An Eocene primate from California

Recognition of a primate in the mammalian assemblage now being recorded from one of the faunal stages of the Sespe, north of the Simi Valley, California, comes with startling abruptness, yet is not wholly unexpected. No fewer than five fragments of jaws, probably representing as many individuals, have been found recently. The sudden appearance of this material in the collections of fossil mammalian remains obtained at Locality 150 Calif. Inst. Tech. Vert. Pale. commands attention when it is stated that excavations at this site have been in progress more or less continuously during the past two years

Sespe Eocene didelphids

In segregating a number of tiny insectivore and primate jaws from the Sespe deposits of California, several specimens were noted that clearly belong to marsupials. These are all incomplete but possess interest because they record didelphids for the first time in the North American upper Eocene and secondly because this group of mammals has not been known heretofore in Tertiary faunas west of the Rocky Mountains except for a single occurrence in the upper Oligocene John Day assemblage of north-central Oregon

Carnivora from the Sespe of the Las Posas Hills, California

The generic assemblage of carnivores known at present from the Kew Quarry of the Las Posas Hills, Ventura County, California, is perhaps most noteworthy because of its resemblance to that recorded from the John Day. Three members of the Canidae and two of the Felidae have been listed on the basis of skull remains. More detailed investigation of the structural characters of these types reveals a close specific similarity to comparable forms from the John Day. Indeed, one of the principal reasons for regarding the fauna from the Kew Quarry as closely related in time to that from the John Day beds of eastern Oregon is furnished by this kinship among the Carnivora. Although all of the carnivores are new to the Tertiary mammalian faunas of the Californian region, the skull material of Hoplophoneus possesses added interest, representing as it does the smallest sabre-tooth cat from North America. Surprising, to say the least, is this striking evidence that within the Tertiary faunal province of southern California occurred an early member of that great group of cats, of which one of the latest and most advanced stages of development is recorded so fully in the Pleistocene Smilodon of the asphalt deposits of Rancho La Brea

Eocene Amynodonts from Southern California

Introduction.-Since the description [1] of a skull of Amynodontopsis bodei and of a lower jaw referred to this species from the uppermost Eocene, further dental parts have become available for study from localities in the Sespe. These furnish additional characters of value in recognizing the species represented in western Eocene deposits. Now also available is a fragment of skull with cheek-teeth from the Poway Eocene of San Diego County, California. This specimen possesses special significance because it permits a comparison with related forms in America and China. It is likewise of interest because it differs from the amynodonts of the Sespe and is clearly an earlier type

Sloth tracks in the Carson prison

In much the same manner that a print of man's hand or foot leads to individual identification, so fossil footprints reveal the kinds of creatures who unwittingly have left their mark on the sands of time. Some four-footed animals, whose tracks have been uncovered in ancient rock formations, furnish for posterity only this evidence of a former existence. On the other hand, tracks like those of a dinosaur convey something more tangible. Scientific fact and popular fancy have done much these days to make the layman dinosaur-conscious. But realization that particular tracks were left by reptiles now long extinct comes largely from demonstration that the skeletal parts and bodily form of these animals correspond exactly to those surmised from the imprints

Ice Age Elephants of the Channel Islands

Of the small company of land mammals native to the Channel Islands of Southern California none reaches large size, and, if we exclude aboriginal man and his dog, the largest is the fox. This interesting creature, once more numerous than it now is, exists under a variety of conditions on the several islands and may be seen occasionally searching for food along the seashore or living in cactus patches, brushy ravines, and on the open slopes of hills to an elevation of more than 2,000 feet. It seems to lead at present a solitary life. The island species was long ago recognized by biologists as a distinctive type, related to the mainland gray fox rather than to the kit fox and red fox. Six races have now been identified, one for each of the principal islands comprising the Channel Island group