American Falls Reservoir: Late/Upper Pleistocene, Idaho

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Mammalia - Proboscidea - Mammutidae
Mammut americanum (Kerr 1792)
Pinsof 1998
    = Mammut pacificus Dooley et al. 2019
Dooley et al. 2019
Mammalia - Proboscidea - Elephantidae
Mammuthus imperator (Leidy 1858)
    = Mammuthus columbi Falconer 1857
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Megalonychidae
Megalonyx jeffersonii (Desmarest 1822)
(4 measurements)
Mammalia - Mylodontidae
Paramylodon harlani (Owen 1840)
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Equidae
Equus laurentius Hay 1913
    = Equus scotti Gidley 1900
Pinsof 1998
synonym of Equus (Hesperohippus) mexicanus
Mammalia - Cervidae
Cervus cf. elaphus Linnaeus 1758
Pinsof 1998
Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus 1758)
Pinsof 1998
Odocoileus cf. hemionus (Rafinesque 1817)
    = Odocoileus sp. Rafinesque 1832
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Antilocapridae
Antilocapra americana (Ord 1815)
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Bovidae
Bison latifrons (Harlan 1825)
Hopkins 1951
confirmed by Pinsof 1991, Pinsof 1998
Bison alaskensis Rhoads 1897
Pinsof 1991
Bison priscus (Bojanus 1827)
Pinsof 1991
Bootherium bombifrons (Harlan 1825)
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Camelidae
Hemiauchenia macrocephala (Cope 1893)
Pinsof 1998
Camelops hesternus (Leidy 1873)
includes "Camelops cf. huerfanensis" according to Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Tayassuidae
Platygonus sp. Leconte 1848
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Carnivora - Felidae
Panthera atrox (Leidy 1853)
recombined as Panthera leo atrox
Puma concolor (Linnaeus 1771)
Pinsof 1998
Lynx canadensis (Kerr 1792)
Pinsof 1998
Felis rufus (Schreber 1777)
recombined as Lynx rufus
Dinobastis sp. Cope 1893
    = Homotherium serum Cope 1893
Pinsof 1998
synonym of Homotherium latidens
Smilodon californicus Bovard 1907
    = Smilodon fatalis Leidy 1868
Alroy 2002
Mammalia - Carnivora - Ursidae
Ursus sp. Linnaeus 1758
Pinsof 1998
Arctodus simus (Cope 1879)
Mammalia - Carnivora - Mustelidae
Lutra canadensis (Schreber 1776)
    = Lontra canadensis Schreber 1776
Pinsof 1998
Taxidea taxus (Schreber 1778)
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Carnivora - Procyonidae
Procyon lotor (Linnaeus 1758)
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Carnivora - Canidae
Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus 1758)
Pinsof 1998
Canis latrans Say 1823
Pinsof 1998
Canis dirus Leidy 1858
recombined as Aenocyon dirus
confirmed by Nowak 1979, Pinsof 1998 (3 measurements)
Mammalia - Lagomorpha - Leporidae
Lepus sp. Linnaeus 1758
Pinsof 1998
Brachylagus idahoensis (Merriam 1891)
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Rodentia - Sciuridae
Cynomys niobrarius Hay 1921
Pinsof 1998
Spermophilus sp. Cuvier 1825
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Rodentia - Geomyidae
Thomomys townsendii (Bachman 1839)
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Rodentia - Castoridae
Castor canadensis Kuhl 1820
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Rodentia - Erethizontidae
Erethizon dorsatum (Linnaeus 1758)
Pinsof 1998
Mammalia - Rodentia - Cricetidae
Ondatra zibethicus (Linnaeus 1766)
Pinsof 1998
Reptilia - Phasianidae
Bonasa umbellus (Linnaeus 1766)
Brodkorb 1963
Meleagris gallopavo Linnaeus 1758
Becker 1982
IMNH 48001, 65001
Reptilia - Falconidae
Falco peregrinus Tunstall 1771
Brodkorb 1963
Reptilia - Ciconiiformes - Ciconiidae
? Ciconia maltha Miller 1910
Becker 1982
IMNH 35020
Reptilia - Pelecaniformes - Ardeidae
Ardea herodias Linnaeus 1758
Becker 1982
IMNH 47701: "Rainbow Beach" specimen of Brodkorb 1963
Reptilia - Anseriformes - Anatidae
Anser caerulescens (Linnaeus 1758)
Brodkorb 1963
Branta canadensis (Linnaeus 1758)
Becker 1982
IMNH 71003, 65001
Mergus merganser Linnaeus 1758
Brodkorb 1963
Anas sp. Linnaeus 1758
Becker 1982
IMNH 65001
Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus 1758
Becker 1982
IMNH 50001: "Rainbow Beach" specimen of Brodkorb 1963
Reptilia - Passeriformes - Icteridae
Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus 1766)
Brodkorb 1963
Reptilia - Cathartiformes - Cathartidae
Cathartidae indet. Lafresnaye 1839
Becker 1982
IMNH 65001
see common names

