Holocene Underkill
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Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections
SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOLUME 99, NUMBER 4 A CHECK-LIST OF THE FOSSIL BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA BY ALEXANDER WETMORE Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution (Publication 3587) CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION JUNE 18, 1940 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOLUME 99, NUMBER 4 A CHECK-LIST OF THE FOSSIL BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA BY ALEXANDER WETMORE Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution (Publication 3587) CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION JUNE 18, 1940 Z^t £ovi) i^a{fttnore (pnea BALTIMORE, MD., U. 8. A. A CHECK-LIST OF THE FOSSIL BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA By ALEXANDER WETMORE Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution Since publication of the last complete list of the fossil birds of North America, which appeared in the Fourth Edition of the Check- list of North American Birds of the American Ornithologists' Union in October 1931, there have been many changes and additions, both in species found only in fossil state and in modern forms recorded from Pleistocene and (rarely) earUer deposits. This information is widely scattered so that it seems pertinent now to gather it together and to present the entire list again for the use of all who may be interested. The material that follows is complete so far as records have come to attention to January 1940. In preparing this paper every species included has been checked carefully against the original records, and data pertaining to geologic distribution have been revised. As in the fourth edition of the A. O. U. Check-list, all modern forms for which there are fossil records have been included. -
Late Quaternary Extinctions on California's
Flightless ducks, giant mice and pygmy mammoths: Late Quaternary extinctions on California’s Channel Islands Torben C. Rick, Courtney A. Hofman, Todd J. Braje, Jesu´ s E. Maldonado, T. Scott Sillett, Kevin Danchisko and Jon M. Erlandson Abstract Explanations for the extinction of Late Quaternary megafauna are heavily debated, ranging from human overkill to climate change, disease and extraterrestrial impacts. Synthesis and analysis of Late Quaternary animal extinctions on California’s Channel Islands suggest that, despite supporting Native American populations for some 13,000 years, few mammal, bird or other species are known to have gone extinct during the prehistoric human era, and most of these coexisted with humans for several millennia. Our analysis provides insight into the nature and variability of Quaternary extinctions on islands and a broader context for understanding ancient extinctions in North America. Keywords Megafauna; island ecology; human-environmental interactions; overkill; climate change. Downloaded by [Torben C. Rick] at 03:56 22 February 2012 Introduction In earth’s history there have been five mass extinctions – the Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous events – characterized by a loss of over 75 per cent of species in a short geological time period (e.g. 2 million years or less: Barnosky et al. 2011). Although not a mass extinction, one of the most heavily debated extinction events is the Late Quaternary extinction of megafauna, when some two-thirds of large terrestrial mammalian genera (444kg) worldwide went extinct (Barnosky et al. 2004). Explanations for this event include climate change, as the planet went from a glacial to interglacial World Archaeology Vol. -
Verification and Reverification: Problems in Archaeofaunal Studies
