Beck Ranch
Basic information
Sample name: Beck Ranch
Sample aka: White Quarry; Yellow Quarry
Reference: W. W. Dalquest. 1978. Early Blancan mammals of the Beck Ranch local fauna of Texas. Journal of Mammalogy 59(2):269-298 [ER 4168]
Geography
Country: United States
State: Texas
County: Scurry
Coordinate: 32.72° N, -100.74° W
Latlng basis: estimated from map
Scale: outcrop
Time interval: Early Pliocene
Zone: Blancan
Ma: 3.4
Age basis: AEO
Geography comments: "The Yellow Quarry is located on the western bank of the wash, approximately 300 feet southeast of the Beck ranch house... The White Quarry, located about 100 feet downstream (south)... is on the east bank of the wash" but both quarries are from "a single horizon"
"just south of U.S. Highway 180 and about 10 miles east of Snyder, Scurry County" (Brodkorb 1971) (this is apparently about 3 km west of Midway: coordinate estimated using Google Maps)
elevation 2, 350 ft
thought to be early Blancan and older than Hagerman (i.e., Early Pliocene)
possibly "an extension of the Ogallala Formation"
"just south of U.S. Highway 180 and about 10 miles east of Snyder, Scurry County" (Brodkorb 1971) (this is apparently about 3 km west of Midway: coordinate estimated using Google Maps)
elevation 2, 350 ft
thought to be early Blancan and older than Hagerman (i.e., Early Pliocene)
possibly "an extension of the Ogallala Formation"
Environment
Lithology: siliciclastic (mixed)
Taphonomic context: fluvial deposit
Habitat comments: "The fossil-bearing sediments are principally yellow sand and gray clay, often intricately mixed in a contorted fashion, lying on a thick, almost featureless, non-fossiliferous layer of Early Blancan loess. The Blancan sediments seem to represent a basin fill... The fossiliferous, upper parts of the deposit were formed by marshy, low gradient streams that reworked the upper parts of the loess stratum. The site is visualized as a swamp or marsh, partly clogged with patches of rushes or reeds separated by shallow, gently-moving water... Fossils are equally abundant in clay and sand"
Methods
Life forms: bats, carnivores, rodents, ungulates, other small mammals
Excluded forms: birds
Sampling methods: screenwash
Sample size: 3353 specimens
Years: 1965, 1968 - 1973
Museum: Midwestern State University
Net or trap nights: 0
kg screened: 66043
Basal area status: not applicable
Sampling comments: "discovered at the Beck Ranch by the author in 1965... it was not until 1968 that a study of the site and its fauna began. During the following five years, matrix from two quarries was processed"
fossils were "recovered from approximately 65 tons of sand and clay matrix removed primarily from two quarries"
a woodpecker from the sample was described by Brodkorb (1971) and reptiles by Rogers (1976)
fossils were "recovered from approximately 65 tons of sand and clay matrix removed primarily from two quarries"
a woodpecker from the sample was described by Brodkorb (1971) and reptiles by Rogers (1976)
Metadata
Sample no: 4628
Contributor no: John Alroy
Enterer: John Alroy
Created: 2025-01-02 04:19:11
Modified: 2025-01-02 04:19:11
Abundance distribution
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts. Values are logged.
