111 Ranch Paleontological Project
Charles R. Knight mural of some of the animals found in 111 Ranch beds.
(Left) The 111 Ranch crew excavates the skull of a Rhynchothere, a four-tusked elephant relative.
(Right) The crew applies a plaster jacket to a fossil.
| Museum Researchers: | Principal Investigator Curator Dr. Robert McCord Andria Skaff, Erin Schirtzinger, Gavin McCullough |
| Location: | East of Safford |
| Age: | Blancan NALMA, Pliocene, 2.4 million years before present |
| Geological Unit: | Gila Conglomerate |
| Discoveries Include: | Elephants, camels, horses, bears, giant sloths,Glyptotherium,bone crushing dogs, other canines, giant capybara, other rodents, birds, giant tortoises, other turtles, lizards, snakes, and petrified wood. |
| Comments: | The Panamanian land bridge had only recently reconnected South and North America and this locality represents a rich assembly of animals going south and coming north. |
Publications from 111 Ranch Paleontological Project
| 2009 | Who isKinosternon arizonense? Robert McCord. Proceedings of the Arizona Nevada Academy of Science 44:6. |
| 2007 | Blancan LMA reptiles and amphibians from the Gila Conglomerate, 111 Ranch area, Graham County, Arizona (abstract). Robert McCord. Proceedings of the Arizona Nevada Academy of Science 42:27. |
| 2005 | Miocene and Pliocene vertebrates from Arizona. Morgan, G.S. and White, R.S.,inHeckert, A.B. and Lucas, S.G. (editors), Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 29:115-136. |
| 2005 | Pliocene vertebrate faunas from southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. White, R.S., Morgan, G.S., and Thompson, M.E. (editors), October 16 - 18, 2005: Road Log and Guidebook, Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 10. |
| 2005 | Pliocene vertebrate faunas from southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico: road log. Morgan, G.S. and White, R.S.,inWhite, R.S., Morgan, G.S., and Thompson, M.E., (editors), Pliocene Vertebrate Faunas from Southeastern Arizona and Southwestern New Mexico, October 16 - 18, 2005: Road Log and Guidebook, Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 10:1-33. |
| 2005 | Early explorations for vertebrate fossils near Safford, Arizona. White, R.S.,inWhite, R.S., Morgan, G.S., and Thompson, M.E. (editors), Pliocene Vertebrate Faunas from Southeastern Arizona and Southwestern New Mexico, October 16 - 18, 2005: Road Log and Guidebook, Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 10:35-44. |
| 2005 | Locality gazetteer, Safford and San Simon Basins, Graham County, Arizona, Duncan Basin, Greenlee County, Arizona and Hidalgo County, New Mexico and Mangas basin, Grant County, New Mexico (Pliocene). White, R.S., Evander, R.A., and Morgan, G.S.,inWhite, R.S., Morgan, G.S., and Thompson, M.E. (editors), Pliocene Vertebrate Faunas from Southeastern Arizona and Southwestern New Mexico, October 16 - 18, 2005: Road Log and Guidebook, Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 10:45-53. |
| 2005 | Annotated bibliography for the 111 Ranch beds: geology and paleontology. White, R.S.,inWhite, R.S., Morgan, G.S., and Thompson, M.E. (editors), Pliocene Vertebrate Faunas from Southeastern Arizona and Southwestern New Mexico, October 16 - 18, 2005: Road Log and Guidebook, Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 10:55-59. |
| 2005 | Arizona Blancan vertebrate faunas in regional perspective. White, R.S. and Morgan, G.S.inMcCord, R.D. (editor) Vertebrate Paleontology of Arizona, Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 11:117-138. |
| 2004 | Camelopsfrom North America, with special reference to Hagerman, Idaho and the 111 Ranch, Arizona (abstract). Thompson, M.E. and White, R.S. Getting over the hump: Blancan records of Abstracts with Program, Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America. |
| 2003 | Late Cenozoic camelids (Mammalia: Artiodactyla) from Graham County, Arizona (abstract). Thompson, M.E. and White, R.S. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology v. 23 (Supplement of Number 3):103A. |
| 2002 | A faunal revision and overview of recent research of the Blancan 111 Ranch fossil beds in Graham County, Arizona (abstract). McCullough, G.M., A. Skaff, E.E. Schirtzinger, and L. Thrasher. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology v. 22 (Suppl. to No. 3):86A. |
| 2002 | Environmental reconstruction of the 111 Ranch (Blancan) fossil beds in southeastern Arizona using isotopic analysis, taphonomic observations and cenogram analysis (abstract). Skaff, A., and G.M. McCullough. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology v. 22 (Suppl. to No. 3):107A. |
| 2002 | Camel tracks and trackways from late Pliocene deposits,Graham County, Arizona (abstract). Thompson, M.E., Meldrum, J., White, R.S., and Thrasher, L.C. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology v. 22 (Supplement to Number 3):114A. |
| 2001 | New fossil records from the Blancan 111 Ranch Beds, Graham County, Arizona: Results of cooperative efforts by a federal agency, public and private museums, and the amateur community. Robert McCord, Lawrence Thrasher, Richard White, B.J. Tegowski, Andria Skaff, Gavin McCullough, and Erin Schirtzinger. Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 8:113-120. |
| 2001 | Renewed investigations of Pliocene (Blancan) vertebrate fossil beds in southeastern Arizona: preliminary research of the taphonomy and paleoecology of 111 Ranch fauna (abstract). McCullough, Gavin M. and Schirtzinger, Erin E. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology v. 21 (Supplement to Number 3):79A. |
| 2001 | Recent discoveries at the 111 Ranch fossil locality, Safford, AZ (abstract). Andria L. Skaff. Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 8:111. 2000 Proboscidean fossils from the San Simon River Valley, Graham and Cochise Counties, Arizona . B. J. Tegowski and Richard S. White. Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 7:101-112. |
| 2000 | Glyptodonts and other fossils of the San Simon Valley, Graham County, Arizona. Lawrence C. Thrasher. Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 7:113-124. |
Paleontologists excavate around a plaster covered Rhynchothere skull.
Sometimes the fossils are hard to move.
Lab volunteers carefully work on a Glyptotherium, a giant prehistoric armadillo relative.