J. Ethnobiol. 6(1):9-18 Sunnner 1986 VERIFICATION AND REVERIFICATION: PROBLEMS IN ARCHAEOFAUNAL STUDIES AMADEO M. REA Curator of Birds and Mammals Natural History Museum Post Office Box 1390 San Diego, CA 92112 ABSTRACT.-Biological materials from archaeological excavations, particularly faunal remains, are of most lasting scientific value if they are properly handled, individually numbered, and adequately reported in published accounts. Archaeologists are urged never to put bones in plastic bags. Authors of faunal accounts are encouraged to publish reasons for their determinations, to mention comparative materials used, and to give individual identifying numbers and element descriptions with their proveniences to aid subsequent study and reverification. Knowledge of the local fauna enhances the validity of interpreta tions. Better appreciation of the culture and its particular technology would improve biologists' accounts. Archaeological bones have been used in reconstruction of past diets and environments. They are of use to both paleontologists and neontologists. A signifi cant contribution of biological materials is the demonstration of human-wrought modifica tions (particularly insular extinctions and extirpations) in species densities. Existing com parative osteological collections are weak in quantity and sometimes poor in quality; 820/0 of the world's ca. 9,000 bird species are represented by ten or fewer skeletons in museums worldwide. INTRODUCTION The very basis of science is empirical evidence. The taxonomic disciplines are based on specimen documentation, publicly available, subject to reverification. Ethnobiological studies are no exception. The biological specimens that a native consultant associates with her or his ethnotaxonomic identifications (voucher specimens, see Bye 1986),together with that person's critical comments, should be available to future workers once the research is published. -
Mitogenomics Supports an Unexpected Taxonomic Relationship for the Extinct Diving Duck Chendytes Lawi and Definitively Places the Extinct Labrador Duck ⁎ Janet C
Buckner, et al. Published in Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution, 122:102-109. 2018 Mitogenomics supports an unexpected taxonomic relationship for the extinct diving duck Chendytes lawi and definitively places the extinct Labrador Duck ⁎ Janet C. Bucknera, Ryan Ellingsona, David A. Goldb, Terry L. Jonesc, David K. Jacobsa, a Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States b Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, United States c Department of Social Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 9340, United States ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Chendytes lawi, an extinct flightless diving anseriform from coastal California, was traditionally classified as a sea Biodiversity duck, tribe Mergini, based on similarities in osteological characters. We recover and analyze mitochondrial Anatidae genomes of C. lawi and five additional Mergini species, including the extinct Labrador Duck, Camptorhynchus Ancient DNA labradorius. Despite its diving morphology, C. lawi is reconstructed as an ancient relictual lineage basal to the Labrador duck dabbling ducks (tribe Anatini), revealing an additional example of convergent evolution of characters related to Mitochondrial genome feeding behavior among ducks. The Labrador Duck is sister to Steller’s Eider which may provide insights into the California paleontology Duck evolution evolution and ecology of this poorly known extinct species. Our results demonstrate that inclusion of full length mitogenomes, from taxonomically distributed ancient and modern sources can improve phylogeny reconstruc- tion of groups previously assessed with shorter single-gene mitochondrial sequences. 1. Introduction an extended study by Livezey (1993) suggested placement in the eider genus Somateria. -
A New Anseriform Genus and Species from the Nebraska Pliocene
A NEW ANSERIFORM GENUS AND SPECIES FROM THE NEBRASKA PLIOCENE LESTER L. SHORT AMONGavian fossilson loan to me from the University of Nebraska State Museumis the tarsometatarsusof a goose-likeanseriform bird from the early Plioceneof Nebraska. The tarsometatarsushas somefeatures of geeseand swans,and of the anatinetribe Tadornini,but it alsotends somewhattoward the Cairinini in someof its features. Comparisonwith extant and fossilAnseriformes in the American Museum of Natural History and the United States National Museum and a study of the literature have convincedme that this tarsometatarsusrepresents an undescribed speciesthat is sufficientlydistinct to warrant placementin a new genus. I thank the authoritiesof the above-mentionedmuseum for their help in conductingmy studies.I am gratefulto CharlesG. Sibley,who originally borrowedthe fossil,for permissionto studyit. It is a pleasureto acknowl- edgethe aid of C. B. Schultzfor the loan of the material, and H. B. Gundersonof the Universityof NebraskaState Museumfor usefulinfor- mationconcerning the fossil. The use and potential importance of stereophotographyin avian paleontologyhas beendiscussed by Cracraft (1968: 3-4). I hope the stereophotographsreproduced here will facilitatecomparisons by avian paleontologists. Heteroehen, new genus Type of genus.--Heterochenpratensis, new species. Diagnosis.--Anseriformtarsometatarsus, near the size of Anser anser, and characterizedby: trochleaenot spreadgreatly as in modern swans, geeseand sheldrakes;outer surfacegently curving toward distal end -