Geography
Country:United States State/province:Idaho County:Power
Coordinates: 42.8° North, 112.9° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:43.2° North, 111.2° West
Basis of coordinate:based on political unit
Time
Period:Quaternary Epoch:Pleistocene
Stage:Late/Upper Pleistocene 10 m.y. bin:Cenozoic 6
Key time interval:Late/Upper Pleistocene
Age range of interval:0.12900 - 0.01170 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:American Falls Lake Bed E
Lithology and environment
Environment:terrestrial indet.
Glacial or sequence phase:interglacial
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Collection methods and comments
Collection size:3197 specimens
Taxonomic list comments:Cedar Butte Basalt directly overlies Bed E and was dated at 0.072 +/- 0.014 Ma (whole-rock KA) by Scott et al. 1982; in turn, the underlying basalt of Crystal Springs was dated at 0.210 Ma (KA) by Desborough et al. 1989, as reported by Pinsof 1998
Sangamonian, and overlying B layer is middle Wisconsinan: Pinsof 1991
B layer fauna from Bronco Jim Point and Rainbow Beach is described by McDonald and Anderson 1975 and called the Rainbow Beach fauna by Kurten and Anderson 1980
Carr-Trimble site (Duck Point) is Wisconsinan according to White 1975 and Kurten and Anderson 1980, and therefore records for this site only are excluded
all rodents and lagomorphs reported by Hopkins et al. 1969 were from the Carr-Trimble site
all specimens are ISUM; early collection of Gazin 1935b is not discussed
Bison antiquus is present, but in the B layer only: Pinsof 1991
Pinsof 1998 states that there are "approximately 6,000 specimens" (meaning of vertebrates); of these, he lists 3197 belonging to generically determinate mammals, not including 1771 specifically indeterminate bison specimens
Metadata
Database number:20569
Authorizer:J. Alroy, J. Bloch, M. Uhen Enterer:J. Alroy, M. Uhen, R. Hulbert
Modifier:J. Alroy Research group:vertebrate
Created:1995-03-26 00:00:00 Last modified:2009-07-15 18:35:01
Access level:the public Released:1995-03-26 00:00:00
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
1936. M. L. Hopkins, R. Bonnichsen, and D. Fortsch. 1969. The stratigraphic position and faunal associates of Bison (Gigantobison) latifrons in southeastern Idaho, a progress report. Tebiwa 12(1):1-8 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Uhen]

Secondary references:

6294 J. Alroy. 2002. Synonymies and reidentifications of North American fossil mammals. [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Kouvari]
25757 J. J. Becker. 1982. Birds of the Pleistocene American Falls local fauna, Idaho. Condor 84(4):449 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
50554 P. Brodkorb. 1963. Pleistocene birds from American Falls, Idaho. Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences 26(3):280 [J. Bloch/R. Hulbert]
35474 A. C. Dooley, E. Scott, J. Green, K. B. Springer, B. S. Booley and G. J. Smith. 2019. Mammut pacificus sp. nov., a newly recognized species of mastodon from the Pleistocene of western North America. PeerJ 7:e6614 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen/M. Uhen]
9070 M. L. Hopkins. 1951. Bison (Gigantobison) latifrons and Bison (Simobison) alleni in southeastern Idaho. Journal of Mammalogy 32(2):192-197 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
2781 J. D. Pinsof. 1991. A Cranium of Bison alaskensis (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Bovidae) and Comments on Fossil Bison Diversity in the American Falls Area, Southeastern Idaho. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 11(4):509-514 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Ju]
6225 J. D. Pinsof. 1998. The American Falls local fauna: Late Pleistocene (Sangamonian) vertebrates from southeastern Idaho. Idaho Museum of Natural History Occasional Paper 36:121-145 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Alroy]