The clavicles of Smilodon fatalis and Panthera atrox (mammalia: Felidae) from Rancho La Brea, Los Angeles, California

2012 ◽  
Vol 273 (9) ◽  
pp. 981-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Hartstone-Rose ◽  
Ryan C. Long ◽  
Aisling B. Farrell ◽  
Christopher A. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Smilodon Fatalis ◽  
Rancho La Brea ◽  
Panthera Atrox

scholarly journals Measures of Relative Dentary Strength in Rancho La Brea Smilodon fatalis over Time

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. e0162270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy J. Binder ◽  
Kassaundra S. Cervantes ◽  
Julie A. Meachen
Keyword(s):  
Smilodon Fatalis ◽  
Rancho La Brea ◽  
Over Time

Late Quaternary Insects of Rancho La Brea and McKittrick, California

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott E. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Los Angeles County ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Kern County ◽  
Vertebrate Fauna ◽  
Modern Species ◽  
Terminal Pleistocene ◽  
Rancho La Brea

AbstractAsphalt-impregnated sediments at Rancho La Brea (Los Angeles County) and McKittrick (Kern County) in California provide a rich Quaternary insect record. Ages of various sites at Rancho La Brea range from more than 40,000 14C yr B.P. to modern. McKittrick insects studied by W. D. Pierce are not contemporaneous with the late Pleistocene vertebrate fauna, but are only about 7000 14C yr old. The major paleoecological groupings are: (1) ground dwellers, (2) aquatics. (3) scavengers, and (4) miscellaneous. Contrary to conclusions of earlier authors, most specimens represent modern species. Only two apparent terminal Pleistocene extinctions are recognized. both dung beetles (Scarabaeidae).

scholarly journals A new specimen-dependent method of estimating felid body mass

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaheer Sherani
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
The Body ◽  
Long Bone ◽  
Panthera Tigris ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Smilodon Fatalis ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Bone Dimensions ◽  
Panthera Atrox

Background. The estimation of body mass of long extinct species of the family Felidae has been a focus of paleontology. However, most utilized methods impose expected proportions on the fossil specimens being estimated, resulting in a high chance of underestimation or overestimation. This study proposes a new method of estimating felid body mass by accounting for osteological proportionality differences between the extinct taxa being estimated and the living species being used as comparisons. Method. Using a manipulation of the cube law, 36 equations were formulated that estimate body mass based on certain humeral and femoral dimensions. The formulated equations were used to examine whether the mass of living comparison species, namely the tiger (Panthera tigris), the lion (Panthera leo), and the jaguar (Panthera onca), depends equally on a select set of long bone dimensions. The body mass of five extinct felids, namely Panthera atrox, Panthera spelaea, Panthera tigris soloensis, Smilodon populator, and Smilodon fatalis, was also estimated. Results. Living comparisons species were found to somewhat incorrectly estimate other living comparison species. All five extinct taxa were found to weigh well over 300 kg, with the largest of the species weighing nearly 500 kg. Discussion. The inability of one living comparison species to predict the mass of another with strong accuracy suggests that bone dimensions do not solely influence body mass. Discrepancies between the masses of Smilodon populator and Smilodon fatalis were likely the product of the difference in available niches in late Pleistocene North and South America. The masses of Panthera spelaea and Panthera atrox indicate a discrepancy in sociality between the two closely related species. Lastly, the extreme body mass of Panthera tigris soloensis points to great plasticity within the tiger lineage in terms of size, indicating that such variations among tiger populations may not warrant subspeciation.

scholarly journals Leveraging Collective Experience to Digitize the Fossil Insects of Los Angeles

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e26385
Author(s):  
Lindsay Walker ◽  
Erica Krimmel ◽  
Jann Vendetti ◽  
Austin Hendy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fossil Insects ◽  
Test Case ◽  
History Museum ◽  
Fossil Insect ◽  
Research And Education ◽  
La Brea Tar Pits ◽  
Rancho La Brea

