Richard J. Zakrzewski

A Fossil Grass (Gramineae: Chloridoideae) from the Miocene with Kranz Anatomy

A fossil leaf fragment collected from the Ogallala Formation of northwestern Kansas exhibits features found in taxa of the modern grass subfamily Chloridoideae. These include bullet-shaped, bicellular microhairs, dumbbell-shaped silica bodies, cross-shaped suberin cells, papillae, stomata with low dome- to triangular-shaped subsidiary cells, and Kranz leaf anatomy. The leaf fragment extends the fossil record of plants that show both anatomical and external micromorphological features indicating C4 photo-synthesis back to the Miocene. On the basis of associated mammals, the leaf fragment is assigned a Hemphillian age (7 to 5 million years ago).

BLANCAN LAGOMORPHS AND RODENTS OF THE DEER PARK ASSEMBLAGES, MEADE COUNTY, KANSAS

Abstract A new collection of lagomorphs and rodents from the Deer Park B local fauna (l.f.) of Meade County, Kansas is described and compared with other small mammal assemblages of the Meade Basin, including the underlying Deer Park A l.f. Deer Park A was correctly assigned by Hibbard to the Blancan, bridging the gap between earlier Blancan faunas such as Fox Canyon and the late Blancan Sanders l.f. Recent fieldwork indicates that the Deer Park quarries may lie in the Rexroad Formation, rather than in the Ballard Formation as previously assumed. The geology and extinct mammalian contingent at Deer Park suggest that the lower horizon of Deer Park A was an active spring that gradually turned into a marshy environment during Deer Park B time. The rodents of Deer Park B are indicative of an open prairie ecosystem that might have been somewhat more arid than that of southwestern Kansas today.

Geologic Studies in Western Kansas in the 19th Century

Geologic exploration in western Kansas in the early part of the 19th century was general, being performed as part of government surveys led by military officers such as Zebulon M. Pike, Stephen E Long, John C. Fremont, and others. These surveys began in 1806 and occurred irregularly until the late 1850s. Subsequent to the Civil War, surveys were undertaken by parties interested in a transcontinental railroad and the State of Kansas funded two surveys, the latter adding little new data regarding the western part of the state. Discoveries of fossils in the chalk, especially vertebrates, drew the attention of paleontologists such as E. D. Cope and 0. C. Marsh, who led or supported field parties in the chalk beds through much of the 1870s. Appointments of geologists to the faculty of the various colleges and to the State Board of Agriculture led to additional studies in the western part of the state. With the formation of the third State or University Geological Survey in 1889, systematic studies of the geology and natural resources of the state began. As the 19th century drew to a close, a better understanding of the geology of western Kansas began to emerge.

New Species of Blancan Woodrat (Cricetidae) from North-Central Kansas

Woodrat ( Neotoma ) specimens from the White Rock local fauna (Blancan) of Republic Co., Kansas, are presently assigned to Neotoma taylori Hibbard. However, mensural data obtained during a reanalysis of these specimens show that m1 or m3 is significantly larger than that of any previously described Blancan or Hemphillian woodrat. White Rock specimens differ from most post-Blancan taxa by a difference in occlusal morphology of at least one molar. Post-Blancan taxa that share a similar molar morphology with White Rock specimens can be distinguished from them by relative size, or the distance between the base of the folds and the base of the crown.

Late Kansan Faunas from Central Kansas

Fossil molluscs and mammals were studied from four late Kansan faunas (Cedar Bluff Canal, Holzinger, Tobin, Wilson Valley) recovered from alluvial fill deposits along the Saline and Smoky Hill river valleys in central Kansas, for which, primarily, only faunal lists had been published more than 25 years ago. A review of the original collections, plus subsequently collected materials, allows us to add 35 taxa to the faunas (9 to Cedar Bluff Canal, 11 to Holzinger, 6 to Tobin, 9 to Wilson Valley). Paleoclimatic inferences drawn from analysis of the faunas suggests that Kansas enjoyed its coolest climate during the time these faunas lived. In addition the central part of the state enjoyed more effective precipitation than at present. Data from the Trego County faunas, which are superposed, suggests a slight warming trend as Gastrocopta cristata and G. procera are present in the younger fauna (Holzinger), whereas Vertigo modesta is present in the older fauna (Cedar Bluff Canal). This relationship plus the presence of G. procera in the Wilson Valley local faunas and the unsubstantiated report of V. modesta in the Tobin local faunas suggests that although the faunas fall within the late Kansan stage they may differ in absolute age among themselves and from the Cudahy local faunas. In an attempt to extend the faunal sequence established by the late Claude W. Hibbard for southwestern Kansas, individuals and field parties from Fort Hays State University have been exploring the late Cenozoic deposits in central Kansas along and between the Smoky Hill and Saline river valleys. Fossils from this area had been collected by parties from the Kansas Geological Survey in the 1930s, but had been subjected to little detailed study. In the course of this work, additional vertebrate material has been obtained

