Revised age of the late Neogene terror bird (Titanis) in North America during the Great American Interchange

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Research Article| February 01, 2007 Revised age of the late Neogene terror bird (Titanis) in North America during the Great American Interchange Bruce J. MacFadden; Bruce J. MacFadden 1Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Joann Labs-Hochstein; Joann Labs-Hochstein 1Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Richard C. Hulbert, Jr; Richard C. Hulbert, Jr 1Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jon A. Baskin Jon A. Baskin 2Department of Biology, Texas A & M University, MSC 158, Kingsville, Texas 78363, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2007) 35 (2): 123–126. https://doi.org/10.1130/G23186A.1 Article history received: 11 Jul 2006 rev-recd: 12 Sep 2006 accepted: 16 Sep 2006 first online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Bruce J. MacFadden, Joann Labs-Hochstein, Richard C. Hulbert, Jon A. Baskin; Revised age of the late Neogene terror bird (Titanis) in North America during the Great American Interchange. Geology 2007;; 35 (2): 123–126. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G23186A.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 SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract The giant flightless terror bird Titanis walleri is known from Florida and Texas during the late Neogene. The age of T. walleri is problematic because this taxon co-occurs with temporally mixed (i.e., time-averaged) faunas at two key sites. Thus, prior to this study, T. walleri from the Santa Fe River, Florida (type locality), was either as old as late Pliocene (ca. 2.2 Ma) or as young as latest Pleistocene (ca. 15 ka). Likewise, T. walleri from the Nueces River, Texas, was either early Pliocene (ca. 5 Ma) or latest Pleistocene (ca. 15 ka). In order to better resolve this age range, the rare earth element (REE) patterns of T. walleri from the Santa Fe River, Florida, were compared to two biochronologically distinctive groups (late Pliocene versus late Pleistocene) of fossil mammals from the same locality. Similarly, the REE patterns of T. walleri from Texas were compared to two groups (early Pliocene versus latest Pleistocene) of fossil mammals from the same locality. The REE patterns of T. walleri from Florida are indistinguishable from those of the co-occurring late Pliocene mammals. Likewise, the REE pattern of T. walleri from Texas is indistinguishable from those of the co-occurring early Pliocene mammals. Given these REE constraints, the revised age of T. walleri is early Pliocene in Texas (ca. 5 Ma) and late Pliocene (ca. 2.2–1.8 Ma) in Florida. As such, T. walleri is interpreted as an early immigrant during the Great American Interchange prior to the formation of the Isthmian land bridge. No evidence currently exists for Pleistocene T. walleri in North America. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.