The Invertebrate Paleontology Collection at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLA) has received support from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF DBI 1702342) to digitize the museum’s unique and historic collection of 28,000+ fossil insects. The primary goal of this project, “Fossil Insects of L.A.”, is to increase access to these collections for both research and education. Key collections to be become discoverable through iDigBio and iDigPaleo include the Georg Statz Collection (Oligocene, Rott Formation, Germany) and three faunas from Southern California: Barstow (Miocene), Rancho La Brea (Pleistocene), and McKittrick (Pleistocene). Fossil Insects of L.A. constitutes the final contribution to the Fossil Insect Collaborative Thematic Collections Network (TCN), a consortium of institutions that have been digitizing the largest fossil insect collections in the United States. As a project beginning at the tail-end of the TCN’s active funding, Fossil Insects of L.A. is actively leveraging existing TCN knowledge and resources to streamline workflows and efficiently achieve project goals. In addition to basing imaging and preservation protocols on those designed by TCN partners, Fossil Insects of L.A. is using a layered approach to provide high-quality taxonomic information without sacrificing the pace of specimen digitization. Previously unidentified specimens are initially identified only to Order, allowing them to quickly continue through the digitization process; specimens can then be re-examined by experienced project participants and external experts, who are able to reference the specimen images generated during digitization. A critical and novel aspect of this component of the project’s workflow is the concurrent digitization of the literature associated with the Statz Collection. These data will be used as a test case for the "Enhancing Paleontological and Neontological Data Discovery API" (ePANDDA) project (NSF ICER 1821039), which seeks to associate related datasets found in iDigBio, iDigPaleo, and the Paleobiology Database. Fossil Insects of L.A. will digitize and make 10,960 specimens publically available online, of which over 6,200 will include images. An additional 15,684 specimen records from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits will also be included in the data mobilization. In doing so, Fossil Insects of L.A. intends to dramatically enhance the research potential of these formerly hidden collections, as well as synthesize and demonstrate digitization best practices generated through the TCN.

Amino Acid Geochemistry of Fossil Bones from the Rancho La Brea Asphalt Deposit, California

1982 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. S. McMenamin ◽  
David J. Blunt ◽  
Keith A. Kvenvolden ◽  
Scott E. Miller ◽  
Leslie F. Marcus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Aspartic Acid ◽  
Equivalent Age ◽  
Aspartic Acid Racemization ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Fossil Bones ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Rancho La Brea ◽  
Age Estimates

AbstractLow aspartic acid d:l ratios and modern collagenlike concentration values indicate that amino acids in bones from the Rancho La Brea asphalt deposit, Los Angeles, California are better preserved than amino acids in bones of equivalent age that have not been preserved in asphalt. Amino acids were recovered from 10 Rancho La Brea bone samples which range in age from less than 200 to greater than 36,000 yr. The calibrated rates of aspartic acid racemization range from 2.1 to 5.0 × 10−6yr−1. Although this wide range of rate constants decreases the level of confidence for age estimates, use of the larger rate constant of 5.0 × 10−6yr−1provides minimum age estimates which fit the known stratigraphic and chronologic records of the Rancho La Brea deposits.

scholarly journals A new specimen-dependent method of estimating felid body mass

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaheer Sherani
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
The Body ◽  
Long Bone ◽  
Panthera Tigris ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Smilodon Fatalis ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Bone Dimensions ◽  
Panthera Atrox

Background. The estimation of body mass of long extinct species of the family Felidae has been a focus of paleontology. However, most utilized methods impose expected proportions on the fossil specimens being estimated, resulting in a high chance of underestimation or overestimation. This study proposes a new method of estimating felid body mass by accounting for osteological proportionality differences between the extinct taxa being estimated and the living species being used as comparisons. Method. Using a manipulation of the cube law, 36 equations were formulated that estimate body mass based on certain humeral and femoral dimensions. The formulated equations were used to examine whether the mass of living comparison species, namely the tiger (Panthera tigris), the lion (Panthera leo), and the jaguar (Panthera onca), depends equally on a select set of long bone dimensions. The body mass of five extinct felids, namely Panthera atrox, Panthera spelaea, Panthera tigris soloensis, Smilodon populator, and Smilodon fatalis, was also estimated. Results. Living comparisons species were found to somewhat incorrectly estimate other living comparison species. All five extinct taxa were found to weigh well over 300 kg, with the largest of the species weighing nearly 500 kg. Discussion. The inability of one living comparison species to predict the mass of another with strong accuracy suggests that bone dimensions do not solely influence body mass. Discrepancies between the masses of Smilodon populator and Smilodon fatalis were likely the product of the difference in available niches in late Pleistocene North and South America. The masses of Panthera spelaea and Panthera atrox indicate a discrepancy in sociality between the two closely related species. Lastly, the extreme body mass of Panthera tigris soloensis points to great plasticity within the tiger lineage in terms of size, indicating that such variations among tiger populations may not warrant subspeciation.

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