Two New Species Found at the Gray Fossil Site

Read the ETSU Accent article about the two new species (October 4, 2004)

"It's the dream of every paleontologist to discover a new species at some point during his or her career and to have the opportunity to name it," said Dr. Steven Wallace, a paleontologist at East Tennessee State University and lead author of the article. "But we already have two!"

According to Wallace, Pristinailurus bristoli - named after ETSU's Paleontology Coordinator Larry Bristol who discovered the first specimens of the new red (lesser) panda - is the earliest and most primitive panda so far recorded.

Although the greater panda is essentially a bear, red pandas are more closely related to raccoons, Wallace explains. In addition, living red pandas, which are slightly smaller than this new fossil species, are only found in the Himalayas and have a highly specialized diet of bamboo.

However, there has been no evidence of bamboo at the Gray Fossil Site, suggesting that the new species could survive on other types of food prior to arriving in the southern Appalachians. Here it may have utilized a fossil form of River Cane, a bamboo native to East Tennessee, for food.

The other critter, Arctomeles dimolodontus , is a type of weasel, specifically a badger, and is also of Eurasian origin. While the new red panda was a very primitive creature, Wallace says this particular weasel is highly derived and is one of the most advanced of its group. Initial interpretations of the unique teeth of this animal suggest a diet of hard vegetation, possibly specialized for the acorns and/or hickory nuts which are abundant as fossils at the site.

Both discoveries also provide proof to the theory that animals were able to move between the continents of North America and Eurasia during the late Miocene to early Pliocene.

What is a species?

The biological (living) definition of a species is: all members of different populations that naturally interbred AND produce viable offspring.

The morphological (fossil) definition of species is: an assemblage of forms of similar geologic age that have very similar skeletons, which differ from all other forms by clear, definable characters.

The simple definition is: members of a group that are more like each other than they are like members of other groups.

Right half of a jaw from one of our Teleoceras (rhino) specimens. This jaw came from a complete individual that was collected in the Fall of 2004 and is now on display at the Natural History Museum in Gray. Click here to see pictures from that excavation.

The following animals (mostly common names) have been found at the Gray Fossil Site:

• Fish (several types)
• Frogs (several types)
• Salamanders (several types)
• Turtles (at least 6 types)
• Alligator (Alligator sp.)
• Snakes (several types)
• Birds (several duck-sized)
• Shrews (at least 3 types)
• Mole
• Bat
• Rodents (at least 4-5 types)
• Rabbit

• Ground sloth (smaller form)
• Shovel-tusked elephant
• Three-toed horse
• Tapir (Tapirus polkensis)
• Rhinoceros (Teleoceras cf. T hicksi)
• Peccaries (at least 2 types)
• Camel (cf. Megatylopus sp.)
• Saber-toothed cat (cf. Machairodus sp.)
• Red panda (Pristinailurus bristoli)
• Short-faced bear (Plionarctos sp.)
• Eurasian badger (Arctomeles dimolodontus)
• Small weasel