The earliest North American record of the Antilocapridae (Artiodactyla, Mammalia)

Abstract

The Family Antilocapridae is considered to have first appeared in the Early Hemingfordian of western North America. Here we report a mandible of a merycodontine antilocaprid from the Late Arikareean Harrison Formation of eastern Wyoming. The mandible has three lower molars preserved and mandibular ramus features that allow it to be differentiated from other contemporaneous selenodont artiodactyl families, yet the lack of detailed understanding of intraspecific variation in Paracosoryx and Merycodus warrant caution in assigning this to a genus. This new material predates the previous first appearance of antilocaprids by approximately 3–4 million years and suggests that antilocaprid immigration from Eurasian ruminant stock occurred earlier than previously assumed and that caution should be exercised when using first appearances in broader analyses.