DOCSLIB.ORG

Ornithological Monographs No. 45 Descriptions of Thirty-Two New

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ornithological Monographs No. 45 Descriptions of Thirty-Two New OrnithologicalMonographs No.45 DescriptionsofThirty-two NewSpecies ofBirds from the HawaiianIslands: PartI. Non-Passeriformes StowrsL. Olsonand Helen F. James OrnithologicalMonographs No.46 DescriptionsofThirty-two NewSpecies ofBirds from the HawaiianIslands: PartH. Passeriformes •y HelenF. Jamesand Stowrs L. Olson DESCRIPTIONS OF THIRTY-TWO NEW SPECIES OF BIRDS FROM THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: PART I. NON-PASSERIFORMES ORNITHOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS Edited by NED K. JOHNSON Museum of Vertebrate Zoology & Department of Integrafive Biology Life SciencesBuilding University of California Berkeley, California 94720 OrnithologicalMonographs, published by the American Ornithologists'Union, hasbeen establishedfor major paperstoo long for inclusionin the Union's journal, The Auk. Publication has been made possiblethrough the generosityof the late Mrs. Carll Tucker and the Marcia Brady Tucker Foundation, Inc. Correspondence and manuscriptsproposed for publication should be addressedto the Editor at the above address.Style and format should follow those of previous issues. Copies of Ornithological Monographs may be ordered from the Assistant to the Treasurer of the AOU, Max C. Thompson, Department of Biology, South- western College, 100 College St., Winfield, KS 67156. Price of OrnithologicalMonographs 45 and 46 bound together(not available separately):$25.00 prepaid ($22.50 to AOU members). Library of CongressCatalogue Card Number 91-72283 Printed by the Allen Press,Inc., Lawrence, Kansas 66044 Issued June 7, 1991 Copyright ¸ by the American Ornithologists'Union, 1991 ISBN: 0-935868-54-2 DESCRIPTIONS OF THIRTY-TWO NEW SPECIES OF BIRDS FROM THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS: PART I. NON-PASSERIFORMES. BY STORRS L. OLSON and HELEN F. JAMES Department of Vertebrate Zoology National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC 20560 ORNITHOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS NO. 45 PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION WASHINGTON, D.C. 1991 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..............................................................................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................................................................5 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................................................7 MATERIALS AND METHODS .........................................................................................................................11 RECAPITULATION OF FOSSIL LOCALITIES ........................................................................12 KAUM ..........................................................................................................................................................................................12 OAHU ...........................................................................................................................................................................................14 MOLOKAI ..................................................................................................................................................................................14 MAUl .............................................................................................................................................................................................14 HAWMI ......................................................................................................................................................................................17 SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY ................................................................................................................17 ORDER PROCELLARIIFORMES ...........................................................................................................................17 Family Procellariidae ...............................................................................................................................17 Genus Pterodroma Bonaparte, 1856 ....................................................................17 Pterodromajugabilis, new species....................................................................... 17 ORDER CICONIIFORMES ...........................................................................................................................................22 Family Plataleidae .........................................................................................................................................22 Genus Apteribis Olson and Wetmore, 1976 .............................................22 Apteribisglenos Olson and Wetmore, 1976 ........................................23 Apteribis brevis, new species .........................................................................................23 Apteribis sp., Maui ..............................i..................................................................................... 26 ORDER ANSERIFORMES ............................................................................................................................................28 Family Anatidae ..............................................................................................................................................28 Moa-nalos (Thambetochen and Relatives) .....................................................28 Chelychelynechen,new genus .....................................................................................32 Chelychelynechenquassus, new species.................................................. 33 Genus Thambetochen Olson and Wetmore, 1976 ......................35 Thambetochenxanion, new species ............................................................35 Thambetochenchauliodous Olson and Wetmore, 1976 __ 37 Ptaiochen, new genus............................................................................................................. 38 Ptaiochen pau, new species..................................................................................... 39 True Geese (The Nene and Relatives) ..................................................................42 Genus Branta Scopoli, 1769 ....................................................................................42 Branta aft. hylobadistes,Kauai ..........................................................................45 Branta aft. hylobadistes,Oahu ............................................................................45 Branta hylobadistes,new species..................................................................... 