The Bulletin of the Texas Memorial Museum
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2152/29838
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item The Vale Formation (Lower Permian) Its Vertebrates and Paleoecology(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1982-03) Olson, Everett C.; Mead, James G.The Vale Formation is a wedge of predominantly terrestrial sediments of Leonardian age (Permian), overlying the Clear Fork Group and underlying the Choza Formation. Studies of the terrestrial vertebrates and stratigraphy of the Vale Formation, carried on since the late 19305, provide the basis for an initial synthesis of the faunas, stratigraphic distribution, paleoecology, taphonomy, and evolution of the vertebrates. Attention is focused on four principal outcrop areas: the northern Vale outcrop, with a complete section, largely in Knox County, Texas; the Sid McAdams locality, in the lower part of the Vale in southern Taylor County, Texas; the Blackwood locality, middle part of the Vale in central Taylor County, Texas; and the Stamford locality, middle part of the Vale in southern Haskell County, Texas. In addition, numerous other small sites in Texas and localities of equivalent age in Oklahoma were used in the analyses. Except for the northern Vale outcrops, the fossil vertebrate localities have been treated only briefly or not at all in previous publications. A study of fossil occurrences over a north-south distance of about 190 km in Texas, and of sections ranging up to 150 m thick, has provided a basis for tentative conclusions. The primary differences between the Vale and Arroyo faunas are the result of loss of genera and species in the upper part of the Arroyo Formation. New species were introduced early in the north and they, or their derivatives, appeared later to the south. Conditions of deposition pass from paralic in the south to strictly terrestrial with stream action predominant in the central and northern parts of the area. During deposition of the Vale Formation, especially in the north, climates were marked by increasing dryness and seasonality of rainfall. Most vertebrate remains were transported into the areas where they have been found. Only in ephemeral lakes and ponds were the organisms preserved where they lived. There is little evidence of pronounced evolutionary change during deposition of the Vale. Some speciation seems to have taken place, but faunal differences between areas were primarily related to climatological and physiographic differences. The fauna of the Vale does not differ significantly from that of the overlying Choza Formation. The report brings together all available information on the Vale faunas. Firmer interpretations of the evolution of the faunas will become possible when wider chronological and spatial distribution of vertebrates is known and after additional stratigraphic and paleoecological field studies have been completed.Item Devil's Graveyard Formation (New) Eocene and Oligocene Age Trans-Pecos Texas(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1984) Stevens, James B.; Stevens, Margaret S.; Wilson, John AndrewThe Devil's Graveyard Formation (new, Eocene and Oligocene) is described as that part of the Buck Hill Group above the Cretaceous and beneath the Mitchell Mesa Rhyolite or the Yellow conglomerate of Moon (1953). It replaces the terminology used by Moon (1953) for the lower part of the Buck Hill Group, Buck Hill Group undifferentiated, as well as Pruett-Duff (Erickson, 1953, and Stevens, 1978) and Pruett and Duff undivided (Barnes, 1979, and Henry and Deux, 1981). The names Pruett and Duff apply to the mountain area in the southern part of the Davis Mountains where their type sections are located. The lithology of the Devil's Graveyard Formation is predominantly clastic and sufficiently different from that of both the Pruett and Duff formations to warrant its new name. The Buck Hill Group in the Agua Fria-Green Valley area consists of the Devil's Graveyard Formation, the Mitchell Mesa Rhyolite, the Tascotal Mesa Formation, and the Rawls Basalt. The Devil's Graveyard Formation is divided into lower and middle unnamed members an upper Bandera Mesa Member, each separated by concentrations of channel conglomerates. Locally useful marker beds that are associated with vertebrate fossil localities are described. The areas of exposure are in west-central Brewster and east-central Presidio counties, Texas.Item Handbook of Texas Archaeology: Type