Chapter XVII: On the Theory of the Pleistocene Terraces of the Coastal Plain (2)

This is the specimen which DeKay, in 1842 (Zool. of N. Y., pt. I, p. 56, plate XIX, fig. 1), made the type of his _Trichechus virginianus_. Newberry, in 1873 (Proc. Lyc. Nat. Hist. New York, p. 71), identified the specimen as belonging to the existing Atlantic species. Cope (Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. XIV, 1874, p. 17) does not mention the presence of tusks. He supposed that there was, at that part of the coast, glacial drift, out of which the skull had been washed. There are, however, no such deposits in that region. This specimen was placed in the collection of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, but according to Rhoads, was afterward destroyed in a fire.

On examination of G. B. Shattuck’s work on the Pleistocene of Maryland (Maryland Geol. Surv., Pliocene and Pleistocene volume, p. 95, plate I), it seems that the coast of Virginia in Accomac County is occupied by the Talbot formation. This, according to his theory, corresponds, at least the part nearest the coast, with the Cape May formation of New Jersey. Hence we might conclude that the walrus skull in question had become buried, probably during the Wisconsin glacial stage. The present writer regards the principal part of the Talbot terrace as being much older.

Messrs. W. B. Clark and B. L. Miller (Virginia Geol. Surv. Bull., No. IV, p. 187) recognize the presence of the Talbot formation in Accomac County, where it seems to reach a thickness of 100 feet; but the authors add that part of this may belong to earlier Pleistocene formations.

NORTH CAROLINA.

16. _Kitty Hawk, Currituck County._—In the Marsh collection of fossils belonging to Yale University is a part of a skull found somewhere near Kitty Hawk. No particulars regarding the exact place of discovery accompany the specimen. It has already been described on page 27; and, while there are some differences between it and the recent skulls used for comparison, it is not believed that a distinct species is indicated.

According to L. W. Stephenson’s map of the Coastal Plain of North Carolina (North Carolina Geol. and Econom. Surv., vol. III, plate XIII), the coast at Kitty Hawk and for about 50 miles back of this is occupied by the Pamlico formation. This corresponds to the upper part of the Talbot of Maryland, and it, or part of it, may have been deposited at the close of the Pleistocene. So far as the present writer knows, there is nothing to show the character of the climate then prevailing. As this Pamlico nowhere rises more than 25 feet above sea-level, and as the thickness is usually only from 15 to 20 feet, it is possible that the walrus skull found at Kitty Hawk had been unearthed by the waves from the Chowan formation or some still earlier deposit.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

17. _Charleston._—In 1876 Leidy announced (Proc. Phila. Acad., 1876, p. 80) that a complete tusk of a walrus had been found in the Ashley River, near Charleston. This tusk Leidy described and figured in 1877 (Jour. Phila. Acad., vol. VIII, fig. 6). It had evidently been dredged from the river in collecting phosphate rock, as have been most of the fossils of that region. The tusk was 13 inches long. Near the base it measured 3.62 inches and transversely 1.75 inches. Leidy especially noticed the shortness of the tusk as compared with the diameter, but concluded that the tusk might, during the life of the individual, have been broken off and worn obliquely at the end.

In the collection of the Charleston Museum are some fragments of tusks of a species of walrus, probably _O. rosmarus_. One of these, No. 1028, furnishes 184 mm. of the distal end. The width at the fracture is 60 mm., the thickness 29 mm. The distal end is worn off somewhat obliquely, but not so much as in the tusk figured by Leidy; also, the tusk appears to have been less curved than the one which he described. The original length can not be determined.

Another fragment, No. 1029, was given to the Charleston Museum by Major E. Willis and was no doubt found in the region about Charleston. This gentleman has sent a fossil horse-tooth and a part of a sirenian to the U. S. National Museum from Wando River. The fragment is short, but belonged to a large tusk, its long diameter being 81 mm., the shorter one 51 mm. It was therefore a larger tusk and one whose thickness was relatively greater than that of the imperfect specimen found at Long Branch and figured by Leidy.

Mr. Earle Sloan’s collection at the Charleston Museum has two other fragments of tusks. One, No. 13497, is 113 mm. long, 60 mm. wide, and 25 mm. thick; the other, No. 13296, is 140 mm. long, 60 mm. wide, and 31 mm. thick.

Considering that all of the remains of the walrus found about Charleston have been picked out of great quantities of phosphate rock collected for commercial purposes, and that no records of the exact locality where obtained have been kept, it is impossible to determine their exact geological age. It is to be supposed that this animal inhabited the region about Charleston at the time it frequented the coasts of North Carolina and New Jersey. This appears to have been during the Wisconsin stage; but it is possible that the walrus extended its range far southward during more than one of the glacial stages. All of the specimens appear to be thoroughly fossilized.

FINDS OF XENARTHRA IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.

NEW JERSEY.

(Map 3.)

1. _Long Branch, Monmouth County._—In the American Museum of Natural History, New York, there is a large heel-bone which was found at the place named and identified as having belonged to a species of _Megatherium_, most probably to _M. mirabile_. It was presented by Dr. A. R. Ledoux, of New York, who wrote that he found it about 40 years ago while bathing at Long Branch. With this bone were found a skull of a walrus and a tooth of a mastodon. The heel-bone is somewhat more than 15 inches long. It was incrusted with barnacles and small oyster shells.

While one can not at present be certain that this animal did not live up to a late stage of the Pleistocene, it is improbable that it did so. It is also quite improbable that the megatherium and walrus lived at Long Branch at the same time. It is more likely that the megatherium had its existence there at the time when horses lived in the same region and when the Port Kennedy fauna existed; that is, at some time during the early Pleistocene about the Aftonian stage.

PENNSYLVANIA.

(Map 3.)

