Mammals of the Ardis Local Fauna 



Methods 



All fossil material reported here was collected during periodic 

 trips into the quarry by the authors and a group of volunteers. We 

 collected fossil material from the surface of associated spoil piles as 

 well as by screen sifting the fossiliferous sand. Screens used were 20 

 gauge (1.0 mm) to quarter-inch (6.35 mm) mesh. Materials in situ 

 were collected by a combination of screen-washing and by applying a 

 gentle, controlled stream of water to the exposed sands. Fossils were 

 exposed as the sand was gently washed away. 



Most specimens from the Ardis local fauna were deposited in 

 the South Carolina State Museum collections and are registered under 

 the accession base number of S.C. 93.105. We cite such specimens in 

 this paper only by the numbers following that base number. Fossils 

 that were accessioned separately in the South Carolina State Museum's 

 collections will be designated by S.C. followed by five to six digits. 

 Fossil specimens deposited in the National Museum of Natural History 

 have been accessioned under the number of 407498 and are indicated 

 by an institutional prefix of USNM in the text. Fossil material deposited 

 at the Florida Museum of Natural History will be referred to by an 

 institutional prefix of UF. 



Taxonomy for extant and extinct taxa follows Wilson and Reeder 

 (1993) and Kurten and Anderson (1980), respectively. Common names 

 were taken from Webster et al. (1985), and Kurten and Anderson 

 (1980). Under Materials, capital "M" denotes upper dentition, lower 

 case "m" denotes lower dentition. 



SYSTEMATICS 



Class Mammalia 



Order Didelphimorphia 



Family Didelphidae 



Didelphis virginiana - Virginia Opossum 



Material: 1 left dentary with ml and m2 and an unerupted p3 (.1); 

 1 left dentary with m2 and m3 (.2); 1 left maxilla fragment with P3 

 and Ml (.3); 1 right M3 (.8); 1 right Ml (.9); 6 right partial dentaries 

 (3 USNM & 3 UF); 1 left dentary, proximal one third (USNM); 1 

 right proximal dentary fragment (USNM); 4 left humeri, distal ends 

 (.4-.7). 



Remarks: The opossum is found throughout most of the United States 

 and northward into Canada. Late Pleistocene fossils are restricted 

 to the southern parts of the United States, and the species is believed 

 to have radiated into the northern part of the continent during historical 

 times (Kurten and Anderson 1980). The species is common today in 

 the vicinity of the Ardis locality. 



