111 Ranch Paleontological Project
Charles R. Knight mural of some
of the animals found in
111 Ranch beds.
(Left) The 111 Ranch
crew excavates the skull of a Rhynchothere, a
four-tusked elephant relative.
(Right) The crew applies a plaster jacket to
a fossil.
| Museum
Researchers: |
Principal
Investigator Curator Dr. Robert McCord
Andria Skaff, Erin Schirtzinger, Gavin
McCullough |
| Location: |
East of Safford |
| Age: |
Blancan NALMA,
Pliocene, 2.4 million years before present
|
| Geological
Unit: |
Gila
Conglomerate |
| Discoveries
Include: |
Elephants,
camels, horses, bears, giant sloths,
Glyptotherium, bone crushing dogs, other
canines, giant capybara, other rodents,
birds, giant tortoises, other turtles,
lizards, snakes, and petrified wood. |
|
Comments: |
The Panamanian
land bridge had only recently reconnected
South and North America and this locality
represents a rich assembly of animals going
south and coming north. |
Publications from 111 Ranch Paleontological
Project
| 2009 |
Who is
Kinosternon arizonense?
Robert McCord. Proceedings of the Arizona
Nevada Academy of Science 44:6. |
| 2007 |
Blancan LMA
reptiles and amphibians from the Gila
Conglomerate, 111 Ranch area, Graham County,
Arizona (abstract).
Robert McCord. Proceedings of the Arizona
Nevada Academy of Science 42:27. |
| 2005 |
Miocene and
Pliocene vertebrates from Arizona.
Morgan, G.S. and White, R.S., in
Heckert, A.B. and Lucas, S.G. (editors),
Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona, New
Mexico Museum of Natural History and
Science, Bulletin 29:115-136.
|
| 2005 |
Pliocene
vertebrate faunas from southeastern Arizona
and southwestern New Mexico.
White, R.S., Morgan, G.S., and Thompson,
M.E. (editors), October 16 - 18, 2005: Road
Log and Guidebook, Mesa Southwest Museum
Bulletin 10. |
| 2005 |
Pliocene
vertebrate faunas from southeastern Arizona
and southwestern New Mexico: road log.
Morgan, G.S. and White, R.S., in
White, R.S., Morgan, G.S., and Thompson,
M.E., (editors), Pliocene Vertebrate Faunas
from Southeastern Arizona and Southwestern
New Mexico, October 16 - 18, 2005: Road Log
and Guidebook, Mesa Southwest Museum
Bulletin 10:1-33. |
| 2005 |
Early
explorations for vertebrate fossils near
Safford, Arizona.
White, R.S., in White, R.S., Morgan,
G.S., and Thompson, M.E. (editors), Pliocene
Vertebrate Faunas from Southeastern Arizona
and Southwestern New Mexico, October 16 -
18, 2005: Road Log and Guidebook, Mesa
Southwest Museum Bulletin 10:35-44. |
| 2005 |
Locality
gazetteer, Safford and San Simon Basins,
Graham County, Arizona, Duncan Basin,
Greenlee County, Arizona and Hidalgo County,
New Mexico and Mangas basin, Grant County,
New Mexico (Pliocene).
White, R.S., Evander, R.A., and Morgan, G.S.,
in White, R.S., Morgan, G.S., and
Thompson, M.E. (editors), Pliocene
Vertebrate Faunas from Southeastern Arizona
and Southwestern New Mexico, October 16 -
18, 2005: Road Log and Guidebook, Mesa
Southwest Museum Bulletin 10:45-53. |
| 2005 |
Annotated
bibliography for the 111 Ranch beds: geology
and paleontology.
White, R.S., in White, R.S., Morgan,
G.S., and Thompson, M.E. (editors), Pliocene
Vertebrate Faunas from Southeastern Arizona
and Southwestern New Mexico, October 16 -
18, 2005: Road Log and Guidebook, Mesa
Southwest Museum Bulletin 10:55-59. |
| 2005 |
Arizona Blancan
vertebrate faunas in regional perspective.
White, R.S. and Morgan, G.S. in
McCord, R.D. (editor) Vertebrate
Paleontology of Arizona, Mesa Southwest
Museum Bulletin 11:117-138. |
| 2004 |
Camelops
from North America, with special reference
to Hagerman, Idaho and the 111 Ranch,
Arizona (abstract).
Thompson, M.E. and White, R.S. Getting over
the hump: Blancan records of Abstracts with
Program, Annual Meeting of the Geological
Society of America. |
| 2003 |
Late Cenozoic
camelids (Mammalia: Artiodactyla) from
Graham County, Arizona (abstract).
Thompson, M.E. and White, R.S. Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology v. 23 (Supplement of
Number 3):103A. |
| 2002 |
A faunal
revision and overview of recent research of
the Blancan 111 Ranch fossil beds in Graham
County, Arizona (abstract).
McCullough, G.M., A. Skaff, E.E.
Schirtzinger, and L. Thrasher. Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology v. 22 (Suppl. to No.
3):86A. |
| 2002 |
Environmental
reconstruction of the 111 Ranch (Blancan)
fossil beds in southeastern Arizona using
isotopic analysis, taphonomic observations
and cenogram analysis (abstract).
Skaff, A., and G.M. McCullough. Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology v. 22 (Suppl. to No.
3):107A. |
| 2002 |
Camel tracks
and trackways from late Pliocene
deposits,Graham County, Arizona (abstract).
Thompson, M.E., Meldrum, J., White, R.S.,
and Thrasher, L.C. Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology v. 22 (Supplement to Number
3):114A. |
| 2001 |
New fossil
records from the Blancan 111 Ranch Beds,
Graham County, Arizona: Results of
cooperative efforts by a federal agency,
public and private museums, and the amateur
community.
Robert McCord, Lawrence Thrasher, Richard
White, B.J. Tegowski, Andria Skaff, Gavin
McCullough, and Erin Schirtzinger. Mesa
Southwest Museum
Bulletin 8:113-120. |
| 2001 |
Renewed
investigations of Pliocene (Blancan)
vertebrate fossil beds in southeastern
Arizona: preliminary research of the
taphonomy and paleoecology of
111 Ranch fauna (abstract).
McCullough, Gavin M. and Schirtzinger, Erin
E. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology v. 21
(Supplement to Number 3):79A. |
| 2001 |
Recent
discoveries at the 111 Ranch fossil
locality, Safford, AZ (abstract).
Andria L. Skaff. Mesa Southwest Museum
Bulletin 8:111.
2000 Proboscidean fossils from the San Simon
River Valley, Graham and Cochise Counties,
Arizona .
B. J. Tegowski and Richard S. White. Mesa
Southwest Museum Bulletin 7:101-112. |
| 2000 |
Glyptodonts and
other fossils of the San Simon Valley,
Graham County, Arizona.
Lawrence C. Thrasher. Mesa Southwest Museum
Bulletin 7:113-124. |
Paleontologists excavate around
a plaster covered Rhynchothere skull.
Sometimes the fossils are hard
to move.
Lab volunteers carefully work
on a Glyptotherium, a giant prehistoric
armadillo relative.
|
