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Genus Palaeogale von Meyer, 1846 Bunaelurus Cope, 1873: 8. — Type species: B. lagophagus. TYPE SPECIES. — Palaeogale minuta Gervais, 1848 (synonym of Mustela) by original designation. GENUS DIAGNOSIS. — “An early mustelid with cheek tooth formula 1.4/1-3.2-1/2. P1 and M2 vestigial or absent. P4 with small protocone, directed forward, large, somewhat recumbent main blade separated by a deep cleft from the strong metastylar blade. M1 strongly transverse, short and wide, triangular, with sharply projecting parastyle, small, simple protocone, not expanded anteroposteriorly and without cingulum. P2 procumbent, with long, shearing heel. M1 compressed, without metaconid, heel unbasined, with longitudinal shearing crest. M2 small but functional, elongate oval in outline, with weak longitudinal crest, without metaconid or basined talonid but with three vague cusps in series. No postorbital processes. No ossified auditory meatus. Palate ending at level of M1. Pterygoid crests converging posteriorly. Cerebellar region long and bounded externally by a distinct groove posterior to the cerebral region. Stylomastoid foramen lateral, near porus. Foramen ovale posterior to level of postglenoid processes. Carotid foramen small and nearly confluent with posterior lacerate foramen. Sagittal crest single throughout. Paroccipital process free, small.” (Simpson 1946: 12), Published as part of Famoso, Nicholas A. & Orcutt, John D., 2022, First occurrences of Palaeogale von Meyer, 1846 in the Pacific Northwest, United States, pp. 427-436 in Geodiversitas 44 (14) on page 430, DOI: 10.5252/geodiversitas2022v44a14, http://zenodo.org/record/6448632, {"references":["VON MEYER H. 1846. - Mittheilungen an Professor Bronn gerichtet. Neues Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefaktenkunde Jahrgang 1846: 459 - 476. https: // www. biodiversitylibrary. org / page / 37204950","COPE E. D. 1873. - Synopsis of new vertebrata from the Tertiary of Colorado: obtained during the summer of 1873. Unclassified Publications of the U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. https: // hdl. handle. net / 2027 / hvd. 32044107354425","GERVAIS P. M. P. 1848. - Zoologie et paleontologie francaises (animaux vertebres): ou nouvelles recherches sur les animaux vivants et fossiles de la France. Libraire de la Societe de Geographie, Paris, 271 p. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 39473","SIMPSON G. G. 1946. - Palaeogale and allied early Mustelids. American Museum Novitates 1320: 1 - 14. http: // hdl. handle. net / 2246 / 2311"]}

Palaeogale sp. (Fig. 2; Table 1) REFERRED SPECIMEN. — JODA 13221, Skull; Braincase broken on both sides, exposing endocase. Posterior sagittal crest absent. Zygomatic arches absent. Incisors and left premolar absent. Tympanic bulla broken exposing endocast. LOCALITY. — JDNM-7B, North Foree, Grant County, Oregon, USA. Unit E2, Turtle Cove Member, John Day Formation. Precise locality information available to qualified researchers upon request. AGE. — Middle Oligocene in the Early Arikareean (Ar1) NALMA, between A/B tuff (30.0 Ma) and Blue Basin Tuff (28.9 Ma) (Albright et al. 2008). DESCRIPTION JODA 13221 is a mostly complete skull. The braincase is broken on both sides, exposing endocase. Posterior sagittal crest is broken, and the zygomatic arches are broken. The tympanic bulla is broken, exposing the endocast. All Incisors are broken in the alveoli.The canines are missing but the alveoli are present and filled with matrix. Both P1s are missing and some matrix and dentine are present in the alveoli. The left P2 is broken at the roots which are lodged in the alveoli. The crown of the left P4 is damaged as is that of the left M1. The protocone of both the left and right M1s are present but are heavily worn. Dentition In the P4, the protocone is small and rounded. In the M1, the protocone is small but is worn so other characters are unknown. However, the M1 is triangular, transverse, short and wide, with a sharply projecting parastyle. Alveoli are present for both right and left P1. M2 is absent. See Table 1 for measurements. Cranium The skull is elongate (total length of 50.63 mm; max skull height of 14.76 mm) while the muzzle is short (14.50 mm from the naris to the orbit) making up about 29% of the total skull length.Tympanic bullae are elongate and rounded. The sagittal and occipital crests are damaged. COMPARISON There are no species level