Big Cat Quarry (Miocene of the United States)

Also known as UCMP V-5847; Upper Nettle Spring Canyon 3

Where: Ventura County, California (34.3° N, 119.0° W: paleocoordinates 33.7° N, 115.2° W)

• coordinate based on political unit

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: MR Caliente Formation, Clarendonian (12.5 - 9.4 Ma)

Environment/lithology: terrestrial

Primary reference: G. T. James. 1963. Paleontology and nonmarine stratigraphy of the Cuyama Valley badlands, California; Part 1, Geology, faunal interpretations, and systematic descriptions of Chiroptera, Insectivora, and Rodentia. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 45:1-154 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 19181: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 18.02.1993, edited by Katrin Eckardt

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• generically identifiable NISP 83
Reptilia
 Squamata - Anguidae
Abronia cuyama n. sp.2 Scarpetta and Ledesma 2023 Arboreal alligator lizards
Holotype: UCMP 54560 is housed in the UCMP and was collected by Gideon T. James and S. G. SCARPETTA and D. T. LEDESMA a party of UCMP palaeontologists in 1957 or 1958. The specimen consists of a partial cranium including the anterior portion of the skull, an associated block of mudstone matrix containing a few posterior cranial elements and two vials of associated material containing osteoderms in matrix, a probable epipterygoid and unidentified bones.
Mammalia
 Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae
Gomphotherium sp. Burmeister 1837 gomphothere
 Artiodactyla - Antilocapridae
"Cosoryx cf. cerroensis" = Cosoryx (Subcosoryx) cerroensis1
"Cosoryx cf. cerroensis" = Cosoryx (Subcosoryx) cerroensis1 Frick 1937 pronghorn
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
? Mustela sp. Linnaeus 1758 weasel
 Theriamorpha - Soricidae
Limnoecus tricuspis Stirton 1930 shrew
 Theriamorpha - Erinaceidae
Lanthanotherium sawini James 1963 hedgehog
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
"Peromyscus russelli" = Copemys russelli
"Peromyscus russelli" = Copemys russelli James 1963 mouse
 Rodentia - Heteromyidae
Perognathus minutus James 1963 pocket mouse
Perognathus furlongi Gazin 1930 pocket mouse
 Rodentia - Sciuridae
Ammospermophilus fossilis James 1963 antelope squirrel
"Sciuropterus mathewsi" = Petauristodon mathewsi James 1963 squirrel
Protospermophilus quatalensis Gazin 1930 squirrel
 Lagomorpha - Leporidae
Leporidae indet.1 Fischer de Waldheim 1817 rabbit
 Chiroptera - Phyllostomidae
"? Phyllostomatidae indet." = Phyllostomidae
"? Phyllostomatidae indet." = Phyllostomidae Gray 1825 leaf-nosed bat
a bat