A Giant Anseriformes of the Neogene of The
Downloaded from http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/ on January 11, 2017 The extreme insular adaptation of Garganornis rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org ballmanni Meijer, 2014: a Research giant Anseriformes of the Cite this article: Pavia M, Meijer HJM, Rossi Neogene of the MA, Göhlich UB. 2017 The extreme insular adaptation of Garganornis ballmanni Meijer, 2014: a giant Anseriformes of the Neogene of Mediterranean Basin the Mediterranean Basin. R. Soc. open sci. 1 2 4: 160722. Marco Pavia , Hanneke J. M. Meijer , Maria Adelaide http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160722 Rossi3 and Ursula B. Göhlich4 1Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Museo di Geologia e Paleontologia, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Torino, Italy Received: 20 September 2016 2Department of Natural History, University Museum, University of Bergen, Postboks Accepted: 5 December 2016 7800, 5007 Bergen, Norway 3Soprintendenza archeologia, belle arti e paesaggio dell’Abruzzo, Via degli Agostiniani 14, 66100 Chieti, Italy 4Department of Geology and Paleontology, Natural History Museum Vienna, Subject Category: Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria Earth science MP, 0000-0002-5188-4155 Subject Areas: palaeontology New skeletal elements of the recently described endemic giant anseriform Garganornis ballmanni Meijer, 2014 are presented, coming from the type-area of the Gargano and from Scontrone, Keywords: southern and central Italy, respectively. The new remains fossil bird, Anseriformes, flightlessness, represent the first bird remains found at Scontrone so far, and insular gigantism, Miocene, Italy another shared element between these two localities, both part of the Apulia-Abruzzi Palaeobioprovince. The presence of a very reduced carpometacarpus confirms its flightlessness, only previously supposed on the basis of the very large size, while Author for correspondence: the morphologies of tarsometatarsus and posterior phalanges Marco Pavia clearly indicate the adaptation of G. -
Chendytes, a Diving Goose from the California Pleistocene (With Drawings)
July, 1925 145 CHENDYTES, A DIVING GOOSE FROM THE CALIFORNIA PLEISTOCENE WITH SET OF DRAWINGS By LCYE MILLER OME MONTHS ago Dr. Frank C. Clark of Santa Monica, California, placed in my hands for description, a small collection of bird bones which he had S accumulated while collecting invertebrate remains from a Pleistocene deposit just north of Santa Monica. This exposure is presumably part of the Upper San Pedro horizon of Ralph Arnold (M em. Calif. Acad. Sci., III, 1903), although a check of the invertebrate fauna has not been carefully made. The accumulation is typical littoral marine such as is exposed at the lumber yard, one .of Arnold’s collecting stations. The matrix is heterogeneous sand and gravel laid down in shallow water, rich in molluscan remains and containing water-worn specimens of numerous verte- brates. The bird remains here discussedhave all undergone change in composition comparable to those specimens taken at the lumber yard in San Pedro. The organic matter appears to have entirely disappeared, leaving the specimens very porous and highly absorbent like unglazed pottery. Much mineral matter seems to have been laid down within the tissue and the specimensclink together with a vitreous sound; but the larger cavities have not been filled by crystals. At least three speciesof birds are represented in the collection, only two of which are determinable. One of these two still survives ‘as a common member of the local avifauna, the Farallon Cormorant. The other speciesis of especial interest as repre- senting a gigantic species of diving anserine, heretofore unknown to science. -
Origins and Antiquity of the Island F0 0000000000 65535 F 0000075452
