Paleontology of the Blanco Formation Horses, Mediterranean Pliocene Cercopithecoids, and the Paleonvironment of the Blanco Formation and Pliocene Mediterranean more

Tembe, Girish. 2011. Paleontology of the Blanco Formation Horses, Mediterranean Pliocene Cercopithecoids, and the Paleonvironment of the Blanco Formation and Pliocene Mediterranean. MS Thesis, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX. 171 pp. Abstract This thesis brings together the fields of vertebrate paleontology, anthropology, and museum sciences. The Blanco Formation horses require a review within the context of revisions in horse taxonomy and phylogeny. This thesis compares the paleoenvironment of the Blanco Formation and Mediterranean region in the Pliocene and early Pleistocene. Such a comparison can determine the extent of environmental change during the Pliocene as well as the usefulness of paleoenvironmental comparisons over large distances. As the author worked with the Blanco Formation collection at the MoTTU, natural history conservation was incorporated into the thesis. This collection had not been conserved with modern, reversible techniques before this thesis. The Blanco Formation of Crosby County, Texas is the type locality for the Blancan Land Mammal Age. The Blanco Formation has three sympatric species of horses. A part of this study included a comprehensive review and analysis of the Blanco Formation horses in light of modern phylogeny. The Blanco Formation contains the horses Equus simplicidens, Equus cumminsii, and Nannippus peninsulatus. These three species can be distinguished by their cusp pattern, dimensions, and hypsodonty index. During the Pliocene in the Old World, ape (Hominoidea) diversity declined while cercopithecoids (the Old World Monkeys) diversified. The most widely accepted cause for this change is that cercopithecoids were better adapted for the open grasslands created by aridification and were able to fill a niche apes could not. A drying climate was seen in both the Mediterranean and Blanco Formation during the Pliocene and earliest Pleistocene. This indicates a global drying trend in this time frame and comparisons over large geographic distances can be useful.