Abstract: Fossil Vertebrates from the Castor Creek Member, Fleming Formation, Western Louisiana

Judith A. Schiebout

The first Miocene terrestrial vertebrate fauna from Louisiana has been recovered both from recently produced, manmade outcrops and natural outcrops within Fort Polk in central western Louisiana. Small vertebrate teeth are recovered from several conglomeratic layers in the Castor Creek Member of the Fleming Formation, and isolated bones and teeth of sheep-sized to horse-sized mammals are found in both the conglomerates and the surrounding nodule-rich mudstones. Nodules winnowed from the mudstone formed the layers of conglomerate. Small, resistant vertebrate remains from the normal accumulation on the land surface were concentrated and incorporated in them. After dissolution in dilute acetic acid and screening, the rocks yield a diverse fauna of terrestrial microvertebrates, particularl rodent teeth. Four species of rodents, which suggest a Barstovian North American land mammal age, plus perissodactyl, carnivore, artiodactyl, crocodile, and fish remains have been recovered.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90983©1994 GCAGS and Gulf Coast SEPM 44th Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas, October 6-7, 1994