1. _Port Kennedy, Montgomery County._—From the noted bone cave at Port Kennedy a number of species of _Megalonyx_ have been described. The presence of this genus was first announced by Wheatley (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 3, vol. I, p. 384). Cope, in 1899 (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., vol. XI, pp. 211–219), admitted the occurrence of 4 species, _Megalonyx wheatleyi_, _M. loxodon_, _M. tortulus_, and _M. scalper_. It must be left to future investigations to determine the status of these species. _M. jeffersonii_ was not recognized by Cope in the materials found in the cave. Of _M. loxodon_, only a single upper canine molar was found. Of _M. wheatleyi_, numerous specimens were secured, including considerable parts of crushed and decayed skulls. _M. tortulus_ was represented by a considerable number of teeth; _M. scalper_ by only a single “canine-molar.” On page 312 will be found a list of the species of vertebrates associated with these sloths. Of _Mylodon_, Wheatley (op. cit., p. 384) had a single ungual phalanx which Cope (op. cit., p. 210) thought belonged probably to _M. harlani_.

2. _Frankstown, Blair County._—Remains of an undetermined species of _Megalonyx_ have been reported from a bone cave at this place by Dr. W. J. Holland (Ann. Carnegie Mus., vol. IV, 1908, p. 231). The associated species are listed on pages 321–322.

OHIO.

(Map 3.)

1. _North Fairfield, Huron County._—In the Norwalk, Huron County, Museum there are various bones of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_ which were obtained about 7 miles from North Fairfield. The writer learned of the discovery of this skeleton from Mr. Roe Niver, a student of the University of Illinois. Unfortunately Mr. Niver died before the writer could obtain all the desired information. A part of the skeleton was in his possession and is probably in the possession of his family, but the writer has been unable to secure any information from them. The bones were found at a depth of a few feet in a hackberry swamp and were considerably scattered. In the search for these the bones which form the type of _Bison sylvestris_ Hay were found. The locality is within the area of the Wisconsin drift-sheet and evidently the animal lived there after the ice had retired from the region.

2. _Millersburg, Holmes County._—In the University of Ohio there is a mounted specimen of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_ containing a considerable part of the skeleton; the missing portions are replaced artificially. The remains were found in the eastern part of Holmes County just north of the terminal moraine of the Wisconsin drift-sheet. This moraine had led to the formation of a marsh, and in this the animal ended his life. The place was said by Orton to be 6 miles east and a mile north of Millersburg. The skeleton lay on shell marl beneath 6 feet of peat. The remains have been described by Claypole (Amer. Geologist, vol. VII, 1891, pp. 122–132, 149–153) and by Hay (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XXXVI, 1913, p. 558; Geol. Surv. Iowa, vol. XXIII, 1914, p. 110).

INDIANA.

(Map 3.)

The only member of the order of Xenarthra that has yet been found in this State is _Megalonyx jeffersonii_, and this in only one place, viz, Evansville.

1. _Evansville, Vanderburg County._—In 1854 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. VII, pp. 199–200), Leidy described a collection of vertebrate fossils secured by Mr. Francis A. Lincke from the banks of the Ohio River, near the mouth of Pigeon Creek, a short distance below Evansville. At that time and locality bones were usually found sticking out of the bank when the water in the river was low. The bones sent to Leidy were thoroughly impregnated with oxide of iron, which served as a cement to adhering pebbles, sand, and fragments of Unios and shells of other fresh-water mollusks. The remains of the megalonyx consisted of parts of two tibiæ of young individuals, an atlas, a fragment of a heel-bone, a metacarpal and a metatarsal bone, and a claw phalanx. With these were discovered a fragment of a cervical vertebra of a species of bison, various bones of the Virginia deer, a vertebra of a horse, probably _Equus complicatus_, a tooth of the tapir _Tapirus haysii_, and a part of the upper jaw of the wolf now known as _Ænocyon dirus_, but at that time called by Leidy _Canis primævus_.

The principal interest in these remains is to determine at what time during the Pleistocene the megalonyx lived. Some indications may be obtained from a study of its companions. From a part of a cervical vertebra Leidy could not name the bison, but it belonged probably to one of the extinct species. The deer is yet living, but appears to have existed through most of the Pleistocene. The species of horse represented is extinct, and there is no evidence that it lived after the Wisconsin glacial stage. Its latest representatives probably lived during the Sangamon stage. No tapir is known to have lived after the Wisconsin stage. The wolf, _Ænocyon dirus_, is believed to be represented in the numerous individuals found in the asphalt beds of Los Angeles, California, probably equivalent in age to the Aftonian.

Mr. Arthur C. Veatch (Jour. Geology, vol. VI, pp. 257–272) has given an account of changes which have occurred along the Ohio River in Spencer County, Indiana, about 25 miles above Evansville, since late Pliocene times. According to his investigations, the valley of the river was deeply excavated into the Carboniferous rocks during the Ozarkian uplift. Since that time, during the Pleistocene epoch, that great valley has been, to a large extent, filled up by alluvial deposits. While the greater part of these deposits were laid down during glacial stages, it is not improbable that some were made during the Aftonian stage and that a part of these yet exist along the borders of the river. It is still more probable that Sangamon beds yet exist there and that the bones Leidy described were found here.

Many bones of the megalonyx were described by Leidy (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. VII, article V) from a locality 5 or 6 miles below Henderson, Kentucky, not much more than 10 miles in a straight line from the mouth of Pigeon Creek. The bone-bed was said by Dr. D. D. Owen (op. cit., p. 7) to be about 5 feet above ordinary low-water. In the same bed Owen found abundant remains of the deer. He seemed to regard this bone-bed as a continuation of that existing at Pigeon Creek.

_Megalonyx_ has been found at Bigbone Lick, between Cincinnati and Louisville, associated with _Equus complicatus_, two species of extinct bisons, and the Virginia deer, in deposits overlying Illinoian drift and hence belonging, in part at least, to the Sangamon. These deposits are, however, at a higher level, being now submerged only at times of very high-water in the Ohio River. If these and the Pigeon Creek beds are of the same age, we may suppose that the animals entombed at the latter place were buried low down in the deep valley along the river banks, while those at Bigbone became covered up around salt springs at a higher level.

