A Late Pleistocene capybara (Rodentia, Caviidae, Hydrochoerinae) from near Houston, Texas, USA, with a brief review of North American fossil capybaras

Baskin, Jon A.; Gervais, P. Darrow; Gervais, Camille J.

doi:10.1635/053.167.0105

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

2020

DOI: 10.1635/053.167.0105

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A Late Pleistocene capybara (Rodentia, Caviidae, Hydrochoerinae) from near Houston, Texas, USA, with a brief review of North American fossil capybaras

Jon A. Baskin

P. Darrow Gervais

Camille J. Gervais

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The scimitar‐cat Homotherium from the submerged continental shelf of the Gulf Coast of Texas

Moretti,

Flores,

Bell

et al. 2024

The Anatomical Record

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The machairodontine felid Homotherium achieved a global geographic distribution throughout much of the Pleistocene. Accordingly, that large carnivore is important for understanding patterns of community composition. We report on a new record of Homotherium based on a fragmentary premaxilla–maxilla discovered on McFaddin Beach, Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico. Skeletal remains of extinct, Pleistocene vertebrates accumulate on McFaddin Beach. Those fossils appear to originate from submerged deposits on the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, an area that was subaerially exposed in the Late Pleistocene during glacial intervals. Marine erosion and transport altered the externally visible morphology of the current specimen, obscuring and/or damaging taxonomically informative details of the preserved dentition. However, high‐resolution X‐ray computed tomography revealed diagnostic portions of the unerupted crown of an upper canine within its alveolus. The serrated edges of the canine combined with the position of the incisors demonstrate that the specimen from McFaddin Beach represents a species of Homotherium. That specimen is the latest in a larger sample of Homotherium in Texas that spans most of the Pliocene–Pleistocene. This is the first occurrence of Homotherium from the continental shelf of the Gulf Coast. That landscape may have formed a broad subtropical Gulf Coast corridor that facilitated the dispersal of Neotropical taxa along the coast between Texas and Florida. The associated fauna from McFaddin Beach contains Neotropical mammals common to southern Texas and Florida and indicates that Homotherium was a member of the fauna inhabiting the Gulf Coast corridor during the Late Pleistocene.

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The scimitar‐cat Homotherium from the submerged continental shelf of the Gulf Coast of Texas

Moretti,

Flores,

Bell

et al. 2024

The Anatomical Record

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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New Record of Capybara (Rodentia: Caviidae: Hydrochoerinae) from the Pleistocene of San Diego County, California with Remarks on Their Biogeography and Dispersal in the Pleistocene of Western North America

White

Mead

Morgan³

et al. 2022

Vert. Anat. Morph. Palaeo.

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We describe a new species of capybara from late Pleistocene deposits (Rancholabrean NALMA) in northern San Diego County, California, USA which tentatively dates to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 interglacial (~130 ka to 80 ka). The specimen represents a new species of Hydrochoerus based on morphological characters of the upper incisor (I1) and the upper (maxillary) third molar (M3). Hydrochoerus hesperotiganites sp. nov. differs from other described species of Hydrochoerus in its larger size, wider skull roof, more robust zygomatic process of the maxilla and descending zygomatic process of the lacrimal and in details of the otic region. The new species is the only confirmed record of fossil Hydrochoerus in North America and is the northwestern-most record of any capybara in North America. All previous records of fossil capybara from North America represent one of two extinct genera, Neochoerus or Phugatherium. Northward dispersal of capybaras from central and southern México probably occurred along the coasts of Sinaloa and Sonora, entering the north or northeast flowing drainages which entered the Gulf of California, then further north into the San Simon drainage to the Gila River and ultimately into the Colorado River, or directly northward along the coast of Sonora to the mouth of the Colorado River.lsid: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BD2DA9EB-32EF-4761-8551-E585D6AF317C

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A Late Pleistocene capybara (Rodentia, Caviidae, Hydrochoerinae) from near Houston, Texas, USA, with a brief review of North American fossil capybaras

Cited by 2 publications

References 23 publications

The scimitar‐cat Homotherium from the submerged continental shelf of the Gulf Coast of Texas

The scimitar‐cat Homotherium from the submerged continental shelf of the Gulf Coast of Texas

New Record of Capybara (Rodentia: Caviidae: Hydrochoerinae) from the Pleistocene of San Diego County, California with Remarks on Their Biogeography and Dispersal in the Pleistocene of Western North America

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