White River Fauna
Encyclopedia
The White River Fauna are fossil
animals found in the White River
Badlands of South Dakota
, Wyoming
and Nebraska
in the United States
including the Badlands National Park
. The fossils have been found in the Chadron, Brule, and the Arikaree Formations. Animals from the White River Badlands date from the Oligocene
, the Miocene
, and the Pliocene
Epochs
.
Gerera include:
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
animals found in the White River
White River (South Dakota)
The White River is a Missouri River tributary that flows through the U.S. states of Nebraska and South Dakota. The name stems from the water's white-gray color, a function of eroded sand, clay, and volcanic ash carried by the river...
Badlands of South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
and Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
including the Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park, in southwest South Dakota, United States preserves of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States....
. The fossils have been found in the Chadron, Brule, and the Arikaree Formations. Animals from the White River Badlands date from the Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
, the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
, and the Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
Epochs
Epoch (geology)
An epoch is a subdivision of the geologic timescale based on rock layering. In order, the higher subdivisions are periods, eras and eons. We are currently living in the Holocene epoch...
.
Gerera include:
- AlligatorAlligatorAn alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
(Crocodilian) - ArchaeotheriumArchaeotheriumArchaeotherium is an extinct artiodactyl genus of the family Entelodontidae, endemic to North America during the Oligocene epoch , existing for approximately . Archaeotherium was about 1.2m tall at the shoulder and around 2m long and weighing around 270kg.It was a relative of javelinas and pigs...
(EntelodontEntelodontEntelodonts, sometimes nicknamed hell pigs or terminator pigs, is an extinct family of pig-like omnivores endemic to forests and plains of North America, Europe, and Asia from the middle Eocene to early Miocene epochs , existing for approximately .-Taxonomy:Entelodontidae was named by Richard...
) - DinictisDinictisDinictis is an extinct genus of the family Nimravidae, subfamily Nimravinae endemic to North America during the Eocene-Oligocene epochs , existing for approximately .- Taxonomy :...
(Nimravid) - EporeodonEporeodonEporeodon is an extinct genus of oreodont belonging to the subfamily Eporeodontidae during the Oligocene epoch existing for approximately ....
(OreodontOreodontOreodons, sometimes called prehistoric "ruminating hogs," were a family of cud-chewing plant-eater with a short face and tusk-like canine teeth...
) - EusmilusEusmilusEusmilus is a prehistoric genus of the family Nimravidae, subfamily Nimravinae endemic to North America, Europe,and Asia during the Late Eocene-Early Oligocene epochs , existing for approximately .-Taxonomy:...
(Nimravid) - HoplophoneusHoplophoneusHoplophoneus is an extinct genus of the family Nimravidae, subfamily Nimravinae endemic to North America during the Late Eocene-Oligocene epochs , existing for approximately .-Taxonomy:...
(Nimravid) - HyaenodonHyaenodonHyaenodon is an extinct genus of Hyaenodonts, a group of carnivorous creodonts of the family Hyaenodontidae endemic to all continents except South America, Australia and Antarctica, living from 42—15.9 mya, existing for approximately .-Morphology:Some species of this genus were amongst the largest...
(Creodont) - HyracodonHyracodonHyracodon is an extinct genus of mammal.It was a lightly built, pony-like mammal of about 1.5 m long. Hyracodons skull was large in comparison to the rest of the body...
(Running RhinoHyracodontidaeHyracodontidae is an extinct family of rhinoceroses endemic to North America, Europe, and Asia during the Eocene through early Miocene living from 55.8—20 mya, existing for approximately .They are typified as having long limbs and having no horns...
) - IschyromysIschyromysIschyromys is an extinct genus of rodent from North America.The 60 cm long creature is one of the oldest rodents known. It resembled a mouse and already had characteristic rodent incisors. Ischyromyss hind legs were longer than the forelegs, which could be used for other means than walking...
(Ground SquirrelGround squirrelThe ground squirrels are members of the squirrel family of rodents which generally live on or in the ground, rather than trees. The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger ones are more commonly known as marmots or prairie dogs, while the smaller and less...
-like RodentRodentRodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
) - LeptomeryxLeptomeryxLeptomeryx is an extinct genus of ruminant of the family Leptomerycidae, endemic to North America during the Eocene through Oligocene 38—24.8 Mya, existing for approximately .-Taxonomy:...
(Tragulid) - MerycoidodonMerycoidodonMerycoidodon is an extinct genus of terrestrial herbivore of the family Merycoidodontidae, subfamily Merycoidodontinae ,...
(OreodontOreodontOreodons, sometimes called prehistoric "ruminating hogs," were a family of cud-chewing plant-eater with a short face and tusk-like canine teeth...
) - MetamynodonMetamynodonMetamynodon is an extinct genus of amynodont perissodactyls, and is among the longest lived genera of amynodonts, having first appeared during the late Eocene, and becoming extinct during the early Miocene, when it was supplanted by the semiaquatic rhinoceros, Teleoceras...
(Aquatic RhinoAmynodontidaeThe Amynodonts were a group of hippo-like perissodactyls, related to true rhinoceri, that were descended from the Hyracodontidae. They ranged from North America, Europe and Asia during the Late Eocene to Miocene living from 46.2 Ma—7 Ma years ago and existed for approximately .The last species died...
) - MiniochoerusMiniochoerusMiniochoerus is a small extinct genus of oreodont endemic to North America during the Late Eocene which existed for approximately .-Taxonomy:...
(OreodontOreodontOreodons, sometimes called prehistoric "ruminating hogs," were a family of cud-chewing plant-eater with a short face and tusk-like canine teeth...
) - PoebrotheriumPoebrotheriumPoebrotherium is an extinct genus of terrestrial herbivore the family Camelidae, endemic to North America from the Eocene through Oligocene 38—30.8 mya, existing for approximately .-Discovery and history:...
(CamelCamelA camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
) - SubhyracodonSubhyracodonSubhyracodon is an extinct genus of cow-sized rhinoceroses. It was a medium sized herbivore on the plains of early Oligocene South Dakota 33 million years ago , smaller than only the Brontops and the chalicotheres. Subhyracodon had no horns, relying more on its speed to escape, but a species found...
(RhinocerosRhinocerosRhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
)
Further reading
- William Berryman ScottWilliam Berryman ScottWilliam Berryman Scott was an American vertebrate paleontologist, authority on mammals, and principal author of the White River Oligocene monographs. He was a professor of geology and paleontology at Princeton University....
, A history of land mammals in the western hemisphere, MacMillan Publishing Company, 1913