ILLINOIS.

(Map 3.)

1. _Urbana, Champaign County._—In the fall of 1909 a claw phalange of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_ was found near Urbana by Mr. Lindley, of Urbana. An excavation was being made at the eastern end of Crystal Lake, and the tooth, as reported to the writer by Professor C. C. Adams, was discovered in a blue clay. The writer has seen the tooth. The extreme length in a straight line had been close to 145 mm. The greatest thickness was 42 mm. This has been figured by the writer (Iowa. Geol. Surv., vol XXIII, plate III, figs. 5, 6, text-figs. 28–29).

Inasmuch as all this region is covered by Wisconsin drift and this tooth was found in a deposit lying on the top of this drift, there can be no reason for denying that this species lived after, probably long after, the withdrawal of the Wisconsin ice. Two occurrences of the same species in Ohio confirm the conclusion.

2. _Alton, Madison County._—The U. S. National Museum contains a fragment of a molar of apparently _Megalonyx jeffersonii_, from a collection made long ago by William McAdams, at Alton, Illinois. It has on it McAdams’s number 21. This collection, which was long in the hands of Professor O. C. Marsh, as vertebrate palæontologist of the U. S. Geological Survey, is said to have been made in the loess at Alton. Most of the teeth, with occasional bones, are inclosed in nodules of extremely fine sand and carbonate of calcium so hard that the teeth can not be removed without injury. They have been, however, partly exposed by weathering. The nodules which contained the fossils were found between the loess and the underlying Illinoian drift.

The fragment of a megalonyx tooth has the diameters respectively 16 mm. and 24 mm. It is thinner fore-and-aft than other specimens, but this may be an individual variation.

It is believed that this loess belongs to the Sangamon interglacial stage. The geology of the locality and the species found there are discussed on page 339. Also, the fossils were described by the writer in 1920 (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LVIII, pp. 109–117). The presence of this sloth-like beast appears to indicate that the climate was at that time mild.

3. _Galena, Jo Daviess County._—In 1870 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1870, p. 13), Dr. Leidy brought to the notice of the Academy the fossil remains of two species of much interest. These had been presented to the Academy by Henry Green, of Elizabeth, Jo Daviess County, and were reported as having been found in a narrow crevice of the lead-bearing rocks in the vicinity of Galena, at a depth of 130 feet. One fossil was a metacarpal bone of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_, the other was identified as a last lower molar of _Bison antiquus_. Leidy mentioned three other species, _Platygonus compressus_, _Procyon priscus_, and _Anomodon snyderi_ as having been found about Galena in similar situations. The geological age of the Vertebrata found in the lead crevices about Galena has not been well determined, but the present writer has regarded them as being probably of late Wisconsin time. The _Bison_ tooth may have been that of the yet existing species. However, the possibility is that these fossils are pre-Wisconsin.

VIRGINIA.

(Map 3.)

1. _Saltville, Smyth County._—Mr. O. A. Peterson, in 1917 (Ann. Carnegie Mus., vol. XI, p. 472, figs. 4, 5), reported the discovery of the symphyseal portion of the lower jaw of _Megalonyx_ at Saltville. It was referred with some doubt to _M. dissimilis_ Leidy. Further mention of the specimen will be made on page 352.

2. _Ivanhoe, Wythe County._—On a page devoted to the consideration of a considerable number of species found by Cope near Ivanhoe, in Wythe County, mention will be made of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_. Only fragments of teeth were secured by Cope.

WEST VIRGINIA.

(Map 3.)

1. _Green Brier County._—In a cave situated somewhere in this county were found the bones described in 1799 by President Thomas Jefferson (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. IV, pp. 246–260) under the name _Megalonyx_. Colonel John Stewart became interested and saved some of the bones from being carried away by curious inhabitants of the region.

The bones, a distal end of a femur, a complete radius, a complete ulna, three claws, and some other foot-bones were secured and presented to the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, from which they passed into the possession of the Academy of Natural Sciences, where they are still preserved. Some of these were described by Dr. Caspar Wistar (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. IV, 1899, p. 526, plates I, II).

Inasmuch as this species may have existed during a large part of the Pleistocene and certainly after the passing of the Wisconsin epoch, and inasmuch as no other species were found associated with the megalonyx bones, it is impossible to say to what part of the Pleistocene that particular animal is to be assigned.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

(Map 3.)

1. _Beaufort, Beaufort County._—In the Charleston Museum the writer has seen a left lower canine tooth of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_. The fore-and-aft diameter is 34 mm., the transverse 18 mm. It is recorded as found in dredging in Coosaw River. Tuomey (Rep. Geol. South Carolina, 1848, p. 203) found fragments of bones, probably belonging to _Megatherium_, on Eddings Island, about 10 miles south of Beaufort.

2. _Charleston, Charleston County._—In 1855, Doctor Leidy (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. VII, p. 55) stated that Professor F. S. Holmes, of Charleston, had loaned him fragments of two very small teeth of _Megatherium_ found on the shores of Ashley River. These were figured by Leidy in 1860 (Holmes, Post-Pl. Foss. South Carolina, p. 111, plate XX, figs. 8, 8_a_). In a collection belonging to Rev. Robert Wilson, in Charleston, the writer has seen a tooth of _Megatherium_ found by the Charleston Mining Company in Ashley River. G. E. Manigault (Proc. Elliott Soc. Nat. Hist., 1886, p. 91) reported the finding of a claw phalanx of _Megalonyx_ at Cainhoy, 12 miles from Charleston, on Wando River.

In the Charleston Museum is a part of the right side of the upper jaw of _Megatherium_, with the second and third teeth and parts of the sockets of the first and fourth. It is recorded as having been found in the Bolton phosphate mine on or in Stono River. There is in the same museum a fragment of the left side of the lower jaw of the same animal. This jaw contains the second and third molars and parts of the socket of the first and fourth. It is recorded as having been found in the Kiawah phosphate mine, Cooper River.