45 Goose-like Birds of Uncertain Affinity ................................................................47 Supernumerary Oahu Goose .......................................................................................47 Genus Geochen Wetmore, 1943 .........................................................................48 Geochen rhuax Wetmore, 1943 ....................................................................48 Very Large Hawaii Goose ...............................................................................................48 ORDER GRUIFORMES .................................................................................................................................................49 Family Rallidae .................................................................................................................................................49 Genus Porzana Vieillot, 1816 .....................................................................................49 Group 1--The Smallest Rails .................................................................................50 Porzana ziegleri, new species.............................................................................. 51 Porzana menehune,new species...................................................................... 53 Porzana keplerorum, new species.................................................................. 55 Porzana sp., small Hawaii rail ..........................................................................56 Group 2--Medium-sized Rails .............................................................................57 Porzana sp., medium Kauai rail ....................................................................57 Porzana sp., medium Maui rail ......................................................................57 Group 3--The LargestRails .......................................................................................59 Porzana sp., large Kauai rail ...............................................................................59 Porzana ralphorurn, new species..................................................................... 59 Porzana severnsLnew species .............................................................................60 Porzana sp., large Hawaii rail .............................................................................62 ORDER F•a_S2OmFORMES .....................................................................................................................................62 Family Accipitridae ...................................................................................................................................62 Genus I-Ialiaeetus Savigny, 1809 .............................................................................62 I-Ialiaeetus sp., aft. H. leucocephalus/I-I.albicilla
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Alien Animals in Hawaii's Native Ecosystems: Toward Controlling The
    ALIEN ANIMALS IN HAWAI!IfS NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS: TOWARD CONTROLLING THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF INTRODUCED VERTEBRATES Charles P. Stone ABSTRACT The adverse effects of introduced birds and mam- mals on native taxa and ecosystems in Hawaifi have been long term, widespread, and severe. Impacts began at least 1,500 years ago with colonization by the Poly- nesians and their flora and fauna, and continued with their increasingly severe disturbance to the landscape, especially below 500 m elevation. Problems accelerated with the arrival of continental man in 1778, and con- tinue to the present day with suspected deliberate re- leases of birds that threaten native species as re- cently as 1982. Alien vertebrates can affect native biota through predation, competition, depredation, and habitat degradation. Negative impacts can be subtle or dramatic, but evidence of importance is manifested in large percentages of extinct and rare taxa. In this paper, adverse effects of major bird and mammal intro- ductions are outlined where possible for islands, vege- tation zones, and rare taxa. Although much remains to be learned, suggestions for reducing negative effects of alien vertebrates can be made. These include: En- forcement of efficient quarantine procedures; suffi- cient support for enduring and complete vertebrate dam- age control programs (including research, management, and monitoring) on lands managed for preservation of native Hawaiian ecosystems and taxa; development of multiple and adaptable methods of vertebrate damage reduction; preservation and management of the most in- tact areas remaining in Hawai'i; and cooperation and communication among the agencies and special interest groups (including developers and conservationists) in land use planning on regional bases.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Alae 'Ula (Hawaiian Moorhen)
    NATIVE WATERBIRDS AVIAN NEWCOMERS These newly-created wetlands have been rapidly colonized by native waterbirds, Many non-native birds are attracted to the wetland restoration as well. The including four species that are highly endangered and found only in the Hawaiian long-necked white waders are Cattle Egrets, native to the Old World. Non-native Islands. The ‘Alae ‘Ula, or Hawaiian Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus sandvicensis), songbirds include the Common Myna, White-rumped Shama, two unrelated kinds of and Koloa Maoli, or Koloa Duck (Anas wyvilliana), have by now raised many broods cardinals, and three kinds of doves. Many of these exotic species probably became here, nesting among the native sedges. The Ae‘o, or Hawaiian Stilt (Himantopus established in recent decades as escaped cage birds. Before the accidental mexicanus knudseni), and the Nēnē, or Hawaiian Goose (Branta sandvicensis), stop introduction of mosquitoes in the 19th century and bird diseases they carry, by almost daily to rest and feed. In the morning and evening, watch for the ‘Auku‘u these coastal lowlands were home to native honeycreepers and other native or Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). Long-distance migrants such songbirds, preserved abundantly in the fossil record of Makauwahi Cave. as the Kōlea or Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis( fulva) stop to rest and often winter here, as part of their annual 10,000-mile migration from breeding grounds in the Arctic to wintering sites in the tropics. Bones of all these bird species occur as fossils in the sediment of adjacent Makauwahi Cave, showing that they have thrived here for thousands of years.
