The Chadronian is a North American Land Mammal Age typically set from around 37,000,000 to 33,700,000 years BP, a period of 3.3 million years. [1] The Chadronian is preceded by the Duchesnean and followed by the Orellan NALMA stages. Relative to global geological chronology (the geologic time scale), it is usually considered to fall within the later part (Priabonian stage) of the Eocene epoch, ending around the same time as the Eocene-Oligocene boundary.
The Chadronian is named after the Chadron Formation, a widespread component of the White River Group in Nebraska and South Dakota. The most well-studied examples of Chadronian strata in the White River Group/Formation are the Flagstaff Rim area of eastern Wyoming and the Toadstool Park area of northwest Nebraska. [1]
The beginning of the Chadronian is defined by the first appearance of Bathygenys (a merycoidodontid, or "oreodont"). Other mammals which first appear at the start of the stage include Merycoidodon dunagani (a merycoidodontid), Brachyrhynchocyon dodgei , (a daphoenine amphicyonid, or "bear dog"), and Archaeotherium (an entelodont). The early horse Mesohippus appears only slightly before the start of the Chadronian. [1]
Four subdivisions of the Chadronian were informally proposed by Prothero and Emry (1996), later formalized by the same authors in 2004. [1] Type assemblages (diagnostic fossil faunas used to define the subdivision) are bolded and underlined. From youngest to oldest:
Subdivision | Primary index fossil | Estimated age | Component assemblages |
Late Chadronian | Miniochoerus chadronensis | 33.7 - 34.7 Ma |
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Middle Chadronian | Leptomeryx mammifer | 34.7 - 35.7 Ma |
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Late Early Chadronian | Leptomeryx yoderi | 35.7 - 36.5 Ma |
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Earliest Chadronian | Bathygenys | 36.5 - 37 Ma |
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Part of the Cypress Hills Formation (Saskatchewan, Canada) is also considered to be Chadronian in age. [1] In Colorado, Chadronian mammal faunas are found in the Florissant Formation, the Antero Formation, [4] and the White River Formation in the Kings Canyon area. [5] In New Mexico, the Conejos, Espinaso, Spears, Sanders Canyon, Bell Top, upper Rubio Peak, and upper Palm Park formations all overlap with the Chadronian NALMA. [6] The Iniyoo local fauna (Oaxaca, Mexico) was initially reported to be Chadronian, [7] though revised dating suggests that it is Arikareean (late Oligocene) instead. [8]
Daphoenus is an extinct genus of amphicyonids. Daphoenus inhabited North America from the Late Eocene to the Middle Miocene, 37.2—16.0 Mya, existing for approximately 21 million years.
Eomyidae is a family of extinct rodents from North America and Eurasia related to modern day pocket gophers and kangaroo rats. They are known from the Middle Eocene to the Late Miocene in North America and from the Late Eocene to the Pleistocene in Eurasia. Eomyids were generally small, but occasionally large, and tended to be squirrel-like in form and habits. The family includes the earliest known gliding rodent, Eomys quercyi.
The John Day Formation is a series of rock strata exposed in the Picture Gorge district of the John Day River basin and elsewhere in north-central Oregon in the United States. The Picture Gorge exposure lies east of the Blue Mountain uplift, which cuts southwest–northeast through the Horse Heaven mining district northeast of Madras. Aside from the Picture Gorge district, which defines the type, the formation is visible on the surface in two other areas: another exposure is in the Warm Springs district west of the uplift, between it and the Cascade Range, and the third is along the south side of the Ochoco Mountains. All three exposures, consisting mainly of tuffaceous sediments and pyroclastic rock rich in silica, lie unconformably between the older rocks of the Clarno Formation below and Columbia River basalts above.
Herpetotherium is an extinct genus of metatherian mammal, belonging to the possibly paraphyletic family Herpetotheriidae. Native to North America from the Eocene to Early Miocene, fossils have been found in California, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Saskatchewan. The oldest species, H. knighti, is dated to around 50.3 mya, and the most recent, an unnamed species, may be as recent as 15.97 mya. A morphological analysis of marsupials and basal metatherians conducted in 2007 found Herpetotherium to be the sister group to extant marsupials. It is the youngest known metatherian from North America until the migration of the Virginia opossum from South America within the last 2 million years.