The Charleston Museum contains considerable parts of the skeleton of a megatherium of which no record has been preserved. In Holmes’s “Post-Pleiocene Fossils of South Carolina,” page 111, plate XX, figures 7 to 7_b_, Leidy mentioned briefly and figured two small fragments of lower teeth of _Mylodon harlani_, which had been obtained from the Pleistocene beds of Ashley River. The tooth figured was originally described as _Eubradys antiquus_. Figures of it are found also in the seventh volume of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, plate XVI, figures 21_a_ to 21_c_.

The Pleistocene geology of South Carolina is discussed on pp. 361 to 368.

GEORGIA.

(Map 3.)

1. _Brunswick, Glynn County._—In 1842 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. I, p. 189), Richard Harlan gave to the Academy of Natural Sciences a number of bones which had been collected in the Brunswick Canal by Mr. J. H. Couper and sent to the Academy. Among these was a number of bones of _Megatherium_. A part of a lower jaw contained 4 teeth. A list of the bones is presented by Couper on page 44 of William B. Hodgson’s memoir on _Megatherium_ published in 1846. There were, besides the part of a mandible, parts of 2 maxillæ without teeth, parts of 6 or 7 femora, a part of an ilium, several dorsal vertebræ, and several teeth. Lyell (Second Visit, ed. 2, 1850, vol. I, p. 347) stated that a part of a skeleton of a _Megatherium_, dug out in cutting the canal, was so near the surface that it was penetrated by the roots of a pine tree. Most of this material was sent to the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia (Leidy, Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. VII, art. 5, p. 54).

The accompanying fossils will be named on page 370.

2. _Skidaway Island, near Savannah, Chatham County._—The earliest announcement of the discovery of _Megatherium_ in North America was made by Dr. Samuel L. Mitchill in 1824 (Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. I, pp. 58–61, plate VI). The announcement was based on a number of teeth which had been sent to him from Skidaway Island. In the same volume, on pages 114 to 124, plate VIII, William Cooper described teeth and bones which had been sent to him from the same locality by Joseph E. Habersham. Cooper had some reason to conclude that all the bones and teeth found up to that time had come from the same individual. In 1828 (Annals cited, vol. II, pp. 267–270) Cooper described additional materials which he had received from Skidaway Island.

In 1846 (Hodgson’s Mem. Megath., p. 25), Habersham gave a list of the fossil bones and teeth found at the island mentioned. Lyell (op. cit., p. 313) gave a brief account of a visit to Skidaway Island and stated that _Megatherium_, _Mylodon_, _Mastodon_, _Elephas primigenius_, and a species of the ox tribe had been found there. In 1855 (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. VII, art. 5, p. 50) Leidy enumerated the specimens of _Megatherium_ which had been found at Skidaway Island, and he gave an excellent figure (plate xv) of a ramus of the lower jaw containing all its teeth, which had been sent to the National Institute at Washington. These bones ought to be now in the National Museum, but the writer has not been able to find them. They may never have been transferred and may be lost. On the other hand, Leidy did not mention other specimens from Skidaway Island, given by Scriven, and now in the National Museum. One of these is the hinder part of a skull figured in Hodgson’s memoir. Also, the same plate contains what is almost certainly the astragalus; its greatest diameter is 9 inches. Furthermore, there is present the distal end of a right humerus presented by Doctor Scriven. It is probably one of the two mentioned on page 27 of Hodgson’s memoir. As in the one there measured, the distance across the condyles is 14 inches and that across the articular surfaces is 7.75 inches. The Scriven collection also contains several teeth and fragments of others. A piece of the maxilla bears the small hindermost upper molar, no doubt the fragment mentioned by Habersham in his memorandum, page 26. Many of the bones sent from the island show by the presence of barnacles and bryozoa that at one time they lay in salt water; but this was probably not long before they were discovered.

Lyell stated that among other animals which had been found at Skidaway Island was _Mylodon_. _Mylodon_ was reported by Lyell (“Travels in North America,” vol. I, p. 164) as having been found at Heyner’s Bridge. This is or was situated about 7 miles south of Savannah and about 5 miles northwest from the locality on Skidaway Island where the _Megatherium_ and _Mylodon_ remains were found. The map accompanying Hodgson’s memoir is here reproduced as map 40.

FLORIDA.

(Maps 3, 4.)

1. _Archer, Alachua County._—Leidy mentioned (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1886, pp. 11, 12) the fact that an astragalus of _Megatherium_ had been found at Archer. Several other species of vertebrates have been found there, among them _Teleoceras fossiger_, _Gomphotherium floridanum_, _Hipparion plicatile_, three species of _Procamelus_, and a species of _Tapirus_. The deposits are assigned to the Pliocene, but it is doubtful whether the megatherium and the tapir belonged among the others. The geology of the locality is discussed on page 375. The megatherium, as an undetermined species, is included in the list of fossils which is recorded by Leidy in Bulletin 84 of the United States Geological Survey, page 129. It may be referred provisionally to Leidy’s _Megatherium mirabile_.

2. _Almero Farm, St. John County._—In the collection of Mr. Fred Allen, at St. Augustine, the writer has seen a right tibia of a mylodon found in the Inland Waterway Canal about 28 miles south of St. Augustine. The bone is complete, except that a sliver has been split off the upper half of the outer border. The total length of the bone is 290 mm.; the greatest width of the upper end 208 mm.; width at middle of length 105 mm.; width of surface for astragalus 130 mm. This appears to be a relatively stouter bone than the larger one described by Harlan (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XLIV, 1842, p. 77). It is also larger and relatively stouter than a tibia found at Labelle, Lee County, described on page 40. It is referred to _Mylodon harlani_.

