teeth found in phosphate beds in Withlacoochee River, at Dunnellon. From
the Florida geological survey an upper left second premolar (No. 1440)
has been received which is considerably larger than the corresponding
tooth of _Tapirus terrestris_ and presents other peculiarities. It may
have belonged to _T. haysii_. An upper second true molar (No. 1440) has
the crown 23 mm. long, 27 mm. wide across the front lobe, and 23 mm.
across the hinder lobe. The corresponding dimensions of a specimen of
_T. terrestris_ from Surinam are 24 mm., 25.5 mm., and 21.5 mm. A tooth
(No. 1378) which appears to be the lower left second molar is 22.5 mm.
long, 19 mm. wide in front, and 20 mm. wide behind. The corresponding
measurements of _T. terrestris_ are 22.5 mm., 18.5 mm., and 17.5 mm. The
buttresses which descend from the outer ends of the crests of the fossil
tooth are not so strongly developed as in _T. terrestris_. Probably
these teeth belong to an undescribed species. An upper molar having a
length of 23 mm. has been shown the writer by Dr. L. W. Stephenson; it
was found in phosphate deposits at Dunnellon and sent to him by Sister
M. Catherine, of St. Joseph’s Academy, at St. Augustine.
4. _Near Ocala, Marion County._—Mr. J. D. Robertson, of Ocala, presented
to the National Museum a tooth of a tapir, found in phosphate deposits a
few miles from Ocala, section 5, township 15 south, range 23 east.
5. _Tampa, Hillsboro County._—In the collection of fossils, at
Vanderbilt University, made from the phosphate-producing beds in
Hillsboro County, is part of the left ramus of a lower jaw of a tapir
containing the first and second true molars. The first molar has a
length of 24 mm. and a width of 20 mm. in front. This is smaller than
the corresponding tooth of _T. terrestris_ and near that supposed to
belong to _T. veroensis_. The second molar has lost its hinder crest.
Under the first molar the jaw is 54 mm. deep and 37 mm. thick.
The writer (Fossil Turtles of North America, p. 361) reported the
finding of tapir teeth in Alafia River, in this county.
6. _Vero, St. Lucie County._—At this important locality remains of
tapirs have been found in the bed of sands known as No. 2, and likewise
in the bed of muck mentioned in discussions of the locality as No. 3.
From the latter have been secured parts of 2 lower jaws and a number of
detached teeth (Sellards, 8th Ann. Rep., p. 149). One at least of these
(No. 6943) appears to belong to _Tapirus haysii_. From No. 2 Dr.
Sellards has obtained a nearly complete skull of a tapir, described
(10th and 11th Ann. Rep. Fla. Geol. Surv., p. 57, plates I-IV) as
_Tapirus veroensis_. From the same stratum he (8th Ann. Rep., p. 139)
secured a part of a tooth which he referred with some doubt to _T.
haysii_.
7. _Arcadia, De Soto County._—Dr. Joseph Leidy (Trans. Wagner Free
Inst., vol. II, p. 19) stated he had examined 3 crowns of upper molars
and fragments of others. In no way did he find them differing from those
of the South American tapir, _T. americanus_ (_T. terrestris_). On page
380 will be found a list of the vertebrate fossils found in this
vicinity.
MISSISSIPPI.
(Map 19.)
1. _Natchez, Adams County._—In 1849 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol.
IV, p. 182), Dr. Leidy wrote that there was in the collection of the
Academy a tooth of a tapir discovered by Dr. M. W. Dickeson near
Natchez. It had been found in association with remains of the mastodon
and the horse _Equus americanus_ (=_E. complicatus_). The tooth was
pronounced a lower molar of the left side, apparently the third milk
molar, and was referred to _Tapirus americanus fossilis_; that is, it
was looked upon as a fossil tooth of the existing South American tapir.
The molar was mentioned by Leidy in 1860 (Holmes’s “Post-Pliocene
Fossils of South Carolina,” p. 106). The writer has seen this tooth in
the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia.