The Orellan is a North American Land Mammal Age typically set from around 33,700,000 to 32,000,000 years BP, a period of 1.7 million years. The Orellan is preceded by the Chadronian and followed by the Whitneyan NALMA stages. Relative to global geological chronology, it is usually considered to fall within the earliest part of the Oligocene epoch, beginning around the same time as the Eocene-Oligocene boundary.
Brachyhyops is an extinct genus of entelodont artiodactyl mammal that lived during the Eocene Epoch of western North America and southeastern Asia. The first fossil remains of Brachyhyops are recorded from the late Eocene deposits of Beaver Divide in central Wyoming and discovered by paleontology crews from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History during the early 20th century. The type species, Brachyhyops wyomingensis, is based on a single skull and was named by E.H. Colbert in 1937, but was not officially described until 1938. During the latter half of the 20th century, additional specimens from North America have been recorded from Saskatchewan and as far south as Texas, indicating that Brachyhyops had a broad distribution and was well-dispersed throughout western North America.
The White River Fauna are fossil animals found in the White River Group of South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska in the United States. In southwest South Dakota and northwest Nebraska, these fossils are characteristic of the White River Badlands, though they can be found far beyond the limits of the White River watershed.
Palaeogale is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal known from the Late Eocene, Oligocene, and Early Miocene of North America, Europe, and Eastern Asia. A small carnivore often associated with the mustelids, Palaeogale might have been similar to living genets, civets, and linsangs.
Dominickus is an extinct genus of moth in the butterfly-moth family Castniidae containing a single species Dominickus castnioides. The species is known from late Eocene, Priabonian stage, lake deposits near the small community of Guffey in Teller County, Colorado, United States.
Megaleptictis is an extinct genus of large insectivore mammal from Late Paleogene deposits of Custer County, South Dakota. It is known from the holotype KUVP 2568 a nearly complete skull including the mandibles. It was collected in an 1894 University of Kansas expedition from the tan siltstone of the White River Group. It was first named by Tj Meehan and Larry D. Martin in 2011 and the type species is Megaleptictis altidens.
The White River Formation is a geologic formation of the Paleogene Period, in the northern Great Plains and central Rocky Mountains, within the United States.
The Washakie Formation is a geologic formation in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming. It preserves many mammal, bird, reptile and other fossils dating back to the Lutetian stage of the Eocene within the Paleogene period. The sediments fall in the Bridgerian and Uintan stages of the NALMA classification.
The DeBeque Formation is a geologic formation in Colorado's Piceance Basin, preserving fossils which date back to the Late Paleocene to Early Eocene period (Clarkforkian to Wasatchian in the NALMA classification. Examples of these fossils are held in the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History.
The San Jose Formation is an Early Eocene geologic formation in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Colorado.
The Sheep Pass Formation is a geologic formation in Nevada. It preserves fossils dating back to the Paleogene period.
The Diligencia Formation (Td) is a geologic formation cropping out in the Orocopia Mountains in southern California. It preserves mammal fossils dating to the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene.
Archiponera is an extinct genus of ant in the formicid subfamily Ponerinae. The genus contains a single described species, Archiponera wheeleri known from several Late Eocene fossils which were found in North America.
Priabona is an extinct genus of big-headed flies in the dipteran subfamily Nephrocerinae, within which it is one of only two genera. The genus contains a single described species, Priabona florissantius. Priabona is known from a single Late Eocene fossil from western North America.
Xenocranium is an extinct monotypic genus of placental mammal from extinct paraphyletic subfamily Epoicotheriinae within extinct paraphyletic family Epoicotheriidae in extinct order Palaeanodonta, that lived in North America during the late Eocene.
Oaxacagale is an extinct weasel genus of Mustelidae that lived in the Eocene in North America. It is thought to have resembled the extant Mustela frenata.