11. _Williston, Levy County._—In the U. S. National Museum there are some foot-bones of a large ground-sloth, which are labeled as having been collected in 1887 by the U. S. Geological Survey, in the county named. The collector was probably J. B. Hatcher. The astragalus had evidently been studied by Leidy. This bone was described by the writer in 1919 (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LVI, p. 104, plate XXVII) as _Thinobadistes segnis_. Later, other parts of the foot were found in the museum and described (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LIX, p. 638, plate CXIX, figs. 6–11).

3. _Ocala, Marion County._—In 1888, in a fissure in a limestone quarry, probably Phillip’s quarry, near Ocala, Mr. Joseph Willcox discovered some vertebrate remains which were later described by Leidy (Trans. Wagner Free Inst., vol. II, pp. 13–17, plate III, figs. 1, 5, 6 to 9). The species as determined by Leidy were _Elephas columbi_, _Equus fraternus_, _Auchenia minima_, and _Machairodus floridanus_. They were regarded as belonging to the Quaternary, but in Dall’s paper of 1892 (Bull. 84, U. S. Geol. Surv., p. 129) they are referred to the age of the Alachua clays; that is, to the Pliocene. Sellards, in 1916 (8th Ann. Rep. Florida Geol. Surv., p. 103), regards the fossils as belonging to the Pleistocene, and he adds representatives of 4 genera to the list. These are undetermined species of _Bison_, _Odocoileus_, _Dasypus_, and _Sylvilagus_. The genus _Dasypus_ is the one to which attention is especially called at this time. A list of the vertebrate animals found at this place is presented on page 378.

4. _Dunnellon, Marion County._—In Sellards’s report just referred to, he prints a list of the Pleistocene vertebrates found in Withlacoochee River. Among these is the xenarthrid animal _Chlamytherium septentrionale_. What parts were secured and exactly at what place the writer does not know.

In the collection of the Florida Geological Survey is a foot-bone, No. 1307, which appears to be the second right metacarpal of _Megalonyx_. It is smaller than the one figured by Leidy. The extreme length is 60 mm., the greatest diameter of the proximal end 27 mm., that of the distal end 36 mm. It was found in the mine of the Dunnellon Phosphate Company. For a list of the associated species the reader is referred to page 376.

5. _Hillsboro River, Hillsboro County._—In 1915 (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XL, p. 139), Sellards stated that the Jarman collection at Vanderbilt University, at Nashville, contains several dermal plates of _Chlamytherium septentrionale_, found in Hillsboro River.

6. _Sarasota Bay, Sarasota County._—In 1915, Sellards (op. cit., p. 143) reported that the collection of Wagner Free Institute at Philadelphia contains one dermal plate of _Chlamytherium septentrionale_ found by Joseph Willcox at White Beach, on Sarasota Bay.

The American Museum of Natural History, New York, possesses a dermal plate of a xenarthrid, collected by Barnum Brown 8 miles southeast of Sarasota. This probably belonged to the animal mentioned above.

7. _Zolfo, Hardee County._—Dr. W. D. Matthew has informed the writer that there are in the American Museum of Natural History some bones of a very large individual of _Megatherium_, reported as having been found near Zolfo. An astragalus, the proximal part of a humerus, the distal part of a radius, and the proximal part of a femur were mentioned. These bones may be referred provisionally to _Megatherium mirabile_ Leidy.

8. _Vero, St. Lucie County._—At this place there have been found remains representing 4 genera of xenarthrids, as follows: _Megalonyx_, _Mylodon_, _Chlamytherium_, and _Dasypus_.

_Megalonyx jeffersonii_ is represented by a part of a lower jaw, a right upper canine tooth, a molar tooth, a part of a hyoid bone, an axis, an astragalus, a median phalanx, and a claw (Sellards, 8th Ann. Rep. Florida Geol. Surv., p. 148, plate XXV, fig. 2; plate XXX, fig. 6). These were all found in the stratum denominated No. 2 in the report just cited.

_Mylodon harlani?_ is known from a single claw, but from which stratum it was derived is not known.

_Chlamytherium_ is represented by a part of the right side of the lower jaw, a part of the left side, a foot-bone, and numerous dermal plates (Sellards, op. cit., p. 148, plate XXVIII, figs. 4 to 6; plate XXX, fig. 7). Most of these remains have been taken from stratum No. 2, but some finely preserved dermal plates have been collected from No. 3.

_Dasypus_ remains, consisting of dermal scutes, have been found in both No. 2 and No. 3.

In the collection of the Florida Geological Survey (No. 1795) is a bone, apparently the right parietal of an undetermined xenarthrid. It was found in the canal of the Indian River Farms Company, east of the railway and near Indian River. The length of the bone at the midline is 70 mm. and here the thickness is 22 mm. There appears to have been no median crest and only a feebly indicated occipital crest. There is no rough surface for the temporal muscles, as in _Nothrotherium_, and the bone is thicker than in that genus.

For complete lists of the fossil vertebrates found at Vero, see page 382.

9. _Arcadia, De Soto County._—The _Xenarthra_ are represented in the Pleistocene deposits about Arcadia by the genera _Megalonyx_, _Glyptodon_, and _Chlamytherium_. If these were not found at Arcadia they were collected along Peace Creek, not far from the town. A list of the species found in the vicinity of Arcadia is given on page 380.

Leidy (Trans. Wagner Free Inst., vol. II, p. 27) stated that a first phalanx of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_ was among the fossils collected along Peace Creek. It was probably found on the sand-bar at Arcadia. Among the fossil vertebrates described by Leidy, the paper just cited included some dermal plates which he referred to the genus _Glyptodon_. Two of these plates were figured (op. cit., plate IV, fig. 9; plate VI, fig. 1) as those of _G. petaliferus_, a species based on half of a dermal scute described by Cope from southwestern Texas. The dermal scute shown on Leidy’s plate IV appears to be indistinguishable from similar plates which have been referred by the present writer to Cope’s _G. petaliferus_ (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LI, 1916, p. 107, plates III to V). The scute represented by Leidy on his plate VI appears to be far less extensively pitted than any of those of the specimen just referred to. On Leidy’s plate V are two views of a scute which he thought might have belonged on the tail of a glyptodon. It will be observed that this scute has a beak distinctly set off from the body of the scute. Among the few caudal scutes of the specimen which the writer described none presents such a beak, but such may have existed. It seems probable, however, that there was a single species of _Glyptodon_ found on Peace Creek and that it was different from _G. petaliferus_. Leidy thought that these caudal scutes resembled those on the tail of the South American _G. asper_; but Burmeister’s figures do not indicate exactly such keeled scutes. It is most probable that the Florida species requires a new name. It is to be called _Glyptodon rivipacis_ Hay.