Statistics
56 species
10 singletons
total count 3353
geometric series index: 83.2
Fisher's α: 9.55
geometric series k: 0.8732
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.7095
Shannon's H: 2.0174
Good's u: 0.997
Register
| †Sorex taylori | 4 | |
| †Notiosorex jacksoni | 7 | |
| †Beckiasorex hibbardi | 9 | |
| type | ||
| †Paracryptotis rex | 1 | |
| Scalopus rexroadi = †Hesperoscalops rexroadi | 41 | |
| 39 plus "other postcranial elements" | ||
| Lasionycteris noctivagans | 1 | |
| Eptesicus aff. fuscus | 1 | |
| "near" this species | ||
| Lasiurus borealis | 2 | |
| Antrozous pallidus | 1 | |
| †Alilepus wilsoni | 2 | |
| White (1991) | ||
| †Pratilepus kansasensis | 20 | |
| see also White (1991) | ||
| †Hypolagus ringoldensis | 21 | |
| White (1988): part of Dalquest''s Hypolagis regalis | ||
| †Hypolagus regalis | 9 | |
| see White (1988) | ||
| †Pewelagus dawsonae | 3 | |
| White (1988) | ||
| †Notolagus lepusculus | 131 | |
| see also White (1991) | ||
| †Nekrolagus progressus | 147 | |
| see also White (1991) | ||
| Spermophilus sp. | 300 | |
| "several hundred isolated teeth" plus one jaw | ||
| Geomys minor = †Nerterogeomys minor | 1729 | |
| estimated total | ||
| Geomys sp. | 3 | |
| large | ||
| †Perognathus carpenteri | 2 | |
| type | ||
| †Perognathus cf. rexroadensis | 53 | |
| †Perognathus aff. pearlettensis | 5 | |
| "near" this species | ||
| †Prodipodomys centralis | 42 | |
| Peromyscus beckensis = †Symmetrodontomys beckensis | 5 | |
| type | ||
| †Peromyscus kansasensis | 13 | |
| †Reithrodontomys cf. rexroadensis | 1 | |
| †Baiomys rexroadi | 31 | |
| †Bensonomys eliasi | 12 | |
| †Symmetrodontomys simplicidens | 5 | |
| †Onychomys gidleyi | 9 | |
| †Sigmodon medius | 300 | |
| "many jaws and hundreds of isolated teeth" | ||
| †Neotoma cf. fossilis | 17 | |
| Zakrzewski (1993): "Neotoma (Paraneotoma) cf. sawrockensis"; 14 jaws plus "many isolated cheek teeth" | ||
| †Neotoma (Paraneotoma) quadriplicata | 120 | |
| 20 jaws and "more than 100 isolated cheek teeth" | ||
| †Ogmodontomys poaphagus | 36 | |
| †Borophagus diversidens (bone-crushing dog) | 10 | |
| including "isolated phalanges": see also Wang et al. (1999) | ||
| †Canis cf. lepophagus | 1 | |
| Vulpes aff. velox (swift fox) | 4 | |
| "near" this species | ||
| Urocyon sp. | 4 | |
| Canidae indet. | 1 | |
| †Bassariscus casei | 4 | |
| †Nasua pronarica (coati) | 1 | |
| type | ||
| †Mustela rexroadensis (weasel) | 3 | |
| †Spilogale rexroadi (skunk) | 14 | |
| including "isolated teeth and tooth fragments" | ||
| †Spilogale microdens (skunk) | 1 | |
| type | ||
| †Buisnictis breviramus | 3 | |
| †Brachyopsigale dubius | 1 | |
| Taxidea cf. taxus (American badger) | 2 | |
| Felis rexroadensis = †Lynx rexroadensis (lynx) | 6 | |
| Werdelin (1985): "Felis lacustris" | ||
| Proboscidea indet. | 2 | |
| "tooth fragments" | ||
| †Nannippus beckensis (horse) | 178 | |
| type: see Dalquest and Donovan (1973), who list the type skull, 27 other specimens, "approximately 150 isolated teeth", and "isolated bones" | ||
| †Equus (Dolichohippus) cf. simplicidens (horse) | 17 | |
| †Equus cf. cumminsii (horse) | 2 | |
| †Platygonus aff. bicalcaratus (peccary) | 4 | |
| "near" this species | ||
| Hemiauchenia sp. | 3 | |
| Antilocapridae indet. large | 4 | |
| Antilocapridae indet. small | 5 | |
| 2 plus "numerous isolated teeth and tooth fragments" | ||