Pseudaelurus, GERVAIS, 1850

Maguire, Kaitlin Clare & Schmitz, Joshua X. Samuels and Mark D., 2022, The fauna and chronostratigraphy of the middle Miocene Mascall type area, John Day Basin, Oregon, USA, PaleoBios 35, pp. 1-51 : 15

PSEUDAELURUS GERVAIS, 1850

Pseudaelurus sp.

FIG. 7

Referred specimen —Right complete astragalus, JODA 15306.

Occurrence —JDNM-4*.

Description and Remarks —The size of this astragalus (length= 35.88 mm, width at trochlea facet= 20.08 mm, width at head= 19.46 mm) is the same as examined specimens of Puma concolor Linnaeus, 1771 (length= 36.60 mm, width at trochlea facet= 20.86 mm, width at head= 20.28 mm), but the neck is longer and the head is oriented more perpendicular to the trochlea facet. Shotwell (1968) found an upper canine, lower m1, and a fragment of a P4 (UOMNCH 23469) of a similarly large felid from Red Basin locality 2495. The m1 measures 16.1 mm, close in size to a specimen of Puma concolor , which measured 15.6 mm ( Rothwell 2003). Three species of Pseudaelurus exhibit similar m1 lengths, and their ranges overlap the aforementioned specimens ( P. validus Rothwell, 2001 , P. intrepidus Leidy, 1858 , P. marshi Thorpe, 1922 ) ( Rothwell 2003); therefore, we cannot identify this specimen to species. JODA 15306 was collected by the Weatherfords and has preservation typical of Mascall Formation specimens, but the exact provenance is unknown and it is impossible to say whether or not the specimen was actually recovered from the Mascall or Rattlesnake. McLaughlin et al. (2016) identified a right mandibular ramus with broken c, p3, p4 and m1 (JODA 14977) as the late Hemingfordian P. skinneri Rothwell, 2003 from Hawk Rim. The last occurrence of Pseudaelurus in North America is during the late Barstovian ( Rothwell 2003), which would be consistent with the occurrence in the Mascall.

Referred specimens —From JDNM-262: partial skull including the cranial cavity, zygomatic arches, and complete palate with left and right M1, UOMNCH 10869. From V4824: right P4, UCMP 39102. From V4825: dentary fragment with right m1 and the two roots of p4, JODA 3335. From JDNM-71: left second phalanx, JODA 7500.

Occurrence —CIT 113, JDNM-262, UCMP V4824, UCMP V4825, JDNM-71.

Remarks —This species is well documented from the Mascall in Stock (1930) and Downs (1956). UOMNCH 10869, recovered from the Mascall Tuff during road excavation, has recently been described by Calede et al. (2012). JODA 7500 extends the known range of the species to the lower Mascall unit. CIT 206 dimensions of the individual teeth are P4: ap= 6.03 mm, t= 4.81 mm; ap= 6.3 mm, t= 5.18 mm; M1: ap= 7.12 mm, t= 6.2 mm; ap= 6.9 mm, t= 6.51 mm; I: ap= 2.38 mm, t= 1.8 mm. The locality for the type specimen (CIT 113) is described by Stock (1930) as “Mascall deposits north of the east fork of the John Day River, approximately, 1.5 miles northwest of Dayville, Oregon.

Figures

Figure 7. Pseudaelurus sp. Right astragalus in dorsal view, JODA 15306. Scale bar=1cm.