St. Marks River Fauna 19 



SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY 



Standardized common and current scientific names follow Robins 

 et al. (1991) for fishes; Collins (1990) for amphibians and reptiles; 

 American Ornithologists' Union (1983) for birds, and Kurten and Anderson 

 (1980) and Jones et al. (1992) for mammals. Museum acronyms are 

 indicated in the introduction. A complete faunal listing of the species 

 recovered from the St. Marks site is provided in Table 1. 



CLASS MAMMALIA 



Order Didelphimorphia 

 Family Didelphidae 

 Didelphis virginiana Kerr 

 Virginia Opossum 

 Material— A single left dentary, UGAMNH1735. 

 Remarks — The single element is identical to that of modern 

 Didelphis virginiana. This was the only marsupial species present in 

 North America during the Pleistocene. It is known from numerous 

 fossil sites in Florida (Webb 1974a). Its stratigraphic range includes 

 Middle Blancan to Recent (Kurten and Anderson 1980). It occurs in 

 a variety of habitats, but it is usually found in forests and woodlands 

 near water (Gardner 1973). We follow Marshall et al. (1990) in the 

 use of the ordinal name Didelphimorphia as do Jones et al. (1992). 



Order Xenarthra 



Family Dasypodidae 



Holmesina septentrionalis (Leidy) 



Northern Pampathere 



Material — Right astragulus, UGAMNH2012; right calcaneus, 



UGAMNH2159; right metacarpus II, UGAMNH1981; two phalanges, 



UGAMNH1982-1983; numerous dermal plates, UGAMNH1954-1980, 1984- 



2029, 2160, 2166. 



Remarks — The species is known from numerous sites throughout 

 the South and Southeast. Its range is somewhat similar to that of 

 its modern relative, Dasypus novemcinctus, and Holmsina had a similar 

 preference for open woodlands (Kurten and Anderson 1980). Like its 

 modern counterpart, Holmsina probably fed on insects and various 

 invertebrates. Kurten and Anderson (1980) suggest this diet might 

 have restricted them to relatively warm climates where food was 

 available year round. Specimen UHAMNH2159, a right calcaneus, has 

 rodent and carnivore gnaw marks that occurred prior to fossilization. 

 Its stratigraphic range is early Irvingtonian to Wisconsinan (Kurten 

 and Anderson 1980). 