Leidy referred another dermal scute to some glyptodont animal (op. cit., plate VI, figs. 2, 3), but its nature is doubtful; it may even belong to one of the large species of _Testudo_. A conical bone (plate III, figs. 10, 11) belonged pretty certainly to _Testudo_.

In the paper cited Leidy described and figured (p. 24, plate III, figs. 3 to 6) plates of an armadillo-like animal to which he gave the name _Glyptodon septentrionalis_. It is now known as _Chlamytherium septentrionale_. Leidy had over 30 of these dermal scutes which had been found at Arcadia. They are now in the Wagner Free Institute at Philadelphia.

Sellards (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XL, 1915, p. 143) states that there are 3 dermal plates of this animal in the U. S. National Museum. In 1915 (Florida Geol. Surv., vol. VII, pp. 77, 78, plate on p. 114) he described a lower jaw, a tooth, and 2 dermal plates of the same animal.

10. _Labelle, Lee County._—In the Florida Geological Survey is a right tibia of a mylodon, found on the bank of Caloosahatchee River, near Labelle, presented by Capt. F. H. Hendry. The total length is 266 mm.; on the inner border 236 mm. The width across the articulatory surface for the femur is 164 mm. The width at the middle of the length is 84 mm.; fore-and-aft diameter at the same place 38 mm. The side-to-side diameter of the surface for the astragalus is 57 mm. The bone is referred to _Mylodon harlani_.

11. See page 37.

ALABAMA.

(Map 3.)

1. _Tuscumbia, Colbert County._—In his work on the “Extinct Sloth Tribe” in North America (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. VII, art. V, p. 6, plate XVI, fig. 13), Leidy, in recording the materials belonging to _Megalonyx jeffersonii_ at his disposal, mentioned a supposed third upper molar, said to have come “from Tuscumbia County, Alabama.” This was an error, as the name of the town is Tuscumbia. The tooth had been loaned to him by Dr. Jeffries Wyman. Nothing more is known about its history. Mercer (Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. XXXVI, p. 38) stated that a well-preserved series of bones of _Megalonyx_ had been sent to the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia by Mr. Tuomey. They had been obtained in a cave somewhere in northern Alabama. Leidy does not mention this collection in his work just cited.

MISSISSIPPI.

(Map 3.)

1. _Natchez, Adams County._—Dr. M. W. Dickeson (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1846, p. 106) exhibited before the Academy a large series of fossil bones secured by him near Natchez. Among these were noted especially what was described as an entire head with part of the lower jaw, and many parts of the skeleton of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_. This skull is still in the collection of the Academy. The lower jaw is missing. It appears that several skeletons were represented in Dickeson’s collection. These, as Dickeson stated, had been found in a tenacious blue clay which underlies what he called diluvial drift, but now regarded as being at least principally loess. Associated with this animal were remains of _Ursus_, _Bos_ (_Bison_), _Cervus_ (_Odocoileus_), _Equus_, and some other but undetermined genera.

In his “Second Visit to the United States of North America,” edition 2, 1850, volume II, p. 196, Lyell mentions the _Megalonyx_ among other fossils found at Natchez. He states that the fossils found by Doctor Dickeson were obtained in the “Mammoth Ravine” 6 miles from Natchez.

In Southall’s “Recent Origin of Man,” 1875, page 552, is a statement made by Professor C. G. Forshey (as quoted from Foster’s “Prehistoric Races of the United States,” p. 61) in which he says that he visited the locality where the human pelvis was found and that it was situated in Bernard’s Bayou, 2.5 miles from Natchez.

In his memoir of 1853 on “Extinct Species of American Ox” (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. V, art. III, p. 10), Doctor Leidy included _Mylodon_ among the genera found at Natchez. In his memoir of 1855 on the “Extinct Sloth Tribe of North America” (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. VII, art. V, p. 48) he gave a list of the bones and brief descriptions of them. They all belonged to one individual, which was about half-grown.

In a list furnished to B. C. L. Wailles by Doctor Leidy (Wailles, Agric. Geol., Mississippi, 1854, p. 286), 4 species of _Xenarthra_ are included among the mammals found fossil in the Pleistocene of Mississippi. These are _Megalonyx jeffersonii_, _M. dissimilis_, _Mylodon harlani_, and _Ereptodon priscus_. Cope regarded _M. dissimilis_ as the same as _M. jeffersonii_, and Leidy was disposed to consider his _Ereptodon priscus_ as identical with one of the species of _Megalonyx_.

A list of the fossil vertebrates found in the vicinity of Natchez will be given on page 392.

TENNESSEE.

(Map 3.)

1. _Elroy, Van Buren County._—In 1831 (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., ser. I, vol. VI, pp. 269–286, plates XII to XIV; 1835, Med. Phys. Res., pp. 319–331, plates XII to XV), Richard Harlan described a number of bones of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_ which had been purchased for the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and which he reported had been found in “White Cave,” Kentucky. This was supposed to be situated near Mammoth Cave. It was ascertained later that the bones had been found in Bigbone Cave, Van Buren County, Tennessee.

