Vulpes skinneri

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Vulpes skinneri
Temporal range: 1.977–1.98 
Ma
↓
Pleistocene
Mandible of type specimen
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Vulpes
Species:
†V. skinneri
Binomial name
†Vulpes skinneri

Vulpes skinneri is a species of extinct

hominin remains of Australopithecus sediba.[3] The fossils have been dated to between 1.977 and 1.980 million years ago.[2] Hartstone-Rose and colleagues described the remains as a newly discovered species of fox, which they named skinneri after the African mammalogist John Skinner.[1]

Discovery

Matthew Berger
displays the fossil he found on the Malapa Nature Reserve

The type specimen of V. skinneri was discovered during preparation of fossil bearing blocks from Malapa. The find was announced to the public on January 16, 2013. Also found at the

saber-toothed cats, mongooses, and antelopes.[2] Berger and geologist Paul Dirks speculated that the animals might have fallen into a deep, 100–150-foot (30–46 m) "death-trap", perhaps lured by the scent of water.[2] The bodies may have then been swept into a pool of water rich with lime, and with sand at the bottom, making it possible for the remains to become fossilized.

The partial skeleton of the type specimen of Vulpes skinneri

Age estimates

The fossil was dated using a combination of

uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating which showed that the fossils are not older than ~2.0 Ma. The occurrence of species of animal that became extinct at ~1.5 Ma indicate the deposit is not younger than 1.5 Ma. The sediments have a 'normal' magnetic polarity and the only major period between 2.0 and 1.5 Ma when this occurred is the Olduvai sub-Chron between 1.95 and 1.78 Ma.[2]
As such, the fossils were originally dated to ~1.95 Ma. Recent dating of a capping flowstone illustrated this was not possible and the normal magnetic polarity sediments have since been correlated to the 3000-year-long Pre-Olduvai event at ~1.977 Ma.

Morphology and interpretations

A scaled picture of the mandible of Vulpes skinneri

Three associated small canid specimens (an M2, a rib and a posterior mandibular fragment including the P4, M1, coronoid, condylar and angular processes) that were originally attributed to Vulpes cf. V. chama are reassigned to V. skinneri. In the paper describing the new specimens, the authors argue that “we compare these specimens to a broad sample of modern and fossil foxes and conclude that these specimens are distinct enough to be referred to a new species”[1] of the early Pleistocene, identified based on fossil remains dated to about 2 million years ago.[2]

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 84695745
    .
  2. ^
    S2CID 206524717
    .
  3. S2CID 14209370
    .

External links

Wikispecies has information related to Vulpes skinneri.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vulpes skinneri.
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