characters that are identified on the skull making a species level diagnosis impossible. Inference based on size is possible, but it lacks the rigor to justify a species-level diagnosis. It is likely that this specimen belongs to P. sectoria based on the size (Wang & Zhang 2015), but it also overlaps in size with P. minuta (Hayes 2000). This specimen could be attributed to P. sectoria because of the presence of the P1s, but it is on the smaller end of the body size distribution. However, the presence of the P1s has been shown to be a plastic character in this genus (Simpson 1946). Additionally, P. sectoria is traditionally known from the Oligocene while P. minuta is known from the Miocene (de Bonis 1981) further suggesting this specimen could be P. sectoria. However, this is called into question by the presence of P. sectoria in the Miocene of South Dakota (Harksen & MacDonald 1967) and reference to specimens of this species from the Eocene (Baskin & Tedford 1996; Boyd & Welsh 2014). The morphology of JODA 13221 also closely resembles a skull from the Oligocene White River Badlands of South Dakota (BADL 18581/SDSM 7118) which has also not been assigned to a specific species of Palaeogale (Benton et al. 2015). The teeth of JODA 13221 are not robust or large enough to be P. hyaenoides (Fejfar et al. 2003), or P. praehyaenoides (Morlo 1996). The skull clearly cannot belong to Cryptailurus, the other genus putatively in the Palaeogalidae, because the muzzle is narrow, P4 protocone is less developed, and the bullae are inflated and less flattened ventrally (Martin & Lim 2001)., Published as part of Famoso, Nicholas A. & Orcutt, John D., 2022, First occurrences of Palaeogale von Meyer, 1846 in the Pacific Northwest, United States, pp. 427-436 in Geodiversitas 44 (14) on pages 430-431, DOI: 10.5252/geodiversitas2022v44a14, http://zenodo.org/record/6448632, {"references":["ALBRIGHT L. B., WOODBURNE M. O., FREMD T. J., SWISHER C. C., MACFADDEN B. J. & SCOTT G. R. 2008. - Revised Chronostratigraphy and Biostratigraphy of the John Day Formation (Turtle Cove and Kimberly Members), Oregon, with Implications for Updated Calibration of the Arikareean North American Land Mammal Age. Journal of Geology 116: 211 - 237. https: // doi. org / 10.1086 / 587650","WANG J. & ZHANG Z. - Q. 2015. - Phylogenetic analysis on Palaeogale (Palaeogalidae, Carnivora) based on specimens from Oligocene strata of Saint-Jacques, Nei Mongol. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 53 (4): 310 - 334. http: // www. vertpala. ac. cn / EN / Y 2015 / V 53 / I 4 / 310","HAYES F. G. 2000. - The Brooksville 2 local fauna (Arikareean, latest Oligocene): Hernando County, Florida. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 43 (1): 1 - 47.","SIMPSON G. G. 1946. - Palaeogale and allied early Mustelids. American Museum Novitates 1320: 1 - 14. http: // hdl. handle. net / 2246 / 2311","DE BONIS L. 1981. - Contribution a l'Etude du genre Palaeogale Meyer (Mammalia, Carnivora). Annales de Paleontologie (Vertebres) 67 (1): 37 - 56.","HARKSEN J. C. & MACDONALD J. R. 1967. - Miocene Batesland Formation named in southwestern South Dakota. Report of Investigations 96: 1 - 10.","BASKIN J. A. & TEDFORD R. H. 1996. - Small Arctoid and Feliform Carnivorans, in PROTHERO D. R. & EMERY R. J. (eds), The Terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene Transition in North America. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 486 - 497. https: // doi. org / 10.1017 / CBO 9780511665431.025","BOYD C. A. & WELSH E. 2014. - Description of an earliest Orellan fauna from Badlands National Park, interior, south Dakota and implications for the stratigraphic position of the Bloom Basin limestone bed. Dakoterra 6: 124 - 147.","BENTON R. C., TERRY JR D. O., EVANOFF E. & MCDONALD H. G. 2015. - The White River Badlands: Geology and Paleontology. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 222 p.","FEJFAR O., DVORAK Z. & KADLECOVA E. 2003. - New record of Early Miocene (MN 3 a) mammals in the open brown coal pit Merkur, North Bohemia, Czech Republic. Deinsea 10: 163 - 182.","MORLO M. 1996. - Carnivoren aus dem Unter-Miozan des Mainzer Beckens (2. Mustelida, Pinnipedia, Feliformia, Palaeogale). Senckenbergiana Lethaea 76 (1 / 2): 193 - 249. https: // doi. org / 10.1007 / BF 03042850","MARTIN L. D. & LIM J. - D. 2001. - A musteliform carnivore from the American Early Miocene. Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaontologie Monatshefte 5: 265 - 276. https: // doi. org / 10.1127 / njgpm / 2001 / 2001 / 265"]}

