The Blancan Carnivore Trigonictis (Mammalia: 
Mustelidae) in the Eastern United States 
Clayton E. Ray 
Department of Paleobiology, 
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 
Washington, D. C. 20560 
Elaine Anderson 
730 Magnolia Street, Denver, Colorado 80220 
AND 
S. David Webb 
Department of Natural Sciences, 
Florida State Museum, University of Florida, 
Gainesville, Florida 3261 1 
ABSTRACT. — Fossils of a large galictine mustelid from Florida, North 
Carolina, and Maryland, represent Galera macrodon Cope 1868, here 
assigned to Trigonictis Hibbard 1941 and regarded as a senior synonym 
of T. idahoensis (Gazin) 1934. The smaller T. cookii (Gazin) 1934, is 
tentatively identified from Florida on the basis of a single specimen. 
INTRODUCTION 
In 1868 Cope described a partial mandible from presumed “postplio- 
cene” deposits in Charles County, Maryland, as the new species, Galera 
macrodon, assigning it to the genus of the living neotropical tayra. Fir a 
(= Galera) Barbara, in recognition of its galictine character. Leidy (l869) 
added a P-, apparently from the same individual and thus part of the 
holotype, although not indicated by Cope. In 1886 Nehring transferred 
the species to Galictis, the genus of the living neotropical grison. No 
additional material has ever been referred to Cope’s species. 
Meanwhile, fairly abundant remains of galictine mustelids have been 
reported from widespread occurrences of Blancan land mammal age in 
the western states. Gazin (1934) described similar species from Idaho, a 
larger, Lutravus{l) idahoensis, and a smaller, L.(?) cookii, and in 1937 
assigned both tentatively to Canimartes. In 1941 Hibbard described the 
new genus and species, Trigonictis kansasensis. In recent years larger 
specimens have been assigned to Trigonictis idahoensis, including T. kan- 
sasensis, and smaller specimens to T. cookii. In the eastern states Trigo- 
nictis has been listed only in the Blancan assemblage from the Santa Fe 
River, Florida (Webb 1974, 1976), but the material has not been de- 
scribed. Interestingly, although the galictine affinities of both eastern and 
western forms have been recognized consistently from the first, none of 
Brimleyana No. 5:1-36. July 1981. 
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