The bones mentioned by Harlan had belonged to a young animal and consisted of 5 vertebræ, a few fore-limb bones, a few hinder-limb bones, a scapula, a rib, and a part of a molar tooth. Some of the articulating surfaces still retained their cartilage. In the same cave were found bones of “_Bos_” (_Bison_), “_Cervus_” (_Odocoileus?_), _Ursus_, and a human metacarpal. These were said to have been found on the surface, while the megalonyx bones were buried at a depth of 2 or 3 feet. The mandible of the bear (Harlan, op. cit., p. 283) was described as displaying appearances of antiquity equal to that of the megalonyx bones. The sloth bones were made the basis of the name _Megalonyx laqueatus_. In 1855 (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. VII, art. 5, p. 4), Leidy determined that these bones belonged to _M. jeffersonii_. He wrote that the collection consisted of one molar tooth, four dorsal vertebræ, one lumbar, a left humerus lacking the upper epiphysis, the proximal two-thirds of the right ulna, the right radius, the left scapula, the distal epiphysis of the right femur, the left tibia, and the distal epiphysis of the right tibia, a right calcaneum, two claws of a hinder foot, and some fragments of ribs. Leidy appears to have concluded that these bones had been those of a young animal, but that other bones in the collection had belonged to adult individuals. He stated that they had come from Bigbone Cave, White County. This adjoins Van Buren on the north and possibly at that time included the latter; or Leidy may have been mistaken. Besides the bones above mentioned, Harlan described from this cave an ilium of _Megalonyx_ (Med. and Phys. Res., p. 334).

In 1892 (Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. III, pp. 121–123), Professor J. M. Safford reported the discovery of some bones of a megalonyx in Bigbone Cave. They had been met with in the bat manure at a depth of about 3 feet. The parts received by Professor Safford, and which are all probably in Vanderbilt University, were the skull, 17 vertebræ (including 5 sacrals), a fragment of a rib, a right scapula, a right humerus, the two ilia, a part of the right pubis, a part of the right ischium, and a left tibia. Safford concluded that these bones formed a part of the same young animal that Harlan had described.

In 1897 (Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. XXXVI, pp. 36–70), Dr. H. C. Mercer gave a detailed account of his explorations in this cave. It is situated about a mile from the left bank of Caney Fork River, a mile above the mouth of a confluent called Dry Branch, and at an elevation of about 1,000 feet above sea-level. It is excavated in Carboniferous limestone and opens into what is known as “Beech Cove.” Thomas L. Bailey (“Resources of Tennessee,” vol. VIII, pp. 131–132) described it as being situated 3.5 miles south of Quebeck, near the head of a hollow or cove extending south from McElroy’s store. The latter is probably the locality put down on the topographic sheet of the quadrangle as Elroy. It is further said to be one branch of an extensive cave whose other branch is known as Arch Cave. Bigbone Cave is known to extend a distance of 3 miles. It appears that the cave had been exploited for saltpeter in the wars of 1776, 1812, and 1863 and immense amounts of the nitrous earth had been removed. Mercer found no bones until he had reached a small passage at a distance of 900 feet from the entrance. Here he found an epiphysis of a left humerus, 6 vertebræ, an astragalus, and a calcaneum of a sloth, evidently a young animal; and he concluded that they were probably parts of the same animal that Harlan had described many years before; also a part of a skeleton that had been found there in 1884, which is the one described by Safford. A remarkable feature of the bones of the young animal found in this cave, as noted by Harlan, Leidy, and Mercer, is the presence of some of the cartilage, some shreds of ligaments, and a part of the horny sheath of one claw.

2. _Lookout Mountain, Hamilton County._—In 1894 (Amer. Naturalist, vol. XXVIII, pp. 355–357), Dr. H. C. Mercer reported his work, done in 1893, in a cave situated on Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee. In a brief report made June 4, 1896 (Dept. Amer. and Prehist. Archæol. Univ. Penn.), Mercer stated that this cave is on the left bank of Tennessee River, 0.25 mile below Chattanooga Creek. According to the report last quoted, the cave earth, “with its culture layer,” was removed by him to a distance of 58 feet from the entrance. According to the report of 1894, this was effected by digging 4 trenches, 6 feet 10 inches wide and with a depth of 3 feet, in two cases to rock bottom. Near the bottom of the deposit were found a jaw of _Tapirus haysii_ with teeth, and a jaw of a small _Mylodon_, identified as such by Professor E. D. Cope. A bone of the extinct peccary appears to have been found higher up in the layer of refuse. In a letter received by the writer in 1919, Doctor Mercer stated that later Cope expressed some doubt regarding the identity of the bone supposed to belong to _Mylodon_.

A further reference to this cave and its contents will be found on page 396.

3. _Memphis, Shelby County._—In 1850 (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. III, p. 280; Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 2, vol. X, p. 58), Jeffries Wyman reported that a tooth and a claw of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_ had been found in the “diluvium” of Mississippi River at Memphis. The tooth is a first upper molar of large size; the claw is that of the median digit. With these were found remains of mastodon, beaver, and _Castoroides ohioensis_.

4. _Nashville, Davidson County._—From Mr. William Edward Myer, Nashville, Tennessee, the writer has received for examination a fragment of a tooth of a mylodon which was found near Nashville, in sand or gravel, along Cumberland River, beneath 30 feet of gravel. This tooth appears to be the left lower penultimate molar of _Mylodon harlani_, but it is in some ways different. The antero-inner face has a broad, shallow groove, while the outer face makes a smaller angle with the inner hinder face than in the tooth figured by Leidy.

The transverse section resembles that of the lower penultimate molar of _M. sulcidens_ Cope (Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. XXXIV, plate X, fig. 4_a_), and somewhat the tooth regarded by Cope as the upper fourth molar of _M. sulcidens_ (op. cit., plate XI, fig. 7). It is probable that _M. sulcidens_ and _M. renidens_ of Cope are synonyms of _M. harlani_, as Stock (Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., vol. VIII, p. 331) is inclined to believe.

The greatest length of a cross-section of the tooth found at Nashville is 27 mm.; the greatest width 14 mm. The tooth is the property of Mr. H. L. Ridge, of Nashville.

