The Alkali Canyon Formation is a

geologic formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. It preserves

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

dating back to the

Tortonian The Tortonian is in the geologic time scale an age or stage of the late Miocene that spans the time between 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma and 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It follows the Serravallian and is followed by the Messinian. The Torton ...

Zanclean The Zanclean is the lowest stage or earliest age on the geologic time scale of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 5.332 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago) and 3.6 ± 0.005 Ma. It is preceded by the Messinian Age of the Miocene Epoch, and fol ...

stages (

Hemphillian The Hemphillian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 10,300,000 to 4,900,000 years BP. It is usually considered ...

) of the

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

.Alkali Canyon Formation
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.orgAlkali Canyon Formation
at

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

Fossil content

The following fossils have been recovered from the formation: * ''

Eucyon davisi ''Eucyon'' (Greek: : good, true; : dog) is an extinct genus of medium omnivorous coyote-like canid that first appeared in the Western United States during the late Middle Miocene 10 million years ago. It was the size of a jackal and weighed ar ...

'' * '' Hypolagus oregonensis'' * '' Neotamias malloryi'' * '' Oregonomys pebblespringsensis'' * '' Perognathus stevei'' * ''

Plesiogulo marshalli ''Plesiogulo'' is a genus of prehistoric carnivore that lived from Miocene to Pliocene of Africa, Eurasia and North America. An ancestral relationship to the wolverine (''Gulo gulo'') was once suggested, but it is no longer considered likely. How ...

'' * '' Pliotaxidea nevadensis'' * '' Scapanus proceridens'' * '' Spermophilus shotwelli'' * '' S. wilsoni'' * '' Castor sp.'' * '' Dipoides sp.'' * '' Mammut sp.'' * '' Megalonyx sp.'' * '' Teleoceras sp.'' * Archaeolaginae indet. * Camelidae indet. * ''Canini'' indet. * Carnivora indet. * Cricetidae indet. * Dipodomyinae indet. * Equini indet. * Hipparionini indet. * Procyonidae indet. * Sciuridae indet. * Tayassuinae indet. * Ursidae indet.

References

Bibliography

* {{cite LSA , last=Shotwell , first=J. A , year=1958 , title=Inter-community relationships in Hemphillian (mid-Pliocene) mammals , journal=

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, volume=39 , pages=271–282 Neogene geology of Oregon Miocene Series of North America Messinian Tortonian Pliocene Series of North America Zanclean Hemphillian Sandstone formations of the United States Tuff formations Paleontology in Oregon Formations Formations

Fossil content

See also

References

Bibliography