Stratigraphic nomenclature of the Miocene Hemingford group

The present paper is an attempt to analyze the rather perplexing and labyrinthine literature dealing with the Miocene stratigraphy and verte-brate paleontology of western Nebraska and nearby areas. Little or no new information is introduced here, but my interpretation of the pub-lished data is in some cases at variance with the views of others, and such differences of opinion should be aired. The discussion presented here is not, however, wholly an office exercise. Like many another vertebrate paleontologist, I owe a great debt to the late Dr. Harold J. Cook ofAgate, Nebraska, who first introduced me to the complex Miocene stratigraphy of western Nebraska in 1947 and who gave freely of his knowledge on innumerable occasions thereafter, both in the field and in his home. I also owe much to other colleagues for their patient instruction. Dr. C. Bertrand Schultz guided me through part of the type area of Peterson's Upper Harrison beds; Mr. Ted Galusha instructed me in the Heming-fordian and later sediments of Dawes, Sheridan, and Box Butte counties; and Mr. Morris F. Skinner guided me in various parts of Sioux County and elsewhere. My views are, of course, my own, and none of these gen-tlemen necessarily endorses my conclusions. I have personally studied all the rock units discussed and have visited all but one2 of the localities on various occasions. Fossil mammals in the Cook Collection and the Ameri