Canis latrans Coyote Fossil
Phylum Chordata, Class Mammalia, Order Carnivora, Family Canidae
Geological Time: Holocene to Pleistocene
Size: 205 mm long
Fossil Site: Bonner Springs, Kansas
 This
skull fossil comes from a Coyote known as Canis falconeri, the same
species as is extant today. It comes from a series of river terrace
deposits near Bonner Springs, Kansas. These specimens are found as
drifts on the riverbanks and sand bars, and as such have possibly
been reworked from older deposits. They are found in association with
bison, mammoths, mastodons, muskoxen, deer, peccary, short-faced bears,and
others. Most of them have been dated as Rancholabrean Stage in age,
and are thus some 10,000 years old. Specimens of bison have ranged
from 8,000 to 35,000 years in age, which provides a viable estimate
of the age. |