Descriptions(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1962) Suhm, Dee Ann; Jelks, Edward B.Item Stratigraphic Occurrence and Correlation of Early Tertiary Vertebrate Faunas, Trans-Pecos Texas(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1977) Wilson, John AndrewStrategraphic positions for the Candelaria local fauna (late Uintan), the Porvenir local fauna (early Chadronian), Little Egypt, and Airstrip local faunas (Chadronian) within the Vieja Group are given. The Porvenir local fauna contains 32 genera in common with Chadronian faunas to the north and six genera in common with the Lapoint fauna. K-AR dates of approximately 38 and 36 million years are below and above the Porvenir local fauna. A mammalian assemblage sufficiently distinct to characterize a Duchesnean age is not present in the Vieja area. It is urged that the first appearance of Mesohippus mark the beginning of the Chadronian age.Item Vertebrate Footprints and Invertebrate Traces from the Cadronian(Late Eocene) of Trans-Pecos Texas(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1994) S. Sarjeant, William Anthony; Langston Jr, WannCeratomorph remains found in Eocene and Oligocene deposits of Trans-Pecos Texas are herein described, except for the amynodonts which were described in a previous paper. Hyracodon primus, Hyracodon petersoni, and Colodon stovalli n. sp. are described from well-preserved material; Hyrachyus and Dilophodon are not so well represented. Triplopus, Caenopus, and Trigonias are questionably identified and a skull fragment is provisionally referred to Toxotherium.Item The Arroyo Formaton (Leonardian: Lower Permian) and Its Vertebrate Fossils(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1989-07) Olson, Everett C.Studies of the Arroyo formation from northern Haskell County south to Runnels County, Texas trace the changes in organisms and environments from the classic terrestrial beds of Baylor and Wilbarger Counties to the fully marine sections to the south. Terrestrial deposits that contain vertebrate remains have been found only as far south as Haskell, Texas. Limestones, sampled and treated by acetic acid, have produced tetrapods to the level of Abilene, Texas. Among these are the commonest genera of the Arroyo, including several types of microsaurs. Notably absent is the highly terrestrial genus Captorhinus. Above the Lueders Limestone, the Arroyo section in the southern area consists of four marine limestones alternating with varied thicknesses of red mudstones, with small increments of sandstones and fine conglomerates. The distributions of the limestones and the elastics indicate four major transgressions of the sea, with a very irregular coastline during the peaks of transgression. The limestones have yielded a wide variety of fish, including xenacanthid sharks, various other Chondrichthyes, and dipnoan and palaeoniscoid Osteichthyes. Special attention is paid to the systematics, distributions, and habitats of the fish, with special emphasis upon the use of scale histology in taxonomic studies.Item Carnivorous Mammals of the Late Eocene and Early Ogliocene of Trans-Pecos Texas(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1986-12) Gustafson, Eric PaulThe fossil carnivore fauna of the late Eocene (Bridgerian-Uintan) and early Oligocene (Chadronian) of Trans-Pecos Texas includes specimens from stratigraphically superimposed faunas of three areas: the Sierra Vieja (Vieja Group), the badlands near Agua Fria Mountain (Buck Hill Group), and near Castolon in southern Big Bend National Park (Chisos Formation). Members of the mammalian orders Condylarthra, Creodonta, and Carnivora are included in this study. The fossils occur in volcaniclastic continental sediments, interbedded with lava flows and ignimbrites. The Cenozoic rocks unconformably overlie Cretaceous sedimentary rocks in all three areas. Radiometric dates from several stratigraphic levels allow the calibration of biostratigraphic data.Item The Spider Family Nesticidae(Araneae) in North America, Central America, and the West Indies(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1984) Gertsch, Willis J.A systematic review of the spiders of the family Nesticidae from North America, Central America, and the West Indies is presented with analyses of their features and relationships. The sedentary nesticids spin small tangled webs in dark places beneath ground objects, in leaf and other detritus, in underground spaces, and especially in many parts of caves. Three genera and more than 