In 1852 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. VI, p. 148), Leidy called
the attention of the Academy to a fragment of a left lower jaw with 2
teeth of a tapir found in the Pleistocene near Natchez and sent to Leidy
by the geologist B. L. C. Wailles. It was referred to _Tapirus haysii_.
This specimen was figured and described by Leidy in 1860 (Holmes’s
“Post-Pliocene Fossils of South Carolina,” p. 107, plate XVII, figs. 4,
5). Wailles mentioned this jaw in his work (Agric. Geol. Mississippi,
1854, p. 285), and stated that it was found in a ravine on Pine Ridge,
which runs through townships 7 and 8, range 3 west, about 6 miles north
of Natchez.
In a list (furnished by Dr. Joseph Leidy) of fossil mammals found in the
Pleistocene of Mississippi, 2 species of tapirs are included, viz,
_Tapirus americanus_ (=_T. terrestris_) and _T. haysii_ (Wailles, op.
cit., p. 286; Hilgard, Agric. Geol. Mississippi, 1860, p. 196). The
associated species will be listed on page 391.
TENNESSEE.
(Map 19. Figure 23.)
1. _Whitesburg, Hamblen County._—In the U. S. National Museum is a
collection of bones and teeth of several species of vertebrates, made in
what may once have been the floor of a cave, near the village mentioned.
On page 395 will be found a list of the species. Among the remains are
10 teeth, in fine preservation, of a young tapir, described by the
writer (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LVIII, p. 88, plate III, figs. 4 to
11), and made the type of a new species, _Tapirus tennesseæ_.
2. _Dandridge, Jefferson County._—On the left bank of Dumplin (or
Dumpling) Creek, about 5 miles above its entrance into French Broad
River, and apparently about as many miles northwest from Dandridge, is a
cavern known as Zirkel’s Cave. Dr. H. C. Mercer briefly described (Dept.
Amer. and Prehist. Archæology, Univ. Penn., 1896) his investigation of
the cave. He reported the finding of remains of tapir, peccary, bear,
and small rodents; but these were not specifically determined.
3. _Lookout Mountain, Hamilton County._—In 1894 (Amer. Naturalist, vol.
XXVIII, p. 356), Mercer reported that he had found teeth of a tapir in a
cave on Lookout Mountain. Cope, on page 597 of the same volume,
identified these teeth as those of _T. haysii_. With them was found a
bone, thought to belong to a mylodon.
According to a letter received by the writer from Dr. Mercer, the tapir
specimen consisted of a lower right ramus, 1 left incisor, and 5 molars.
The teeth appear all to have been loose and the jawbone was broken into
about 8 fragments. The cave and its contents will be discussed on page
398.
4. _Bristol, Sullivan County._—In the U. S. National Museum are 2 tapir
teeth in a fragment of the left maxilla. These are the fourth premolar
and the first molar, both considerably worn. The size of these teeth
indicates that they belong to _Tapirus haysii_.
KENTUCKY.
(Map 19.)
1. _Bigbone Lick, Boone County._—The evidences for the occurrence of a
species of tapir at this place are not as convincing as might be
desired. In 1852, Dr. I. Hays (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. VI, p.
53) presented to the Academy a tooth of a tapir which he had had in his
possession two years and which was said by him to have come from the bed
of a canal in North Carolina. This tooth was named by Leidy _Tapirus
haysii_ on page 106 of the volume cited and again on page 148, but
without description. It was again mentioned by him in 1853 (Jour. Acad.
Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. VII, p. 201) and again without description. In
1860, Leidy (Holmes’s “Post-Pliocene Fossils of South Carolina,” p. 106,
plate XVI, figs. 7, 8) described and figured the tooth and stated that
it was supposed to have come from Bigbone Lick. Which of the statements
was correct the writer does not know.
