fossil Horizon at White Cone . 74 13. Pollen from Roberts Mesa .... ........................................... 74 14. Sim ilarities of Rodent Faunas ............................................. 90 v i 1 ABSTRACT Two taxa of amphibians, five taxa of rep tiles,. and eighteen taxa of mammals were collected by screen­ washing sediments from the upper Bidahochi Formation at White Cone peak, northeastern Arizona. Five new species of mammals were recovered. They include Perognathoides bidahochiensis (Heteromyidae), Bensonomys yazhi (C ricetidae), Bensonomys bradyi (C ricetidae), Paronychomys alticuspis (Cricetidae), and Martes (Plionictis) repenningi (M ustelidae). Bensonomys yazhi and Bensonomys bradyi are close to the stem of Central and South America! hesperomyine radiation. The radiation began in the southwest United States and Mexico during the Hemphillian, The middle member of the Bidahochi Formation is dated at 6.7 m. y. by a basalt from Roberts Mesa. The paleomagnetic data and the White Cone local fauna support this middle Hemphillian date. v m INTRODUCTION White Cone has become well known in mammalian . vertebrate paleontology because of its inclusion in both the Wood committee report on correlation of the North American Tertiary (H. E. Wood and others 1941) and the Potassium-Argon mammalian