50 species are now known from the area under consideration. The exclusively American genus Gaucelmus, with five species, ranges from our southeastern states and Texas southward through Mexico and much of Central America. Most Gaucelmus are cavernicoles, but only one species, cavernicola of Jamaica, is somewhat modified by cave existence.Item La Harpe's 1719 Post on Red River and Nearby Caddo Settlements(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 0000-00-00) Mott Wedel, MildredItem Further Studies on the Cavernicole Fauna of Mexico and Adjacent Regions(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1982-03)Item A Review of the Cavernicole Fauna of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1981-07) Reddell, James R.Item Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoecology of Paleocene Black Peaks Formation, Big Bend National Park, Texas(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1974-08) Schiebout, Judith AnnThe fauna of the Black Peaks Formation is the southernmost large Paleocene fauna of North America. It contains 29 species of mammals belonging to 28 genera and includes three new species, a barylambdid pantodont, a multituberculate, and an insectivore. The 170-meter (560-foot) thick formation has three principal faunal levels. The lowest level is latest Torrejonian or earliest Tiffanian in age, the second is early Tiffanian, and the third is Clarkforkian. The formation was deposited by meandering rivers; the climate in the region was semitropical to tropical with alternating wet and dry periods of greater than seasonal duration.Item Early Tertiary Vertebrate Faunas, Vieja Group and Buck Hill Froup, Trans-Pecos Texas: Photoceratidae, Camelidae, HyperTragulidae(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1974-04) Wilson, John AndrewUpper and lower dentitions of Leptoreodon marshi from the late Eocene are described. Leptoreodon is placed in the Protoceratidae and the family Leptomerycidae abandoned. A new genus of late Eocene protoceratid is described and believed to be ancestral to Heteromeryx. An associated upper and lower dentition of Heteromeryx is described for the first time. Pseudoprotoceras is synonymized with Poabromylus and a new species described. Oromeryx and Eotylopus are identified from the Chadronian. A new and primitive species of Poebrotherium shows closer relationship to Protylopus than Poebrodon. A new genus of camel id in the Chadronian thought to be related to Poebrodon is described. A new species of Leptomeryx is described and Leptomeryx is placed in the Hypertragulidae. Hypisodus is reported from west Texas for the first time. Full selenodonty in the upper molars appears earliest in the Protoceratidae and in a family of camelids which includes Poebrodon. Full selenodonty in Poebrotherium and Leptomeryx is not achieved until the late Chadronian.Item Lower Cenomanian and Late Albian Ammonites, Especially Leylliceridae of Texas and Mexico(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 0000-00-00) Young, KeithThe Early Cenomanian of Texas and northern Mexico contains numerous species of lyellicerines, and the late Early Cenomanian Buda Limestone is especially dominated by them. The three lyellicerine genera are Sto- Hczkaia, Faraudiella, and Budaiceras, and the latter two are particularly abundant. The 50 species of Early Cenomanian ammonites are distributed among 28 genera, mostly hetermorphs, scaphitines, and lyellicerines. Because of Tethyan faunal affinities the Early Cenomanian of Texas and northern Mexico can be correlated more easily with that of North Africa and Madagascar than with the more classical sections of northern Europe. Unfortunately, no horizon-differentiation by fossils. The Main Street Limestone and Del Rio Clay are correctable with the Hypoturrilitas schneegansi zone of North Africa, the Buda Limestone with the lower part of Zone II and the Woodbine with the upper part of Zone 11 and most of Zone 111. The H. carcitanensis zone of England would appear to be equivalent to the upper part of the Del Rio Formation, the Mantelliceras saxbii zone mostly equivalent to the Buda Limestone, and the M. dixoni zone equivalent to the Maness Shale and the lower part of the Woodbine Formation. Lower Cenomanian strata thin onto the San Marcos Platform, the Devils River trend.Item Early Tertiary Vertebrate Faunas Vieja Group Trans-Pecos Texas: Rodentia(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1974-04) Wood, Albert E.The fossil rodents of the late