2. _Stamping Ground, Scott County._—In 1910 the writer received for
examination from Professor Arthur M. Miller, professor of geology in the
State University at Lexington, Kentucky, a part of a lower jaw of
_Tapirus haysii_, found between the town named and Georgetown, in the
bottom of a filled-up sink-hole encountered in lead-mining operations,
on McConnell’s Run. In this specimen all the molars are complete and the
roots of the 3 hinder premolars are present.
3. _Yarnallton, Fayette County._—From Professor Miller there was
received with the specimen above described pieces of the jaws of
_Tapirus haysii_, discovered in an old stream-deposit at the place
named. A fragment of a lower jaw was sent; also a piece of a right
maxilla, with the anterior true molar complete and parts of the second
molar and of the hindermost premolar. Some other parts of the skeleton
were found, but they seem not to have been cared for.
FINDS OF RHINOCEROSES IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.
FLORIDA.
1. _Archer, Alachua County._—Two species of rhinoceros have been
described from this locality. In 1884 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p.
118), Dr. Joseph Leidy reported the discovery, with other fossils, of
remains of a species of the genus _Rhinoceros_ in Alachua clays, but he
gave it no name. This was, however, done in 1885 (same Proceedings,
1885, p. 32). In 1896, after the death of Leidy, his unfinished paper,
completed and edited by Professor F. A. Lucas, was published (Trans.
Wagner Free Inst. Sci., vol. IV, p. 41 seq., with numerous figures).
This species is now referred to _Teleoceras_, as _Teleoceras proterus_.
In 1890 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1890, p. 94), Leidy described
another species which he called _Rhinoceros longipes_, from the same
place and deposit. This species is now called _Aphelops longipes_.
These species are usually credited to the Upper Miocene or Lower
Pliocene. The reader is referred to page 376, where the geological
position of these beds is discussed.
2. _Williston, Levy County._—In his list of 1892 (Bull. U. S. Geol.
Surv., No. 84, p. 129), furnished by Leidy, W. H. Dall included
_Rhinoceros proterus_ among the fossils found at Mixon’s, near the
village of Williston.
3. _Dunnellon, Marion County._—In 1913 (5th Ann. Rep. Florida Geol.
Surv., p. 58), Dr. E. H. Sellards stated that some remains of a
rhinoceros had been found in the mines worked along Withlacoochee River,
in the region about Dunnellon. In volume VIII of the Florida Survey,
page 94, _Aphelops malacorhinus_ (=_A. longipes_) is included among the
fossils found in the Dunnellon formation. It is not included in his list
of Pleistocene species found in the Withlacoochee River (Florida Geol.
Surv., vol. VIII, p. 104). This was doubtless because he regarded it as
belonging to an earlier formation.
4. _Mulberry, Polk County._—In 1915 (7th Ann. Rep. Florida Geol. Surv.,
p. 72), Sellards stated that a tooth of _Teleoceras fossiger_ (in the
present work recognized as _T. proterus_) had been discovered in the
Bone Valley phosphate formation, at the place named. As in other cases,
the Bone Valley formation was referred to the Late Tertiary.
5. _Brewster, Polk County._—In the volume last referred to, on page 72,
Sellards mentions parts of jaws and teeth found in a phosphate mine at
Brewster which are different from those of _Teleoceras proterus_. Some
of these are figured by Sellards on his pages 107 and 108. They have not
been specifically or generically determined.
FINDS OF PLEISTOCENE PECCARIES IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.
NEW YORK.
(Map 20.)
1. _Rochester, Monroe County._—In 1889 (Trans. Wagner Inst. Sci., vol.
II, pp. 33–40), Leidy described and figured a skull of _Platygonus
compressus_, purchased of Ward’s Natural Science Establishment, at
Rochester, and said to have been found in a gravel bank in a railroad
excavation, a few miles from Rochester. This skull was a part of 2
incomplete skeletons found lying together.