    [Show full text]
  • Pu'u Wa'awa'a Biological Assessment
    PU‘U WA‘AWA‘A BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT PU‘U WA‘AWA‘A, NORTH KONA, HAWAII Prepared by: Jon G. Giffin Forestry & Wildlife Manager August 2003 STATE OF HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION OF FORESTRY AND WILDLIFE TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................................................. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................. ii GENERAL SETTING...................................................................................................................1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................1 Land Use Practices...............................................................................................................1 Geology..................................................................................................................................3 Lava Flows............................................................................................................................5 Lava Tubes ...........................................................................................................................5 Cinder Cones ........................................................................................................................7 Soils .......................................................................................................................................9
    [Show full text]
  • The Birds (Aves) of Oromia, Ethiopia – an Annotated Checklist
    European Journal of Taxonomy 306: 1–69 ISSN 2118-9773 https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.306 www.europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu 2017 · Gedeon K. et al. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Monograph urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A32EAE51-9051-458A-81DD-8EA921901CDC The birds (Aves) of Oromia, Ethiopia – an annotated checklist Kai GEDEON 1,*, Chemere ZEWDIE 2 & Till TÖPFER 3 1 Saxon Ornithologists’ Society, P.O. Box 1129, 09331 Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany. 2 Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise, P.O. Box 1075, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. 3 Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Centre for Taxonomy and Evolutionary Research, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany. * Corresponding author: [email protected] 2 Email: [email protected] 3 Email: [email protected] 1 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:F46B3F50-41E2-4629-9951-778F69A5BBA2 2 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:F59FEDB3-627A-4D52-A6CB-4F26846C0FC5 3 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:author:A87BE9B4-8FC6-4E11-8DB4-BDBB3CFBBEAA Abstract. Oromia is the largest National Regional State of Ethiopia. Here we present the first comprehensive checklist of its birds. A total of 804 bird species has been recorded, 601 of them confirmed (443) or assumed (158) to be breeding birds. At least 561 are all-year residents (and 31 more potentially so), at least 73 are Afrotropical migrants and visitors (and 44 more potentially so), and 184 are Palaearctic migrants and visitors (and eight more potentially so). Three species are endemic to Oromia, 18 to Ethiopia and 43 to the Horn of Africa. 170 Oromia bird species are biome restricted: 57 to the Afrotropical Highlands biome, 95 to the Somali-Masai biome, and 18 to the Sudan-Guinea Savanna biome.
    [Show full text]
  • Free Download! the Trumpeter Swan
    G3647 The Trumpeter Swan by Sumner Matteson, Scott Craven and Donna Compton Snow-white Trumpeter Swans present a truly spectac- Swans of the Midwest ular sight. With a wingspan of more than 7 feet and a rumpeter Swans, along with ducks and geese, belong height of about 4 feet, the Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buc- to the avian Order Anseriformes, Family Anatidae. cinator) ranks as the largest native waterfowl species in T Trumpeters have broad, flat bills with fine tooth-like North America. serrations along the edges which allow them to strain Because the Trumpeter Swan disappeared as a breed- aquatic plants and water. The birds’ long necks and ing bird in the Midwest, several states have launched strong feet allow them to uproot plants in water up to 4 restoration programs to reintroduce it to the region. This feet deep. publication will provide you with background informa- Most Trumpeter Swans weigh 21–30 pounds, tion on the Trumpeter Swan’s status and life history, and although some males exceed the average weight. The on restoration efforts being conducted in the upper male is called a cob; the female is called a pen; and a swan Midwest. in its first year is called a cygnet or juve- nile. The Trumpeter is often con- fused with the far more common Tundra Swan (formerly Whistling Swan, Cygnus columbianus), the only other native swan found routinely in North America. Tundra Swans can be seen in the upper Trumpeter Swan Midwest only during spring and fall migration. You can distinguish between the two native species most accurately by listening to their calls.
