A new genus of tiny, hornless deer that lived in South Dakota during the Oligocene Epoch approximately 32 million years ago has been discovered by a team of researchers from Badlands National Park, the American Museum of Natural History and California State Polytechnic University, officials said.

The new deer, called Santuccimeryx, meaning “Santucci’s ruminant”, was named after Vincent L. Santucci, the Senior Paleontologist and Paleontology Program Coordinator in the Geologic Resources Division of the National Park Service “to honor his history with and advocacy for the paleontology program at Badlands National Park,” according to a statement from the National Park Service announcing the discovery.

The research was published this week in the “Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science.”

“Santuccimeryx belongs to the extinct family Leptomerycidae, and its skull shares features of both the Oligocene genus Leptomeryx and the Miocene genus Pseudoparablastomeryx, two animals that are nearly 10 million years apart in time,” NPS said in their statement. “The family Leptomerycidae were about the size of house cats and lived in North America from the late-middle Eocene (about 41 million years ago) to the end of the middle Miocene (about 11 million years ago). They are considered close relatives to the living chevrotains, or mouse deer, from the tropical forests of central and western Africa and southeast Asia.”

The new genus of deer has teeth very similar to Leptomeryx and a skull resembling that of the Pseudoparablastomeryx, officials said.

“Since it does not fit into either existing genus, [officials] concluded the deer must be placed into a new genus of its own,” NPS said.

“I am both personally and professionally grateful to be associated with this important new fossil discovery from Badlands National Park, where I began my career as a paleontologist with the National Park Service in 1985,” Santucci said.

The research was prompted when the first — and still only known skull of the deer — was discovered at Badlands in 2016.

“It’s a really neat example with this paper to be able to highlight citizen science, because this is the only skull of this animal ever found,” Mattison Shreero, who headed up the research, said. “And if somebody had walked away with it, or if they just hadn’t reported it and it had eroded away, we would have never known about it.”

Visitors at Badlands who spot what they think might be a fossil or artifact are asked to leave it in place and submit a Visitor Site Report at the Visitor Center, with a park ranger, or by email information about their find to Badlands_fossil_finds@nps.gov.

South Dakota has joined a group of states, led by North Dakota and West Virginia, in asking a federal court to review new pollution standards impacting the coal industry.

Attorneys general from 23 states signed the petition asking for a review of the regulations that took effect Tuesday. The final proposed rules became public on April 25.

“This rule intentionally sets impossible standards to destroy the coal industry,” North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said in a news release. 

Wrigley said the Biden administration has ignored limits on its authority set by Congress.

“Federal agencies cannot decide on a whim to destroy entire industries,” Wrigley said.

North Dakota prepares to fight EPA rule one official calls a ‘death penalty for coal’

The petition was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., asking the court to review the Environmental Protection Agency rule.

Other states that signed the petition were Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.

In its announcement of the rules on April 25, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said “EPA is cutting pollution while ensuring that power companies can make smart investments and continue to deliver reliable electricity for all Americans.”

In particular, North Dakota officials have taken issue with new, stricter mercury emissions standards.

Dave Glatt, director of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, said the mercury standard provides no measurable health benefits and are a “death sentence for coal.”

Jason Bohrer, president and CEO of the Lignite Energy Council, released a statement after the final rule was announced in April.

“Electricity demand is surging, and the EPA’s agenda will severely impact our ability to rely on electricity 24/7,” Bohrer said. “These regulations mandate either fuel switching or the implementation of unproven technology, jeopardizing the stability of the national power supply, and putting over 12,000 jobs in the lignite industry at risk.”

The Lignite Energy Council says the North Dakota coal industry contributes $5.75 billion to the state economy and more than $100 million in state and local taxes.

In addition to mercury reductions, the new rules also lower the levels of pollutants that coal-fired power plants can discharge through wastewater, sets standards for handling coal ash and sets limits on carbon emissions. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and other state officials have repeatedly complained about onerous regulations from the Biden administration, with Burgum even making a plea to a legislative committee to provide adequate funding for the state’s legal battles with the federal government.

South Dakota head men’s basketball coach Eric Peterson announced the addition of Dwight Smith to his coaching staff. Smith joins the Coyotes from Salt Lake Community College.
 
Smith served as an assistant coach at Salt Lake Community College for the 2023-24 season, helping guide the Bruins to a 30-4 overall record a 12-2 conference record. The Bruins won the Region 18 Tournament and the West District title game to advance the NJCAA DI National Tournament. Salt Lake also had three players named to the all-SWAC first team.
 
Prior to his time at Salt Lake, Smith served as a men’s basketball assistant coach at McCook Community College (NE) for three seasons, where he oversaw player development and recruiting. Smith helped produce four Region 9 NJCAA all-conference members in his time with the Indians.
 
Smith spent the 2018-2019 season as an assistant coach at Eastern Wyoming College. He helped lead the Lancers to their first Region 9 tournament appearance since 2011.
 
Smith hails from Omaha, Nebraska, and played collegiately at Colorado State and Northern Colorado. He was a sophomore guard on Tim Miles’ 2012 Colorado State team that won 20 games and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003. Former South Dakota head men’s basketball coach Craig Smith was an assistant for the Rams during that season. Smith started eight games and averaged 5.1 points per game for Colorado State that season.

https://goyotes.com/news/2024/5/9/mens-basketball-smith-added-to-coyote-coaching-staff.aspx