Strathcona Fiord (Pliocene of Canada)

Also known as Strathcona Fjord; Beaver Pond site

Where: Northwest Territories, Canada (78.6° N, 82.4° W: paleocoordinates 78.6° N, 80.5° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Early/Lower Pliocene (5.3 - 3.6 Ma)

• said to be Blancan or (by Dawson and Harington 2007) early Pliocene

•"fossil-bearing deposit... consists of a 2.4 m=thick... sequence" (Hutchison and Harington 2002)

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: pond; conglomeratic peat

• "The pond appears to have been located in open larch woodland, near the tree line of the time": 15º C winter temperatures and 10º C summer temperatures (Dawson and Harington 2007)
• "mossy peat with sandy partings, a few cobbles and boulders, larch trunks... and many beaver-cut sticks" (Hutchison and Harington 2002)

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collected by J. G. Fyles, C. R. Harington, J. S. Tener in 1988, 1992

Primary reference: O. Bennike. 1997. Quaternary vertebrates of Greenland: A review. Quaternary Science Reviews 16(8):899-909 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Uhen]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 20083: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 15.05.2002, edited by Jonathan Marcot

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Angiospermae
 Fagales - Betulaceae
Alnus sp.2, Betula sp.2
Alnus sp.2 Miller 1754 alder
"alder"
Betula sp.2 Linnaeus 1753 birch
"birch"
Pinopsida
 Pinales - Pinaceae
cf. Pinus pumila1, Larix groenlandi1, Picea sp.1
Picea sp.1 Dietrich 1824 spruce
Insecta
 Dicondylia -
Coleoptera indet.1
Coleoptera indet.1 Linnaeus 1758 beetle
"at least 16 species"
Gastropoda
 Heterostropha - Planorbidae
Gyraulus albus1
Gnathostomata
  -
Osteichthyes indet.2
Osteichthyes indet.2 bony fish
"fishes"
Aves
  -
Aves indet.2
Aves indet.2 Linnaeus 1758 bird
"birds"
Mammalia
 Carnivora - Canidae
cf. Eucyon davisi2
cf. Eucyon davisi2 Merriam 1911 canine
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
cf. Mustela sp.1, Arctomeles sotnikovae n. sp.4, Martes sp.1, Plesiogulo sp.3
cf. Mustela sp.1 Linnaeus 1758 weasel
Arctomeles sotnikovae n. sp.4 Tedford and Harington 2003 badger
Martes sp.1 Frisch 1775 marten
Plesiogulo sp.3 Zdansky 1934 mustelid carnivore
 Carnivora - Ursidae
"Ursus abstrusus" = Protarctos abstrusus3
"Ursus abstrusus" = Protarctos abstrusus3 Bjork 1970 bear
 Artiodactyla -
Boreameryx braskerudi n. gen. n. sp.1
Boreameryx braskerudi n. gen. n. sp.1 Dawson and Harington 2007 ruminant
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Plesiohipparion sp.4
Plesiohipparion sp.4 Qiu et al. 1987 horse
compared to Eurasian Plesiohipparion
 Soricomorpha - Soricidae
Arctisorex polaris n. gen. n. sp.3
Arctisorex polaris n. gen. n. sp.3 Hutchison and Harington 2002 red-toothed shrew
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
cf. Baranomys sp.2
cf. Baranomys sp.2 Kormos 1933 rodent
"like Baranomys"`
 Rodentia - Castoridae
"Dipoides cf. intermedius" = Procastoroides intermedius2
"Dipoides cf. intermedius" = Procastoroides intermedius2 Zakrzewski 1969 beaver
 Lagomorpha - Ochotonidae
Ochotonidae indet.1
Ochotonidae indet.1 Thomas 1897 pika
 Lagomorpha - Leporidae
Hypolagus cf. vetus2
Hypolagus cf. vetus2 Kellogg 1910 rabbit
Amphibia
 Salientia -
Anura indet.2
Anura indet.2 frog
"frogs"
1Dawson and Harington 2007; 2Harington 2003; 3Hutchison and Harington 2002; 4Tedford and Harington 2003