At the same locality have been found remains of _Equus leidyi_, _E. complicatus_, _Mammut americanum_, a camel (_Camelops?_), a species of deer, and some turtle bones. The deposit seems to belong to a stage not far removed from the Aftonian.

KENTUCKY.

(Map 3.)

1. _Bigbone Lick, Boone County._—In 1831, Dr. Richard Harlan (Monthly Amer. Jour. Geol., vol. I, p. 77, plate III, figs. 1 to 3) described a left ramus of the lower jaw of a ground-sloth which had been brought to New York. This jaw he referred to his _Megalonyx laqueatus_ (_M. jeffersonii_); but it was later shown by Owen (Zool. Beagle, 1840, p. 68) to belong to _Mylodon_, and he named it _M. harlani_ in honor of Dr. Harlan. From Cooper (Monthly Amer. Jour. Geol., vol. I, p. 172) it is learned that this bone had formed part of the Finnell collection at Cincinnati. So far as the present writer sees, there was nothing in Harlan’s article to show where the jaw was discovered. In 1855 (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. VII, p. 47, plate XIV, figs. 1, 2), Leidy further described and illustrated the specimen and stated that it was found at Bigbone Lick. In 1903, Barnum Brown (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. XIX, p. 511) stated that Harlan’s specimen ought to be in Columbia University, but it could not be found. It is more probable that it was destroyed in a fire in the old American Museum of Natural History.

In his report on Bigbone Lick (op. cit., p. 171), Cooper stated that he had seen in the “Western Museum,” Cincinnati, a large humerus of a megalonyx. Cooper further wrote that he and a companion had found at the lick a metacarpal bone which he supposed belonged to the same animal. The humerus was described and figured by Harlan (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., ser. 1, vol. VI, p. 277, plate XIII, fig. 10). Cooper (op. cit., p. 172) mentions other bones of _Megalonyx_ found at Bigbone Lick, but some may have belonged to _Mylodon_. This is the case with the fragment of lower jaw with 4 teeth which became the type of _Mylodon harlani_, as above mentioned. In Princeton University there is an ungual phalanx 167 mm. long, 66 mm. high, and 43 mm. thick at the middle of the height. This is labeled as having been found at Bigbone Lick. A list of the species discovered at this place will be found on page 403.

2. _Bluelick Springs, Nicholas County._—In the collection made by Mr. Thomas W. Hunter, in the sulphur spring at the place mentioned, the writer has seen two ungual phalanges which were identified as those of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_.

3. _Henderson, Henderson County._—A considerable part of a skeleton of _Megalonyx jeffersonii_ was found at different times extending through some years, about 5 or 6 miles below Henderson, in the bank of Ohio River. This skeleton is now in the University of Indiana and was described by Leidy in 1855 (Smithson. Contrib. Knowl., vol. VII, art. 3). This collection furnished a fine skull and lower jaw. In the same deposits were found many horns and bones of deer. The geology of the locality and the age of the bones will be discussed on page 405.

FINDS OF PLEISTOCENE MASTODONS IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.

ONTARIO.

(Map 5.)

1. _Essex County._—In 1898 (Science, n. s., vol. VII, p. 80), Dr. H. M. Ami reported that he had exhumed some mastodon remains in this county. The exact locality was not given. It was north of the west end of Lake Erie. The section dug up was from 6 to 8 feet deep. At the bottom were clay and boulders; above this were found gravel and the bones, and above these sand, shell marl, peat, and other sands of various colors. The remains were fragmentary.

2. _Morpeth and Highgate, Elgin County._—In 1858 (Canad. Jour. Indust. Sci. Art, ser. 2, vol. III, p. 356), E. J. Chapman announced the discovery of a tooth of mastodon at or near this place. He had seen a drawing of the tooth. It appears that another man also had sent to the journal an account of the discovery, accompanied by drawings. These showed 5 distinct crown-ridges.

In 1891 (Geol. Mag. London, ser. 3, vol. VIII, p. 504; Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 64th meeting, 1892, p. 654), Professor J. Hoyes Panton gave an account of the discovery of mammoth and mastodon bones at Highgate, only a few miles north of Morpeth. These were found in a bed of marl. Some measurements of the mastodon were given.

3. _St. Thomas, Elgin County._—In a private museum at Niagara Falls, owned at the time by Davis Brothers, the writer saw a quite complete lower jaw and a tusk, labeled as having been found at this place in 1856, on the farm of Isaac Barnard. The jaw had the last 3 teeth on the right side and the last 2 on the left side. In front was a tusk about 6 inches long which appeared to be in the middle of the jaw. The upper tusk is curved in a semicircle. Dr. J. W. Dawson (Geol. Mag. London, ser. 1, vol. VI, 1869, p. 39) mentions this find. He stated that there were 2 lower tusks. If this was the case the species _M. progenium_ is indicated.

4. _London, Middlesex County._—In the article quoted above from the Geological Magazine of London, Dr. J. W. Dawson stated that there were in the Provincial Museum 3 mastodon molars which had been found at London.

5. _Marburg, Norfolk County._—In 1898 (Science, n. s., vol. VII, p. 80), Dr. H. M. Ami reported the exhumation of remains of a mastodon at some place in this county. The skull, 25 ribs, 40 foot-bones, 2 tusks, and many vertebræ were recovered. The remains were buried at a depth of from only 3 to 4.5 feet. At the bottom was clay; above this, shell marl, and sands of different colors; and above all was peat.

The writer has seen this skull in Victoria Museum, Ottawa. It is to a considerable extent restored. It appears to have been found at or near Marburg. A small label, somewhat injured, has the record: “West half lot 15, R V, Tp. of [?]dhouse, Norfolk Co., Ont. Ami, 1897.” The penultimate and ultimate molars are in place. The former is 113 mm. long; the latter is 174 mm. long, and has 4 crests and a talon. The tusks are present and the right one is 2,230 mm. long. The skull is a large one. The width across the rear is 760 mm.