Slaton Quarry
Basic information
Sample name: Slaton Quarry
Sample aka: Smart Ranch
Reference: W. W. Dalquest. 1967. Mammals of the Pleistocene Slaton local fauna of Texas. Southwestern Naturalist 12(1):1-30 [ER 4079]
Geography
Country: United States
State: Texas
County: Lubbock
Coordinate: 33.51° N, -101.65° W
Coordinate basis: estimated from map
Time interval: Middle Pleistocene
Geography comments: "on the north side of Yellowhouse Canyon, approximately five miles north of Slaton" (Yellow House Canyon is easily visible to the immediate north of Slaton)
interpreted as of "rather early Illinoian age" by Dalquest and Sheridanian = late Irvingtonian or about 0.5 to 0.3 Ma by Goodwin (1995, Journal of Mammalogy)
interpreted as of "rather early Illinoian age" by Dalquest and Sheridanian = late Irvingtonian or about 0.5 to 0.3 Ma by Goodwin (1995, Journal of Mammalogy)
Environment
Lithology: claystone
Taphonomic context: lake deposit
Habitat comments: an "old lake bed" consisting of "gray clays" that "are covered with a much more sandy zone which, however, contains the typical Slaton local fauna"
I infer that the "sandy zone" is sandy clay because the screenwashed sediment is referred to as a "gray clay"
the paleoenvironment is interpreted as a shallow lake "probably less than 3 feet deep" and occasionally dried out, producing mud cracks that captured many of the fossils
I infer that the "sandy zone" is sandy clay because the screenwashed sediment is referred to as a "gray clay"
the paleoenvironment is interpreted as a shallow lake "probably less than 3 feet deep" and occasionally dried out, producing mud cracks that captured many of the fossils
Methods
Life forms: bats,carnivores,rodents,ungulates,other large mammals,other small mammals
Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash
Sample size: 362 specimens
Years: 1942, 1963, 1964
Museum: TMM
Sampling comments: the site was discovered in 1941 by Porter Montgomery, collected by Grayson Meade in 1942 and Dalquest in 1963 and 1964, and mentioned repeatedly in earlier papers
"power machinery" was used to excavate "13 tons" of clay that was "washed and sorted to obtain the microfossils present"
old collections are in the TMM and newer ones might be in the Midwestern University collection
"mollusk shells... reptiles, amphibians, birds... Fishes" are also present and undescribed reptiles include Phrynosoma, Terrapene carolina, and alligator; I assume the amphibians are frogs and the mollusks are clams
"power machinery" was used to excavate "13 tons" of clay that was "washed and sorted to obtain the microfossils present"
old collections are in the TMM and newer ones might be in the Midwestern University collection
"mollusk shells... reptiles, amphibians, birds... Fishes" are also present and undescribed reptiles include Phrynosoma, Terrapene carolina, and alligator; I assume the amphibians are frogs and the mollusks are clams
Metadata
Sample number: 4505
Contributor: John Alroy
Enterer: John Alroy
Created: 2024-11-20 09:44:35
Modified: 2024-11-20 09:44:35
Abundance distribution
29 species
6 singletons
total count 362
geometric series index: 45.1
Fisher's α: 7.422
geometric series k: 0.8559
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.8953
Shannon's H: 2.6616
Good's u: 0.9835
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
• Find matching samples
Register
| Sorex cf. vagrans | 1 | 5.3 g |
| Lasiurus sp. | 2 | |
| "near" this genus | ||
| Dasypus cf. novemcinctus | 1 | 4.4 kg invertivore |
| Cynomys vetus | 59 | |
| approximate and minimum count including "some post-cranial material" (3+) | ||
| Spermophilus cf. spilosoma = Xerospermophilus cf. spilosoma | 18 | 128 g |
| Geomys bursarius | 5 | |
| Perognathus sp. | 1 | |
| Dipodomys ordii | 19 | 48.9 g |
| Reithrodontomys cf. fulvescens | 5 | 11.5 g |
| Peromyscus cf. progressus | 1 | |
| Onychomys cf. jinglebobensis = †Onychomys cf. pedroensis | 3 | |
| Neotoma albigula | 10 | 176 g |
| †Neofiber leonardi | 23 | |
| 20 enumerated specimens and "many isolated teeth" (3+) | ||
| Canis sp. | 14 | |
| "Canis sp., near latrans" but definitely not a coyote | ||
| Canis dirus = †Aenocyon dirus | 3 | |
| "Aenocyon sp." | ||
| Taxidea taxus | 1 | 7.0 kg carnivore |
| Homotherium sp. | 9 | |
| "Dinobastis?": 6 enumerated specimens and "some fragmentary metapodials" (3+) | ||
| Elephas cf. imperator = †Mammuthus cf. columbi | 8 | |
| 5 enumerated specimens and "numerous foot bones" (3+) | ||
| Lepus californicus | 2 | 2.1 kg |
| Sylvilagus sp. | 8 | |
| Platygonus sp. | 1 | |
| Camelops sulcatus = †Camelops hesternus | 14 | |
| 11 enumerated specimens and "several metapodial fragments" (3+) | ||
| Tanupolama macrocephala = †Hemiauchenia macrocephala | 10 | |
| Odocoileus virginianus | 3 | 75 kg herbivore |
| Capromeryx minimus = †Capromeryx furcifer | 18 | |
| new (see Meade 1942): 15 enumerated specimens and "a number of isolated teeth" (3+) | ||
| †Tetrameryx shuleri | 2 | |
| Equus calobatus = †Equus semiplicatus | 2 | |
| †Equus niobrarensis | 41 | |
| †Equus conversidens | 78 | |