Quaternary Research 71 (2009) 93–98 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yqres Origins and antiquity of the island fox (Urocyon littoralis) on California's Channel Islands Torben C. Rick a,⁎, Jon M. Erlandson b,c, René L. Vellanoweth d, Todd J. Braje e, Paul W. Collins f, Daniel A. Guthrie g, Thomas W. Stafford Jr. h a Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. 20013-7012, USA b Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon, Eugene 97403-1224, USA c Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1218, USA d Department of Anthropology, California State University, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA e Department of Anthropology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521, USA f Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, CA 93105, USA g Joint Science Department, Claremont Colleges, Claremont, CA 91711-5916, USA h Stafford Research, Inc., 200 Acadia Avenue, Lafayette, CO 80026, USA article info abstract Article history: The island fox (Urocyon littoralis) is one of few reportedly endemic terrestrial mammals on California's Received 16 February Channel Islands. Questions remain about how and when foxes first colonized the islands, with researchers Available online 18 January 2009 speculating on a natural, human-assisted, or combined dispersal during the late Pleistocene and/or Holocene. A natural dispersal of foxes to the northern Channel Islands has been supported by reports of a few fox bones Keywords: from late Pleistocene paleontological localities. Direct AMS 14C dating of these “fossil” fox bones produced Island fox dates ranging from ∼6400 to 200 cal yr BP, however, postdating human colonization of the islands by several Urocyon littoralis Animal translocation millennia. -
Caudipteryx As a Non-Avialan Theropod Rather Than a Flightless Bird
Caudipteryx as a non−avialan theropod rather than a flightless bird GARETH J. DYKE and MARK A. NORELL Dyke, G.J. and Norell, M.A. 2005. Caudipteryx as a non−avialan theropod rather than a flightless bird. Acta Palaeontolo− gica Polonica 50 (1): 101–116. Caudipteryx zoui is a small enigmatic theropod known from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of the People’s Re− public of China. From the time of its initial description, this taxon has stimulated a great deal of ongoing debate regarding the phylogenetic relationship between non−avialan theropods and birds (Avialae) because it preserves structures that have been uncontroversially accepted as feathers (albeit aerodynamically unsuitable for flight). However, it has also been pro− posed that both the relative proportions of the hind limb bones (when compared with overall leg length), and the position of the center of mass in Caudipteryx are more similar to those seen in extant cusorial birds than they are to other non−avialan theropod dinosaurs. This conclusion has been used to imply that Caudipteryx may not have been correctly in− terpreted as a feathered non−avialan theropod, but instead that this taxon represents some kind of flightless bird. We re− view the evidence for this claim at the level of both the included fossil specimen data, and in terms of the validity of the re− sults presented. There is no reason—phylogenetic, morphometric or otherwise—to conclude that Caudipteryx is anything other than a small non−avialan theropod dinosaur. Key words: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Avialae, birds, feathers, Yixian Formation, Cretaceous, China. Gareth J. -
Pleistocene Overkill and North American Mammalian Extinctions
AN44CH03-Meltzer ARI 29 September 2015 10:49 Pleistocene Overkill and North American Mammalian Extinctions David J. Meltzer Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275; email: [email protected] Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2015. 44:33–53 Keywords The Annual Review of Anthropology is online at Clovis, megafauna, hunting, extinction, climate change, ancient DNA anthro.annualreviews.org This article’s doi: Abstract 10.1146/annurev-anthro-102214-013854 Clovis groups in Late Pleistocene North America occasionally hunted several Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2015.44:33-53. