﻿PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  UNITED|[STATES 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Issued 
  liMify 
  T 
  cilM 
  h 
  the 
  

  

  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION 
  

  

  U. 
  S. 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Vol. 
  103 
  Washington: 
  1954 
  Nq. 
  3326 
  

  

  PRELIMINARY 
  ANALYSIS 
  OF 
  THE 
  FOSSIL 
  VERTEBRATES 
  

   OF 
  THE 
  CANYON 
  FERRY 
  RESERVOIR 
  AREA 
  

  

  By 
  Theodore 
  E. 
  White 
  

  

  The 
  Canyon 
  Ferry 
  Reservoir 
  will 
  be 
  located 
  on 
  the 
  Missouri 
  River 
  

   below 
  Townsend, 
  the 
  county 
  seat 
  of 
  Broadwater 
  County, 
  Mont. 
  The 
  

   dam 
  is 
  being 
  built 
  about 
  1 
  mile 
  downstream 
  from 
  the 
  present 
  Canyon 
  

   Ferry 
  Dam 
  and 
  Power 
  Plant. 
  The 
  maximum 
  pool 
  will 
  inundate 
  an 
  

   area 
  approximately 
  25 
  miles 
  long 
  and 
  3 
  to 
  4 
  miles 
  wide, 
  and 
  will 
  

   include 
  several 
  Imown 
  fossiliferous 
  localities 
  in 
  Oligocene 
  and 
  Miocene 
  

   sediments. 
  The 
  reservoir 
  area 
  includes 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  very 
  few 
  areas 
  in 
  

   the 
  intermountain 
  basins 
  that 
  have 
  a 
  complete 
  succession 
  of 
  sediments 
  

   from 
  the 
  Lower 
  Oligocene 
  well 
  into 
  the 
  Middle 
  Miocene. 
  Fossil 
  

   faunas 
  are 
  known 
  from 
  other 
  intermountain 
  basins 
  in 
  Montana 
  but 
  

   rarely 
  do 
  they 
  embrace 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  time 
  units 
  represented 
  

   here. 
  These 
  faunas 
  are 
  of 
  special 
  interest 
  because 
  they 
  represent 
  an 
  

   environment 
  totally 
  different 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  White 
  River 
  deposits 
  

   of 
  the 
  plains 
  and 
  offer 
  opportunities 
  to 
  study 
  fossil 
  faunas 
  in 
  the 
  light 
  

   of 
  the 
  principles 
  of 
  climatic 
  zoning 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  worked 
  out 
  for 
  

   recent 
  faunas. 
  

  

  Most 
  of 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Tertiary 
  deposits 
  and 
  their 
  faunas 
  of 
  

   the 
  intermountain 
  basins 
  of 
  Montana 
  is 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  explorations 
  

   and 
  research 
  of 
  the 
  late 
  Dr. 
  Earl 
  Douglass 
  around 
  the 
  turn 
  of 
  the 
  

   century. 
  His 
  studies 
  have 
  been 
  published 
  principally 
  in 
  the 
  Annals 
  

   of 
  the 
  Carnegie 
  Museum. 
  His 
  explorations 
  have 
  been 
  greatly 
  ex- 
  

   tended 
  and 
  enlarged 
  by 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  LeRoy 
  Kay, 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  institution, 
  

   whose 
  assistance 
  has 
  greatly 
  expedited 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  River 
  Basin 
  

   Surveys. 
  The 
  studies 
  by 
  Douglass 
  have 
  been 
  further 
  augmented 
  by 
  

   those 
  on 
  the 
  fossil 
  rodents 
  and 
  lagomorphs 
  by 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  J. 
  Burke, 
  who 
  

  

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