Fauna of Saskatchewan - Ancient Fauna - Paleontology

Paleontology

See also: Archaeohippus, Catopsalis, Edmontosaurus, Frenchman Formation, Mesodma, Neoplagiaulax, Parectypodus, Ptilodus, Stygimys, Trachodon, Triceratops, Thescelosaurus, Turonian, and Xyronomys

Fossils have been uncovered which have dated back to the Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, and Pleistocene periods. These Cenozoic vertebrates include mammals, amphibians and reptiles. There have been fossils of birds unearthed as well which have dated back (55.8±0.2 to 33.9±0.1 Ma) to the Eocene and 23.03 to 5.33 Ma to the Miocene period. Historically mammoths and mastodons roamed the plains which migrated across the Bering land bridge from Eurasia. Black bear, Bison antiquus, Bison latifrons, bobcat, Bos bison, caribou, cheetah, Columbian mammoth, elk, grizzly bear, horse, ice age elephant, llama, lion, moose, one-hump camel, pronghorn, saber-toothed cat steppe bison (Bison priscus), white-tail and mule deer, wooly mammoth populated the plains in pre-historic eras. American Bison, commonly known as "buffalo" is the largest and most notable mammal found in Saskatchewan dating back to its ancestors Bison antiquus, and Bison latifrons. Large reptiles such as Mosasaur, Plesiosaur, Ichthyosaur and Sea Turtle lived in the seas which covered Saskatchewan, Triceratops fossils were also unearthed. A scampering non-hopping rabbit Palaeolagus temnodon and Megalagus were some of the Eocdene-Oligocene mammalian paleofauna uncovered at the Cypress Hills Formation of Saskatchewan. An abundance of Calf Creek Local Fauna has been unearthed at the Cypress Hills Formation. Eastend is about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) southeast of this site. The following microvertebrates have been located Daphoenacyon dodges, Daphoenus, Daphoenine or bear-dog; Parictis parvas, P. Nimravid or small bear; Hesperocyon gregarious or small fox-dog; Hemipsalodon grandis or subjective synonym of Pterodon, and Hyaenodon horridus H. microdon or carnivorous hyaena. Artiodactyls are even toed hoofed mammals such as deer, pigs, camels, goats and cattle. Among the 53 mammalian taxa of fossils from the Swift Current area are the Cypretherium coactatum or terminator pig; Ibarus storer, I. ignotus, or herbivorous fast running small deer the size of a rabbit; Merycoidodon culbertsoni Leidy or camel type mammal that lived in herds; Limnenetes anceps or a cud chewing plant eating sheep sized hippopotamus; Hendryomeryx esulcatus, Leptomeryx speciosus and L. mammifer or small hornless ruminant; Didelphodus serus or meat eating marsupial about the size of a Virginia Opossum or house cat; Thylacaelurus campester; Wallia scalopidens is a fossilised proscalopid insectivore bat; Auxontodon processus; Microparamys solidus The Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary marks the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event which saw the extinction of many of these prehistoric animals which remain only as fossil remnants.