Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Two new carnivores from an unusual late Tertiary forest biota in eastern North America

Abstract

Late Cenozoic terrestrial fossil records of North America are biased by a predominance of mid-latitude deposits, mostly in the western half of the continent. Consequently, the biological history of eastern North America, including the eastern deciduous forest, remains largely hidden. Unfortunately, vertebrate fossil sites from this vast region are rare1,2, and few pertain to the critically important late Tertiary period, during which intensified global climatic changes took place3,4. Moreover, strong phylogenetic affinities between the flora of eastern North America and eastern Asia clearly demonstrate formerly contiguous connections, but disparity among shared genera (eastern Asia–eastern North America disjunction) implies significant periods of separation since at least the Miocene epoch1,2. Lacustrine sediments deposited within a former sinkhole in the southern Appalachian Mountains provide a rare example of a late Miocene to early Pliocene terrestrial biota from a forested ecosystem5. Here we show that the vertebrate remains contained within this deposit represent a unique combination of North American and Eurasian taxa. A new genus and species of the red (lesser) panda (Pristinailurus bristoli), the earliest and most primitive so far known, was recovered. Also among the fauna are a new species of Eurasian badger (Arctomeles dimolodontus) and the largest concentration of fossil tapirs ever recorded. Cladistical analyses of the two new carnivores strongly suggest immigration events that were earlier than and distinct from previous records6,7, and that the close faunal affinities between eastern North America and eastern Asia in the late Tertiary period are consistent with the contemporaneous botanical record8,9.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Purchase on Springer Link

Instant access to full article PDF

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Phylogenetic relationship and geological ages of red panda fossils.
Figure 2: Arctomeles dimolodontus sp. nov., ETMNH-361, holotype.
Figure 3: Phylogenetic relationship and geological ages of the Gray–site badger.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Emry, R. J. & Eshelman, R. E. in Geology and Paleontology of the Lower Miocene Pollack Farm Fossil Site, Delaware (ed. Benson, R. N.)) 153–173 (Delaware Geological Survey special publication, Newark, 1998)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Farlow, J. O. et al. The Pipe Creek Sinkhole biota, a diverse late Tertiary continental fossil assemblage from Grant County, Indiana. Am. Midl. Nat. 145, 367–378 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Pagani, M., Freeman, K. H. & Arthur, M. A. Late Miocene atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the expansion of C4 grasses. Science 285, 876–879 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Cerling, T. E. et al. Global vegetation change through the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. Nature 389, 153–158 (1997)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Wallace, S. C., Nave, J. W. & Burdick, K. M. Preliminary report on the recently discovered Gray Fossil Site (Miocene), Washington Co., Tennessee: with comments on observed paleopathologies–The advantages of a large sample. J. Vert. Paleontol. 22, 117 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Tedford, R. H. & Gustafson, E. P. First North American record of the extinct panda Parailurus. Nature 265, 621–623 (1977)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Tedford, R. H. & Harington, C. R. An Arctic mammal fauna from the Early Pliocene of North America. Nature 425, 388–390 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Wen, J. Evolution of eastern Asian and eastern North American disjunct distributions in flowering plants. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 30, 421–455 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Qian, H. & Ricklefs, R. E. Large-scale processes and the Asian bias in species diversity of temperate plants. Nature 407, 180–182 (2000)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Prothero, D. R., Guerin, D. R. & Manning, E. in The Evolution of the Perissodactyls (eds Prothero, D. R. & Schoch, R. M.) 320–340 (Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1989)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Prothero, D. R. in Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America Vol. 1 (eds Janis, C. M., Scott, K. M. & Jacobs, L. L.) 595–605 (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1998)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Hunt, R. M. Jr in Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America Vol. 1 (eds Janis, C. M., Scott, K. M. & Jacobs, L. L.) 174–195 (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1998)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Tedford, R. H. & Martin, J. Plionarctos, a tremarctine bear (Ursidae; Carnivora) from western North America. J. Vert. Paleontol. 21, 311–321 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Jacobs, B. F., Kingston, J. D. & Jacobs, L. L. The origin of grass-dominated ecosystems. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 86, 590–643 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. MacFadden, B. J. & Hulbert, R. C. J. Explosive speciation at the base of the adaptive radiation of Miocene grazing horses. Nature 336, 466–468 (1988)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Hulbert, R. C. J. A new Tapirus (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the late Miocene of Florida. Bull. Fla Mus. Nat. Hist. (in the press)