Eocene to early Oligocene Vieja Group are described. They include the paramyids Leptotomus leptodus, L. gigans n. sp., Mytonomys gaitania, Microparamys perjossus n. sp., Ischyrotomus cf, petersoni and Manitsha johanniculi n. sp.; the ischyromyids Ischyromys blacki n. sp, and Titanotheriomys veterior; the cylindrodonts Cylindrodon fontis, Pseudocylindrodon neglectus, P. texanus n. sp., Ardynomys occidentalis, Jaywilsonomyinae n. subf., Jaywilsonomys ojinagaensis and /. pintoensis; the eomyids Adjidaumo cf. minutus, Viejadjidaumo magniscopuli n. gen., n. sp., Aulolithomys bounites, Meliakrouniomys wilsoni and Yoderimys lustrorum n. sp.; the eutypomyid Eutypomys inexpectatus n. sp.; the possible zapodid cf. Simimys sp. indet., and the possible cricetid Subsumus candelariae n. gen., n. sp. Skulls are described for Pseudocylindrodon texanus, Viejadjidaumo magniscopuli and Yoderimys lustrorum, and partial ones for Ischyromys blacki, Titanotheriomys veterior, Jaywilsonomys ojinagaensis, Aulolithomys bounites and Eutypomys inexpectatus. The Vieja fossils help to close the gap between late Eocene and Early Oligocene North American rodent faunules.Item A Systematic Study of the Neotropical Vine Snake(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 0000-00-00) Keiser Jr., Edmund D.Oxybelis aeneus is an elongated, slender-bodied vine snake that occurs at low to moderate and occasionally higher elevations throughout most of the Neotropical Region. The nomenclatural history of Oxybelis aeneus is reviewed. The name Dryinus aeneus Wagler 1824 is given priority over Coluber acuminatus Wied 1824, primarily on the basis of a footnoted reference to the volume containing Wagler's description in a March 1824 publication of Spix and Martius. Synonyms are discussed and the present locations of extant holotypes are given. Analyses of geographic, ontogenetic, sexual, and individual variation are presented for scuteliation, head and body measurements, dentition, certain cranial bones, hemipenes, and color pattern. Bogert and Oliver's (1945) concept of two subspecies, O. aeneus aeneus and 0. aeneus auratus, based on the relative proportions of eye diameter and internasal scale length is examined. The means for the ratios of these measurements change clinally (both ontogenetically and geographically) with the length of the snout, and the ratio itself is insufficiently diagnostic in North American and South American populations. Few other characters examined are geographically unique and most are subject to a high degree of individual variation. No subspecies are recognized.Item Red Light Local Fauna (Blancan) of the Love Formation, Southeastern Hudspeth County, Texas(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1970-02) Akersten, William A.Two new formations in the Red Light Bolson have yielded vertebrate fossils. The Red Light local fauna consists of thirty taxa of mammals and numerous lower vertebrates from fluvial deposits. The much smaller Aguila local fauna is from older playa deposits. The stratigraphic and faunal successions indicate a climatic change from arid playa conditions to moist fluvial conditions. This change is probably a result of the onset of pluvial conditions related to glaciation at higher latitudes. At the time that the youngest part of the Red Light local fauna lived, the bolson was occupied by a permanent, flowing drainage and three major terrestrial environments probably existed in the area. Brush or succulent vegetation grew along the drainage, a savannah with scattered trees existed between the drainage and the mountains, and the mountains were largely covered with brush. The playa and fluvial deposits are correlated with the Fort Hancock and Camp Rice Formations, respectively, in the Hueco Bolson. The Red Light local fauna correlates with the Hudspeth local fauna from the Hueco Bolson. Faunal evidence indicates that it lived during the Pleistocene portion of the Blancan and, from stratigraphic evidence, this is narrowed to the Nebraskan.Item Competition and Isolation Mechanishms in the Gambusia Affinis X. G. Heterochir Hybrid Swarm(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1971-06) Hubbs, ClarkItem Early Tertiary Vertebrate Faunas, Vieja Group Trans-Pecos Texas: Agriochoeridae and Merycoidodontidae(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1971) Wilson, John AndrewItem Daveko Kiowa-Apache Medicine Man(Texas Memorial Museum, The University of Texas at Austin, 1970-11) Mcallister, J. Gilbert; Newcomb Jr., W.W.