The writer received word from Professor Henry L. Ward, director of the
Milwaukee Public Museum, that he recollects that, when a small boy,
about 1873 or 1874, he went with his father, Henry A. Ward, to some
point on the New York Central Railroad, where peccary remains had been
found. He thinks the place was at or near Pittsford. Dr. F. A. Lucas,
director of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, then in
the employ of the elder Ward, writes that the place was at Pittsford,
and in a gravel bank being worked by the railroad company to obtain
materials for a fill. The exact depth at which the bones were found is
not recalled, but it was not great.
The locality, according to Fairchild’s plate 42 (Bull. 127, State Mus.,
New York), is on the predecessor of Irondequoit Bay, extending out from
Lake Iroquois. The peccaries possibly lived rather early in the late
Wisconsin stage; but more probably their time of existence was
considerably later, when the climate had become milder.
2. _Gainesville, Wyoming County._—From Mr. C. A. Hartnagel, assistant
State geologist of New York, the writer received notice of the
discovery, in 1914, of the remains of 2 peccaries at a point about
one-third of a mile northwest of Gainesville. The remains consist of 2
nearly complete skulls, parts of 5 ribs, 2 scapulæ, 2 metacarpals, 1
innominate bone, 1 ilium, 1 radius, 1 ulna, and 2 tibiæ. These have been
identified by Dr. John M. Clarke as belonging to _Platygonus
compressus_.
The manner of burial of these peccaries is puzzling and interesting.
They were found in a hill, or drumlin, which stands out on a plain of
considerable extent and whose long axis runs north and south. The
elevation is 1,625 feet above sea-level. The drumlin is about 600 feet
long, about 300 feet wide, and 40 feet high. It is composed of sand,
gravel, and stones up to a foot in diameter. The bones are said to have
been discovered by a contractor who was removing sand and gravel. The
bones were at the south end of the drumlin and buried in a considerable
pocket of sand. Those reporting the position of the bones place them at
least 10 feet from the surface, and perhaps as much as 30 feet. Mr.
Hartnagel thinks it is almost necessary to suppose that the skeletons
were there when the drumlin was built. To the writer it would appear
still more difficult to explain how they happened to be there at that
time.
NEW JERSEY.
(Map 20.)
1. _Shark River, Monmouth County._—In 1869 (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci.
Phila., vol. VII, p. 387), Leidy described a tooth of a peccary shown to
him by Timothy Conrad, but found by Dr. P. Knieskern, supposedly in a
Miocene formation of Shark River. Leidy expressed the conclusion that
the tooth resembled very closely a premolar of _Dicotyles nasutus_, now
called _Mylohyus nasutus_. It is very probable that the tooth had gotten
into Miocene materials by accident or that there was some error in the
history, and that it really belonged to a Pleistocene peccary.
PENNSYLVANIA.
(Map 20.)
1. _Stroudsburg, Monroe County._—Leidy (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.,
1880, p. 347) reported _Dicotyles nasutus_ from the Crystal Hill
(Hartman’s) cave near Stroudsburg; but later (Ann. Rep. for 1887,
Pennsylvania Geol. Surv., p. 8, plate II, figs. 3–6) he described the
teeth and parts of the jaws as _Dicotyles pennsylvanicus_. This species
will be found on page 310 under the name _Mylohyus pennsylvanicus_, in
the list of fossils found in this cave. There too will be found a
discussion of the location of the cave and the probable age of the
remains.
2. _Port Kennedy, Montgomery County._—In the bone cave at this place
have been found 3 species of peccaries. Cope, in 1899 (Jour. Acad. Nat.
Sci. Phila., ser. 2, vol. II, pp. 259–263) described these under the
names _Mylohyus tetragonus_, _M. pennsylvanicus_, and _M. nasutus_. The
first was a new species, based on a damaged lower jaw with some of the
teeth (op. cit., plate XXI, figs. 3–3b). For the present the writer
refers it to the genus _Tagassu_, inasmuch as the interval between the
canine and the first premolar (pm^2) is only half the length of the
whole tooth row, and the molars have the structure found in _Tagassu_.