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Copyright c 2015 by Annual Reviews. now extinct large mammals. But whether their hunting drove 37 genera of Access provided by Southern Methodist University on 10/22/15. For personal use only. All rights reserved animals to extinction has been disputed, largely for want of kill sites. Overkill proponents argue that there is more archaeological evidence than we ought to expect, that humans had the wherewithal to decimate what may have been millions of animals, and that the appearance of humans and the disappearance of the fauna is too striking to be a mere coincidence. Yet, there is less to these claims than meets the eye. Moreover, extinctions took place amid sweeping climatic and environmental changes as the Pleistocene came to an end. It has long been difficult to link those changes to mammalian extinctions, but the advent of ancient DNA, coupled with high-resolution paleoecological, radiocarbon, and archeological records, should help disentangle the relative role of changing climates and people in mammalian extinctions. 33 AN44CH03-Meltzer ARI 29 September 2015 10:49 INTRODUCTION Paleontologist Alfred Romer was perplexed. -
Channel Islands National Park Archaeological
CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK ARCHAEOLOGICAL OVERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT Authors Todd J. Braje Julia G. Costello Jon M. Erlandson Michael A. Glassow John R. Johnson Don P. Morris Jennifer E. Perry Torben C. Rick Compiler and Editor Michael A. Glassow Channel Islands National Park, Department of the Interior December 2010 Table of Contents List of Tables . iii List of Figures . iii Chapter 1. Introduction Environmental Context of Channel Islands National Park . 1.1 Changes in Archaeological Research and Resource Management since 1975 . 1.6 Significance of Cultural Resources within the Park . 1.7 Organization of the Volume . 1.8 Acknowledgements . 1.10 Chapter 2. Prehistory and History Prehistory . 2.1 History . 2.34 Chapter 3. Chumash Islanders at European Contact Introduction . 3.1 Culture History from Initial Contact through the Last Aboriginal Occupation . 3.1 Historic Chumash Rancherías . 3.6 Population Estimates . 3.15 Marriage and Family Patterns . 3.16 Sociopolitical Organization . 3.18 Conclusion . 3.19 Chapter 4. Prehistoric Archaeological Resources on Santa Barbara Island Status of Resource Inventories . 4.1 Project Descriptions . 4.3 Chapter 5. Prehistoric Archaeological Resources on Anacapa Island Status of Resource Inventories . 5.1 Project Descriptions . 5.3 Chapter 6. Prehistoric Archaeological Resources on Santa Cruz Island Status of Resource Inventories . 6.1 Project Descriptions . 6.9 Chapter 7. Prehistoric Archaeological Resources on Santa Rosa Island Status of Resource Inventories . 7.1 Project Descriptions . 7.3 Chapter 8. Prehistoric Archaeological Resources on San Miguel Island Status of Resource Inventories . 8.1 Project Descriptions . 8.6 1.1 Chapter 9. Historic Archaeological Resources in Channel Islands National Park Status of Resource Inventories . -
PHYLOGENY and EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY of MODERN SEADUCKS (ANATIDAE: MERGINI)L
The Condor97:233-255 0 The Ccaper OrnithologicalSociety 1995 PHYLOGENY AND EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY OF MODERN SEADUCKS (ANATIDAE: MERGINI)l BRADLEY C. LIVEZEY Section of Birds, CarnegieMuseum of Natural History, 4400 ForbesAvenue, Pittsburgh,PA 15213-4080 Abstract. Phylogenetic relationships of modem seaducks(Me&i) were investigated using a cladistic analysis of 137 morphological characters.The analysis produced a single tree (consistencyindex = 0.692, excludingautapomorphies) with complete resolutionof the relationshipsamong the 25 taxa recognized. Phylogeneticinferences include: (1) the eiders (Polystictaand Somateria) constitutea monophyletic group and are the sister-groupof other Mergini; (2) the remaining generic groups of Mergini, sequencedin order of increasingly close relationship, are Histrionicus,Melanitta + Camptorhynchus,Clangula, Bucephala + Mergellus.Lophodytes, and Mergus;(3) Somateria is monophyletic with S. jischerithe sister- group of its congeners;(4) the black scoters(Melanitta nigra-group)are the sister-groupof other scoters;(5) the Bufflehead (Bucephalaalbeola) is the sister-groupof the goldeneyes (B. clangufaand B. islandica);and (6) relationshipsamong mergansersare as presentedby Livezey (1989). Bootstrappingrevealed that the placement of the Smew as the sister-group of the goldeneyesis only weakly supported,and ancillary analysesrevealed that this place- ment is only one step shorter than its reduction to a trichotomy with the goldeneyesand mergansers(including Lophodytes).A phylogenetic classification of modem seaducksis