PINUS × CRITCHFIELDII, A LATE PLEISTOCENE HYBRID PINE FROM COASTAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

1988 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 558-569
Author(s):  
Daniel I. Axelrod ◽  
Thomas G. Hill
2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 20140203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larisa R. G. DeSantis ◽  
Ryan J. Haupt

Cougars ( Puma concolor ) are one of only two large cats in North America to have survived the Late Pleistocene extinction (LPE), yet the specific key(s) to their relative success remains unknown. Here, we compare the dental microwear textures of Pleistocene cougars with sympatric felids from the La Brea Tar Pits in southern California that went extinct at the LPE ( Panthera atrox and Smilodon fatalis ), to clarify potential dietary factors that led to the cougar's persistence through the LPE. We further assess whether the physical properties of food consumed have changed over time when compared with modern cougars in southern California. Using dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA), which quantifies surface features in three dimensions, we find that modern and Pleistocene cougars are not significantly different from modern African lions in any DMTA attributes, suggesting moderate durophagy (i.e. bone processing). Pleistocene cougars from La Brea have significantly greater complexity and textural fill volume than Panthera atrox (inferred to have primarily consumed flesh from fresh kills) and significantly greater variance in complexity values than S. fatalis . Ultimately, these results suggest that cougars already used or adopted a more generalized dietary strategy during the Pleistocene that may have been key to their subsequent success.


2010 ◽  
Vol 217 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 256-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Springer ◽  
Eric Scott ◽  
J. Christopher Sagebiel ◽  
Lyndon K. Murray

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