  17. Voorhies, M. R. & Thomasson, J. R. Fossil grass anthoecia within Miocene rhinoceros skeletons: diet in an extinct species. Science 206, 331–333 (1979)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. MacFadden, B. J. Tale of two rhinos: isotopic ecology, paleodiet, and niche differentiation of Aphelops and Teleoceras from the Florida Neogene. Paleobiology 24, 274–286 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Tedford, R. H., et al. in Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America (ed. Woodburne, M. O.) 169–231 (Columbia Univ. Press, New York, 2004)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Ginsburg, L., Maridet, O. & Mein, P. Un Ailurinae (Mammalia, Carnivora, Ailuridae) dans le Miocène moyen de Four (Isère, France). Geodiversitas 23, 81–85 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Kundrát, M. New dental remains of an extinct lesser panda–morphotype or new species? J. Vert. Paleontol. 17, 58A (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Boyd-Dawkins, W. On Ailurus anglicus, a new carnivore from Red Crag. Q. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 44, 228–231 (1888)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Kormos, T. H. Beitrage Zur Kenntnis der Gattung Parailurus. Mitt. Jahrb. K. Ung. Geol. Anst. 30, 1–39 (1935)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Schlosser, M. Parailurus anglicus and Ursus böckhi, aus den Ligniten von Baróth-Köpecz, Comitat Háromezèk in Ungarn. Mitt. Jahrb. K. Ung. Geol. Anst. 13, 66–95 (1899)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Morlo, M. & Kundrát, M. The first carnivoran fauna from the Ruscinium (Early Pliocene, MN 15) of Germany. Paläontol. Z. 75, 163–187 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Wang, X. New cranial material of Simocyon from China, and its implications for phylogenetic relationship to the red panda (Ailurus). J. Vert. Paleontol. 17, 184–198 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Schmidt-Kittler, N. in The Vertebrate Locality Maramena (Macedonia, Greece) at the Turolian-Ruscinian Boundary (Neogene) (ed. Schmidt-Kittler, N.) 75–86 (Münchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, Munich, 1995)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Zdansky, O. Jungtertiäre carnivoren Chinas. Palaeont. Sin. C 2, 1–149 (1924)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Stach, J. Arctomeles pliocaenicus, nowy rodzaj i gatunek z podrodziny borsukowatych (Arctomeles pliocaenicus nov. gen. & sp. from Weze). Acta Geol. Pol. 2, 129–157 (1951)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Parmalee, P. W., Klippel, W. E., Meylan, P. A. & Holman, J. A. A late Miocene–early Pliocene population of Trachemys (Testudines: Emydidae) from east Tennessee. Ann. Carnegie Mus. 71, 233–239 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

S.C.W. wishes to thank former Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist for protecting the fossil deposit and awarding significant funds for its preservation and study; the Tennessee Department of Transportation, East Tennessee State University, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, and the College of Arts and Sciences for their continuing support of this project; and Larry Bristol for discovering the Pristinailurus M1 and bringing it to my attention. X.W. wishes to acknowledge the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society for support in comparative studies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaoming Wang.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Discussion

This file includes a detailed discussion and accompanying reference list. (DOC 51 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wallace, S., Wang, X. Two new carnivores from an unusual late Tertiary forest biota in eastern North America. Nature 431, 556–559 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02819

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02819

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing