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Coexistence of Indarctos and Amphimachairodus (Carnivora) in the Late Early Hemphillian of Florida, North America

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Abstract

Fossils of the ursid Indarctos from Withlacoochee River 4A of Florida (late early Hemphillian North American Land Mammal Age, Hh2, ~ 7.5–6.5 Ma) represent the best sample of this genus in North America, including both craniodental and postcranial specimens, yet only the skull has been described. In this study, we describe the other material of this bear from the same locality and review the records of Indarctos in North America. Indarctos from Withlacoochee River 4A has dental characters in accordance with those of typical Indarctos oregonensis, but has distinctly more slender postcranial bones. Indarctos from other localities of North America contains two morphs with regards to postcranial robustness, but lacks a clear geographic pattern. Indarctos from Withlacoochee River 4A shares traits with the Old World Indarctos zdanskyi and may be its descendant in the New World. The machairodont from Withlacoochee River 4A shows typical characters (e.g., presence of distinct P4 preparastyle and mandibular flange) that allow referral to Amphimachairodus rather than to Nimravides. Its morphology also shows a stronger affinity of this population to the Old World Amphimachairodus horribilis rather than to Hh3 Amphimachairodus coloradensis. Previously, most North American records of Amphimachairodus were late Hemphillian (Hh3–4, ~ 6.5–4.5 Ma), when it co-occurred with a different ursid, “Agriotherium.” The Withlacoochee River 4A specimens provide evidence that Amphimachairodus dispersed from Asia during the Hh2. The special morphology of Indarctos and the presence of Amphimachairodus in a Hh2 fauna suggest that the environment had begun to change before the significant fauna turnover between the early and late Hemphillian.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available in the text and appendix.

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Acknowledgments

We thank B. MacFadden and J. Bloch for their help in accessing the UF fossil collections. The following curators and collections staff allowed QJ to study fossil and modern carnivores in their collections: J. Meng, R. O’Leary, J. Galkin, M. Surovy, E. Hoeger, and S. Ketelsen (AMNH); X. Wang and S. McLeod (LACM); P. Holroyd (UCMP) ; R. Secord, R. M. Hunt Jr and G. Corner (UNSM); A. Millhouse, D. Lunde and J. J. Ososky (USNM); and Z. Qiu and J. Chen, W. He, S. Chen for help in accessing fossil collections of the IVPP and HMV. The current work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB26000000, XDA20070203, and XDB31030106), Key Frontier Science Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant Nos. QYZDY-SSW-DQC-22 and GJHZ1885), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41430102, 41872001, 41872005 and 41772018), Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Grant (2019QZKK0705), student grant from Paleontological Society, travel grant of UF, China Scholarship Council, and Frick Fund, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, AMNH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing, 100871, China

    Qigao Jiangzuo

  2. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Qigao Jiangzuo

  3. CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China

    Qigao Jiangzuo

  4. Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA

    Qigao Jiangzuo

  5. Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Richard C. Hulbert Jr.

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  1. Qigao Jiangzuo
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Contributions

Q.Jiangzuo and R. Hulbert wrote the main manuscript text. Q.Jiangzuo prepared the taxonomic part and R. Hulbert prepared the geological background and collection related issues. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Qigao Jiangzuo.

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Jiangzuo, Q., Hulbert, R.C. Coexistence of Indarctos and Amphimachairodus (Carnivora) in the Late Early Hemphillian of Florida, North America. J Mammal Evol 28, 707–728 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-021-09546-9

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