Sample 3, Titusville Site (0-60 cm) (Pleistocene of the United States)

Where: Pennsylvania (41.6° N, 79.6° W: paleocoordinates 41.6° N, 79.6° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• hand sample-level geographic resolution

When: Titusville Till Formation, Tarantian (0.1 - 0.0 Ma)

• slightly below sample 1 which is dated as 39070 years old

Environment/lithology: mire or swamp; unlithified peat

Size class: mesofossils

Collection methods: quarrying, sieve

• In 1990, 174 kg of peat and silt from six samples was collected from the three organic horizons at depths of 0–60, 120–155, and 245–255 cm, respectively (Fig. 2). The 0-cm data position was defined at the top of the upper organic horizon. Chitinous remains of insects were recovered from the samples using a kerosene flotation technique (Ashworth, 1979). Disaggregation of highly compressed peats was aided by soaking them in a 5% NaOH solution. Arthropod remains were abundant and well preserved in all samples. All specimens, including those examined by Totten and Coope in 1967, were mounted onto micropaleontological slides and reposited in the Quaternary Entomology Laboratory at North Dakota State University.

Primary reference: S. Cong, A. C. Ashworth, D. P. Schwert and S. M. Totten. 1996. Fossil Beetle Evidence for a Short Warm Interval near 40,000 yr B.P. at Titusville, Pennsylvania. Quaternary Research 45:216-225 [M. Clapham/J. Karr/J. Karr]more details

Purpose of describing collection: paleoecologic analysis

PaleoDB collection 137205: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Jered Karr on 12.12.2012

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Insecta
 Hemiptera - Saldidae
Saldidae indet. Amyot and Audinet-Serville 1843 shore bug
 Hymenoptera - Formicidae
Formicidae indet. Latreille 1802 ant
 Coleoptera - Dytiscidae
Dytiscidae indet. Leach 1815 predaceous diving beetle
Hydroporus sp. Clairville 1806 predaceous diving beetle
 Coleoptera - Carabidae
Carabidae indet. Latreille 1802 ground beetle
Blethisa catenaria Brown 1944 ground beetle
Diacheila arctica Gyllenhal 1810 ground beetle
"Elaphrus clairvillei" = Elaphrus (Neoelaphrus) clairvillei Kirby 1837 ground beetle
Patrobus sp. Dejean 1821 ground beetle
Patrobus septentrionis Dejean 1828 ground beetle
Patrobus stygicus Chaudoir 1872 ground beetle
"Trechus crassiscapus" = Trechus (Trechus) crassiscapus Lindroth 1955 ground beetle
Bembidion "incertum group" Latreille 1802 ground beetle
"Bembidion mutatum" = Bembidion (Bembidion) mutatum Gemminger and Harold 1868 ground beetle
Dyschirius "integer group" Bonelli 1810 ground beetle
 Coleoptera - Curculionidae
Polygraphus rufipennis Kirby 1837 bark beetle
Carphoborus andersoni Swaine 1919 bark beetle
Phloeotribus piceae Swaine 1911 bark beetle
 Coleoptera - Elateridae
Elateridae indet. Leach 1815 click beetle
 Coleoptera - Cantharidae
Podabrus sp. Leconte 1850 soldier beetle
 Coleoptera - Byrrhidae
Cytilus alternatus Say 1825 pill beetle
 Coleoptera - Hydraenidae
Ochthebius sp., "Limnebiidae indet." = Limnebiini
Ochthebius sp. Leach 1815 minute moss beetle
"Limnebiidae indet." = Limnebiini minute moss beetle
 Coleoptera - Staphylinidae
Staphylinidae indet. Latreille 1802 rove beetle
"Tachinus tachyporoides" = Nitidotachinus tachyporoides Horn 1877 rove beetle
Mycetoporus sp. Mannerheim 1830 rove beetle
Omaliinae indet. MacLeay 1825 rove beetle
Olophrum boreale Paykull 1792 rove beetle
Olophrum rotundicolle Sahlberg 1817 rove beetle
Olophrum consimile Gyllenhal 1810 rove beetle
Eucnecosum sp. Reitter 1909 rove beetle
Eucnecosum brunnescens Sahlberg 1871 rove beetle
Microedus austinianus LeConte 1874 rove beetle
Pycnoglypta sp. Thomson 1858 winter rove beetle
Pycnoglypta aptera or Pycnoglypta lurida
Pycnoglypta aptera Campbell 1983 winter rove beetle
Philonthus sp. Curtis 1829 rove beetle
Quedius sp. Stephens 1829 rove beetle
Bledius sp. Leach 1819 rove beetle
Stenus sp. Latreille 1796 rove beetle
"Pselaphidae indet." = Pselaphinae Latreille 1802 rove beetle
Aleocharinae indet. Fleming 1821 rove beetle
Gymnusa sp. Gravenhorst 1806 rove beetle
Thanatophilus sp. Leach 1815 rove beetle
Euaesthetinae indet. Thomson 1859 rove beetle
"Scydmaenidae indet." = Scydmaeninae Leach 1815 antlike stone beetle
 Coleoptera - Scarabaeidae
Aphodius sp. Hellwig 1798 scarab beetle
Aegialia sp. Latreille 1807 scarab beetle
 Coleoptera - Hydrophilidae
Hydrophilidae indet. Latreille 1802 water scavenger beetle
Enochrus sp. Thomson 1859 water scavenger beetle
 Coleoptera - Helophoridae
Helophorus sp. Fabricius 1775 water scavenger beetle
Helophorus sempervarians Angus 1970 water scavenger beetle