NEW PARTIALLY ARTICULATED SKELETON OF PALAEANODON, (MAMMALIA: PALAEANODONTA) FROM THE WILLWOOD FORMATION (LOWER EOCENE), BIGHORN BASIN, WYOMING

Vertebrate fossil collecting activities coincident with CSU Anthropology’s Paleontology Field Course (Anth 470) have resulted in the discovery of a partial skeleton of the rare, anteater-like fossil mammal Palaeanodon ignavus. The unusual fossil was found weathering out of a Stage 1R paleosol (ancient soil) at about the 320 meter-level of the ~770 meter-thick Willwood Formation, at a well-sampled locality in badlands developed southwest of the town of Basin, Wyoming. Stratigraphic considerations suggest a highly tentative age for the fossil of about 54 mya. The superbly preserved elements identified thus far include axial and appendicular skeletal remains -- most of the rarely articulated and semi-articulated fore- and hind-limbs with feet and claws, at least part of the pelvis, at least part of a clavicle, two cervical vertebrae, some rib fragments, and the right half of the posterior portion of the hitherto unknown cranium. Additional site study will be undertaken in the 2015 season to ensure that all preserved elements have been collected. CSU Anthropology’s Paleontology Field School is conducted each summer under the auspices of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, where the specimen is catalogued and in final preparation.