Some teeth belonging to an upper jaw were referred with doubt to this
species. They may have belonged to _Mylohyus pennsylvanicus_. Of the
species last named, Cope had fragments of 2 lower jaw’s with some teeth
in them and some teeth free from the jaws. Of _Mylohyus nasutus_, Cope
had from the cave only an upper canine and its reference to this species
is uncertain.
On page 312 will be found a list of the species of vertebrates found in
the Port Kennedy Cave; also remarks on their geological age.
3. _Milroy, Mifflin County._—In 1882, Leidy described (Proc. Acad. Nat.
Sci. Phila., 1882, p. 302) a species of peccary found in a limestone
cave in the county named, but he gave no more exact information; nor did
he do so in his two subsequent references to it in 1889 (Trans. Wagner
Inst., vol. II, p. 49; Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania for 1887, p.
12, plate II, figs. 1, 2). The specimen is in the Academy of Natural
Sciences at Philadelphia. In the Pennsylvania survey, as quoted, the
giver is called John Schwarzer. The name of the species is _Platygonus
vetus_. The writer has been informed by J. C. Swigart, county surveyor
of Mifflin County, that the proper name of the donor of the specimen was
John Swartzell, a former surveyor who lived near Milroy and who was much
interested in geology.
From Professor Mosheim Swartzell, of Washington, D. C., son of John
Swartzell, the writer has received a letter in which are given this
son’s recollections regarding the finding of the specimen in question.
He states that it was discovered in Naginey’s limestone quarry, 1.5
miles south of Milroy. It came from a considerable, but now unknown,
distance from the surface and was first noticed in the débris of the
quarry. While Mr. John Swartzell was observing it, an ignorant workman
struck it with a tool and damaged it, exclaiming that it was only the
jaw of a hog. It was later sent to Philadelphia. Professor Swartzell
writes that there was a cave not far away, but that the jaw was not
found in it; it probably had fallen down into a crevice of the
limestone.
4. _Frankstown, Blair County._—In 1908 (Ann. Carnegie Mus., vol. IV, p.
231), Dr. W. J. Holland reported remains of a number of peccaries found
in a bone cave at the place named. He mentioned especially _Dicotyles
pennsylvanicus_, but thought it belonged properly in _Platygonus_. It is
probably to be referred to _Mylohyus_ as _M. pennsylvanicus_.
OHIO.
(Maps 20, 36.)
1. _Wilmington, Clinton County._—In the collection of the Archæological
and Historical Museum of the University of Ohio, at Columbus, are
considerable parts of the jaws, teeth, and other parts of the skeleton
of a specimen of _Platygonus compressus_ exhumed at a point about 4.5
miles north of west of Wilmington. The locality is given as being in the
northeast corner of Adams Township, south of the road running northeast
and southwest between Todd and Dutch Creeks; also about 0.6 mile south
of the north line of Adams Township and about 0.75 mile from the east
line. It would therefore be near the second northwesterly directed loop
of Todd Creek in that neighborhood.
2. _Columbus, Franklin County_.—In 1875 (Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci.,
vol. XXIII, Hartford, pp. 1–6; also in Cin. Quart. Jour. Sci., vol. II,
pp. 1–6), J. H. Klippart gave an account of the finding of about a dozen
skeletons of _Platygonus compressus_. These were buried in 2 “nests” not
far from each other. The bones were rather brittle and were damaged
somewhat in exhuming them. The place of burial was in the bank
(apparently the right) of Olentangy River, at the crossing of Olentangy
and Montgomery streets. The remains were here buried in a sand-bank. One
lot of 6 of the smallest animals was found in penetrating the sand bank
about 20 feet from the entrance and at a depth of 8 feet from the
surface. They were embedded in calcareous clay and sand. The other 6 and
largest animals were found about 6 feet farther in and about 4 feet
deeper. It appears that all the animals were lying with their snouts
directed toward the southeast. Klippart thought that they had been
destroyed suddenly and violently. It is, however, probable that they had
been frozen in their beds during a winter storm. Of these skeletons it
appears that half went to Professor O. C. Marsh, of Yale University, and
the present writer has had the privilege of studying them. The
geological age of the animals will be considered on page 330.
