Geology and Paleontology of Red Rock Canyon
Ancestral Skunk

One of the most unusual discoveries from Red Rock Canyon is the earliest and most complete skunk specimen ever found in the Americas. This almost perfectly preserved skull and lower jaws were collected by the MacConnell family in 1974 and is about 9 million years old. The delicate skull bones are so fragile that we are surprised that this fossil is so well preserved. Our study of this skunk has determined that it is a new species of an ancestral skunk, Martinogale faulli (Faull’s skunk), that gave rise to the rest of North American skunks. We now know that skunks came from Asia by way of an ancient land bridge (Beringia) between Siberia and Alaska. The Red Rock Canyon fossil skunk records the very first appearance of this prehistorical migration from the Old World. Click image or here for a larger picture.

See a popular article on the new Martinogale published in the June 2006 issue of the Naturalist by our staff writer Kristin Friedrich

References:

Wang, X., D. P. Whistler, and G. T. Takeuchi. 2005. A new basal skunk Martinogale (Carnivora, Mephitinae) from late Miocene Dove Spring Formation, California and origin of New World mephitines. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25(4): 936-949.  PDF download (0.3 Mb)