Palaeogale dorothiae MacDonald, 1963 (Fig. 3; Table 2) REFERRED SPECIMENS. — JODA 6177 left fragmentary dentary with p4-m1. JODA 5893 right fragmentary dentary with p2 and p4. OCCURRENCE. — JDNM-140, Lonerock, Gilliam County, Oregon, USA. Kimberly Member, John Day Formation. Precise locality information available to qualified researchers upon request. AGE. — Late Oligocene in the Late Arikareean (Ar3) NALMA, between the Tin Roof Tuff (25.3 Ma) and the UNSM JD-BC-3 tuff (23.5-23.8 Ma) (Fremd & Whistler 2009). SPECIES DIAGNOSIS. — The p4 is without a posterior accessory cusp and the protoconid of the m1 is not expanded laterally (MacDonald 1963). DESCRIPTION JODA 5893 has no posterior accessory cusp on p4; however, there is a small enamel anomaly on the posterior edge. There is an alveolus for p3. The p2 crown is stretched forward with an upturned posterior heel. JODA 6177 is broken behind the c, and there is no p2 alveoli. There is no p4 accessory cusp. The m1 protoconid is not expanded laterally. See Table 2 for measurements of both specimens. COMPARISON Both specimens match the species diagnosis in the absence of the p4 accessory cusp. They are both too large to be P. minuta. In JODA 5893, the morphology of the p4 is similar to P. sectoria (Lange-Badre & Dashzeveg 1989; Wang & Zhang 2015). The size of JODA 6177 is comparable to P. sectoria from Mongolia but the protoconid of the m1 is not expanded (Lange-Badre & Dashzeveg 1989; Wang & Zhang 2015). The type specimen is from the Sharps Formation of South Dakota which is 30-28.6 Ma (MacDonald 1963; McConnell & DiBenedetto 2012). Swisher (1982) states that this species is also known from the Brown Siltstone Beds or Whitney Member of the Brule Formation (c. 31-30 Ma) and the Unit B Member of the Gering Formation (28.26-28.11 Ma) both of Nebraska (Tedford et al. 1996, 2004). This makes the Lonerock specimens, which are between 25.3 and 23.8 Ma, the latest known occurrences of this species., Published as part of Famoso, Nicholas A. & Orcutt, John D., 2022, First occurrences of Palaeogale von Meyer, 1846 in the Pacific Northwest, United States, pp. 427-436 in Geodiversitas 44 (14) on page 432, DOI: 10.5252/geodiversitas2022v44a14, http://zenodo.org/record/6448632, {"references":["MACDONALD J. R. 1963. - The Miocene Faunas from the Wounded Knee Area of Western South Dakota. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 125 (3): 139 - 240. http: // hdl. handle. net / 2246 / 1259","FREMD T. J. & WHISTLER D. P. 2009. - Preliminary description of a new microvertebrate assemblage from the Arikareean (Early Miocene) John Day Formation, Central Oregon. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 65: 159 - 169.","WANG J. & ZHANG Z. - Q. 2015. - Phylogenetic analysis on Palaeogale (Palaeogalidae, Carnivora) based on specimens from Oligocene strata of Saint-Jacques, Nei Mongol. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 53 (4): 310 - 334. http: // www. vertpala. ac. cn / EN / Y 2015 / V 53 / I 4 / 310","MCCONNELL T. H. & DIBENEDETTO J. N. 2012. - Geology of the Early Arikareean Sharps Formation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and surrounding areas of South Dakota and Nebraska. PloS one 7 (10): e 47759. https: // doi. org / 10.1371 / journal. pone. 0047759","SWISHER C. C. III 1982. - Stratigraphy and Biostratigraphy of the Eastern Portion of the Wildcat Ridge, Western Nebraska. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 344 p.","TEDFORD R. H., SWINEHART J. B., SWISHER III C. C., PROTHERO D. R., KING S. A. & TIERNEY T. E. 1996. - The Whitneyan- Arikareean transition in the High Plains, in PROTHERO D. R. & EMERY R. J. (eds), The Terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene Transition in North America. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 312 - 334. https: // doi. org / 10.1017 / CBO 9780511665431.016","TEDFORD R. H., ALBRIGHT III L. B., BARNOSKY A. D., FERRUSQUIA- VILLAFRANCA I., HUNT JR R. M., STORER J. E., SWISHER III C. C., VOORHIES M. R., WEBB S. D. & WHISTLER D. P. 2004. - Mammalian biochronology of the Arikareean through Hemphillian interval (late Oligocene through early Pliocene epochs), in WOODBURNE M. O. (ed.), Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America: Biostratigraphy and Geochronology. Columbia University Press, New York: 169 - 231. http: // www. jstor. org / stable / 10.7312 / wood 13040.12"]}