The Duck Creek Molluscan Fauna (Illinoian) from Ellis County, Kansas

A late Pleistocene molluscan fauna containing 35 species is reported from sediments deposited by the ancestral Smoky Hill River in Ellis County, Kansas. The presence of Pisidium compressum and Sphaerium striatinum within cross-bedded sands indicates a perennial stream with some current action, while the abundance of Valvata tricarinata suggests the stream was lake-like in places. The abundance of several strictly woodland species, such as Cionella lubrica, suggests that a continuous stand of trees bordered the stream, while valley slopes were possibly covered with grasses and scattered trees. Likewise, cooler summers and winters than at present are indicated for Ellis County at the time these taxa lived by the predominance of species with a northern distribution. The climatic implications of the molluscs, faunal comparisons with other molluscan faunas, and the topographic position of the deposits suggest an Ilminoian age for the fauna. Trans. Kans. Acad. Sci., Vol. 78 (1-2), 1975.

Miocene Tapir From North-Central Kansas

was by Hibbard et al. (1978) who described three partial rami and an isolated upper right second premolar (RP2) from the Kanopolis local fauna (l.f.) of Ellsworth County. The Kanopolis is considered to be a middle Pleistocene interglacial fauna. Subsequently, Martin and Naples (1999) described a partial ramus with the roots of three cheek teeth from a sandbar on the Kansas River presumed to be late Pleistocene in age. In a preliminary study of Miocene mammals from north-central Kansas, I (Zakrzewski, 1988) mentioned the presence of a tapir in the text and included it in the faunal list of the Gretna l.f. of Phillips County. Herein, I formally describe the specimen, an isolated tooth, which is in the Vertebrate Paleontology collections of the Sternberg Museum of Natural History at Fort Hays State University (FHSM VP). This report is part of a continuing effort to provide detailed descriptions of the mammals from the Ogallala Group in this area (Bever, 2003; Bever and Zakrzewski, 2009).

Biodiversity response to climate change in the Middle Pleistocene—the Porcupine Cave fauna from Colorado

Biodiversity response to climate change in the Middle Pleistocene—the Porcupine Cave fauna from Colorado. Anthony D. Barnosky (ed.). 2004. University of California Press, Berkeley, 385 p., cloth. ISBN 0-520-24082-0. Porcupine Cave (a series of 26 interconnected rooms and pits) is located in South Park in the Colorado rockies. It is an important site for at least three reasons: 1) it has the most faunal diversity of any Irvingtonian site; 2) its location, in a region with few Pleistocene sites and between the previously defined eastern and western faunal provinces, provides better insight into the biogeography and faunal provinces of the time; and 3) the analysis and interpretation of its fauna provides data as to how biodiversity may be affected by climatic change. This multidisciplinary work represents the collaboration of a number of institutions, scientists, and volunteers in the acquisition and interpretation of the data. A great deal of additional work remains; therefore, some of the conclusions and inferences may change with further study, but this report provides much for consideration. The book is divided into three parts. Part one, entitled “Discovery and Distribution of Fossils,” consists of nine chapters dealing with the nature, origin, and history of the cave, magnetostratigraphic data, the modern environment, protocol for collecting from the different sites, and taphonomy; part two consists of 12 chapters that provide the “Systematic Accounts of Taxa;” and part three consists of five chapters that deal with the “Effect of Environmental Change on the Cave Fauna.” My brief comments on the chapters are for the most part arranged by topic rather than sequence to avoid redundancy. Part one sets the stage. In the opening chapter the editor, A.D. Barnosky, briefly discusses the potential effect on biodiversity of global warming and human activities and how data from Porcupine Cave relate to the …