3. _Chalfants, Perry County._—In the collection of the Archæological and
Historical Museum at the University of Ohio are considerable parts of a
specimen of _Platygonus compressus_ found not far from Jonathan Creek,
about a mile northeast of Chalfants. The locality, as given the writer
by Professor W. C. Mills, is as follows: center of southwest quarter of
section 14, township 17 north, range 16 west. The name of the political
township is Hopewell. The locality appears to be on the area covered by
Illinoian drift. This fact makes it possible that the animals lived
during the Sangamon stage.
4. _Lisbon, Columbiana County._—In the collection just mentioned is the
left ramus of a lower jaw of a peccary which the writer referred with
doubt to _Mylohyus nasutus_ Leidy. It lacks so much of the front end
that only 18 mm. of the symphysis is present; also, the ascending ramus
is broken off. There are present the 3 milk molars and the first molar,
but this is yet in its cavity in the bone. A comparison with Leidy’s _M.
pennsylvanicus_ seems to show that the jaw did not belong to that
species. Of _M. nasutus_ no lower jaw is known.
_Table of measurements, in millimeters_.
┌─────────────┬───────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────┐
│ Specimen. │ Lisbon jaw. │ M. penn. │
├─────────────┼─────────────┬─────────────┼─────────────┬─────────────┤
│ │ Length. │ Width. │ Length. │ Width. │
├─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤
│ Dm_{2} │ 9│ 5│ 7│ 4.5│
│ Dm_{3} │ 12│ 8│ 11│ 7│
│ Dm_{4} │ 19.5│ 11│ 18│ 10.5│
│ M_{1} │ 16.5│ 12│ 16│ 13│
└─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘
This specimen was found near the southern edge of Lisbon, on Middle Fork
of Little Beaver Creek, in the northwest quarter of the northeast
quarter of section 24, township 18 north, range 3 west. The locality is
apparently outside of the glaciated area; and it is at present
impossible to determine the geological age of the animal beyond that it
undoubtedly belongs to the Pleistocene. The writer believes that
_Mylohyus nasutus_ did not survive the Wisconsin ice-stage. The specimen
was described and figured by the writer in 1914 (Iowa Geol. Surv., vol.
XXIII, p. 226, plate XXV, figs. 4–6).
MICHIGAN.
(Map 36.)
1. _Belding, Ionia County._—So far as the writer knows, no species of
peccary has been found in the State of Michigan, except at Belding. The
remains are in the palæontological collection of the University of
Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and belong to the species _Platygonus
compressus_ Le Conte. The remains are said to consist of bones of 5
individuals; and Mr. N. A. Wood, preparator at the university, informed
the writer there are 294 bones. The skull of one of the 5 individuals
was missing when the collection was made. The skeletons were found in a
peat-swamp, in 1877, and were sent to Professor Alexander Winchell by
Mr. A. Tuttle. A skull belonging to this collection was described in
1903 (Jour. Geology, vol. XI, p. 777, figs. 1–4) by Mr. George Wagner.
It seems probable that there, as in two or three other known cases, a
herd of these animals, asleep together, had succumbed to rigorous
weather, probably to a winter blizzard.
Belding is situated on Flat River, a tributary of Grand River. It lies
close to a part of the Charlotte moraine system, thought to be
correlated with the Valparaiso system. These peccaries could not have
lived in that region until after the Wisconsin ice had retired into Lake
Michigan, or nearly so. It is more probable that they lived there long
after this retirement, at a time when the climate had become much
warmer.
INDIANA.
(Map 36.)