Early mammalian recovery after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction: A high-resolution view from McGuire Creek area, Montana, USA

Research Article| June 05, 2018 Early mammalian recovery after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction: A high-resolution view from McGuire Creek area, Montana, USA Stephanie M. Smith; Stephanie M. Smith † 1University of Washington, Department of Biology, 24 Kincaid Hall, Box 351800, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA2Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1413 NE 45th Street, Seattle, Washington 98105, USA †ssmith7@uw.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Courtney J. Sprain; Courtney J. Sprain 3University of California, Berkeley, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 307 McCone Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar William A. Clemens; William A. Clemens 4University of California Museum of Paleontology, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, California 94720, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Donald L. Lofgren; Donald L. Lofgren 5Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, 1175 Baseline Road, Claremont, California 91711, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Paul R. Renne; Paul R. Renne 3University of California, Berkeley, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 307 McCone Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, USA6Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, California 94709, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Gregory P. Wilson Gregory P. Wilson 1University of Washington, Department of Biology, 24 Kincaid Hall, Box 351800, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA2Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1413 NE 45th Street, Seattle, Washington 98105, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Stephanie M. Smith † 1University of Washington, Department of Biology, 24 Kincaid Hall, Box 351800, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA2Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1413 NE 45th Street, Seattle, Washington 98105, USA Courtney J. Sprain 3University of California, Berkeley, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 307 McCone Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, USA William A. Clemens 4University of California Museum of Paleontology, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, California 94720, USA Donald L. Lofgren 5Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, 1175 Baseline Road, Claremont, California 91711, USA Paul R. Renne 3University of California, Berkeley, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 307 McCone Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, USA6Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, California 94709, USA Gregory P. Wilson 1University of Washington, Department of Biology, 24 Kincaid Hall, Box 351800, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA2Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1413 NE 45th Street, Seattle, Washington 98105, USA †ssmith7@uw.edu Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 08 Sep 2017 Revision Received: 22 Feb 2018 Accepted: 18 Apr 2018 First Online: 05 Jun 2018 Online Issn: 1943-2674 Print Issn: 0016-7606 © 2018 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2018) 130 (11-12): 2000–2014. https://doi.org/10.1130/B31926.1 Article history Received: 08 Sep 2017 Revision Received: 22 Feb 2018 Accepted: 18 Apr 2018 First Online: 05 Jun 2018 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Stephanie M. Smith, Courtney J. Sprain, William A. Clemens, Donald L. Lofgren, Paul R. Renne, Gregory P. Wilson; Early mammalian recovery after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction: A high-resolution view from McGuire Creek area, Montana, USA. GSA Bulletin 2018;; 130 (11-12): 2000–2014. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B31926.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Changes in mammalian faunal composition and structure following the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction are central to understanding not only how terrestrial communities recovered from this ecological perturbation but also the evolution of archaic groups leading to extant mammalian clades. Here, we analyzed changes in mammalian local faunas during the earliest Paleogene biotic recovery on a small spatiotemporal scale. We compiled samples of mammals from four localities in the Hell Creek Formation and Tullock Member of the Fort Union Formation, in the McGuire Creek area, McCone County, Montana, USA, and placed these localities into a high-precision chronostratigraphic framework using 40Ar/39Ar tephra ages and magnetostratigraphy. Within this framework, we quantitatively compared faunal composition, heterogeneity, and richness among McGuire Creek local faunas and made broader comparisons to other earliest Paleogene faunas from throughout the Western Interior of North America. In the first ∼320 k.y. of the recovery, mammalian local faunas at McGuire Creek, all of which can be placed in the Puercan 1 North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA) interval zone, underwent modest increases in taxonomic richness and heterogeneity, indicating the beginning of biotic recovery; however, no McGuire Creek fauna reached fully recovered levels of taxonomic richness. Further, appearance of immigrant taxa such as Purgatorius in younger McGuire Creek faunas demonstrates important compositional changes within the Pu1 of McGuire Creek. These results highlight the difficulties with describing the nuanced mammalian recovery process using the NALMA system and emphasize the increasing importance of high-precision dating, especially when comparing faunas across large geographic distances. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.