    [Show full text]
  • Wild Geese in Captivity by Bob Elgas Big Timber, Montana
    Wild Geese in Captivity by Bob Elgas Big Timber, Montana Man has always been fascinated by, Wild geese were frequently depicted exists, and wild geese have become and has had a close association with, on ancient structures. Indeed, the increasingly popular with avicul­ wild geese. As a result of their ten- Swan goose of China, and the Greylag turists. dency to vocalize an objection to of Europe were domesticated eons Throughout the world there are nocturnal disturbances, the early ago, long before the dawn of written some 15 species of wild geese, with Romans utilized them as watchdogs.. history. Even today the fascination numerous sub-species, all of which are native to the northern hemi­ sphere. Interestingly, there are no true geese in the southern hemisphere. South America is represented by a specialized group known as sheld­ geese, while Africa and Australia are represented by a number of birds with goose-like characteristics. Sheld­ geese are actually modified ducks which, through the evolutionary process, have assumed goose-like similarities. One of the more obvious differences is the dimorphism of sexes characterized by sheldgeese ­ males being of completely different plumage than females. In true geese, both sexes are alike. Although the birds from the southern hemisphere are interesting in their own right, the differences are so great that they can­ not be classified with the true geese. The geese of the northern hemi­ sphere are divided into two groups ­ the genus Anset; which is representa­ tive of the true geese, and the genus A representative ofthe genus Anser is thispair ofEmperorgeese (Anser canagicus).
    [Show full text]
  • Onetouch 4.0 Scanned Documents
    / Chapter 2 THE FOSSIL RECORD OF BIRDS Storrs L. Olson Department of Vertebrate Zoology National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC. I. Introduction 80 II. Archaeopteryx 85 III. Early Cretaceous Birds 87 IV. Hesperornithiformes 89 V. Ichthyornithiformes 91 VI. Other Mesozojc Birds 92 VII. Paleognathous Birds 96 A. The Problem of the Origins of Paleognathous Birds 96 B. The Fossil Record of Paleognathous Birds 104 VIII. The "Basal" Land Bird Assemblage 107 A. Opisthocomidae 109 B. Musophagidae 109 C. Cuculidae HO D. Falconidae HI E. Sagittariidae 112 F. Accipitridae 112 G. Pandionidae 114 H. Galliformes 114 1. Family Incertae Sedis Turnicidae 119 J. Columbiformes 119 K. Psittaciforines 120 L. Family Incertae Sedis Zygodactylidae 121 IX. The "Higher" Land Bird Assemblage 122 A. Coliiformes 124 B. Coraciiformes (Including Trogonidae and Galbulae) 124 C. Strigiformes 129 D. Caprimulgiformes 132 E. Apodiformes 134 F. Family Incertae Sedis Trochilidae 135 G. Order Incertae Sedis Bucerotiformes (Including Upupae) 136 H. Piciformes 138 I. Passeriformes 139 X. The Water Bird Assemblage 141 A. Gruiformes 142 B. Family Incertae Sedis Ardeidae 165 79 Avian Biology, Vol. Vlll ISBN 0-12-249408-3 80 STORES L. OLSON C. Family Incertae Sedis Podicipedidae 168 D. Charadriiformes 169 E. Anseriformes 186 F. Ciconiiformes 188 G. Pelecaniformes 192 H. Procellariiformes 208 I. Gaviiformes 212 J. Sphenisciformes 217 XI. Conclusion 217 References 218 I. Introduction Avian paleontology has long been a poor stepsister to its mammalian counterpart, a fact that may be attributed in some measure to an insufRcien- cy of qualified workers and to the absence in birds of heterodont teeth, on which the greater proportion of the fossil record of mammals is founded.
    [Show full text]
  • Fossil Evidence for a Diverse Biota from Kaua'i and Its Transformation Since
    Ecological Monographs, 71(4), 2001, pp. 615±641 q 2001 by the Ecological Society of America FOSSIL EVIDENCE FOR A DIVERSE BIOTA FROM KAUA`I AND ITS TRANSFORMATION SINCE HUMAN ARRIVAL DAVID A. BURNEY,1,5 HELEN F. J AMES,2 LIDA PIGOTT BURNEY,1 STORRS L. OLSON,2 WILLIAM KIKUCHI,3 WARREN L. WAGNER,2 MARA BURNEY,1 DEIRDRE MCCLOSKEY,1,6 DELORES KIKUCHI,3 FREDERICK V. G RADY,2 REGINALD GAGE II,4 AND ROBERT NISHEK4 1Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, New York 10458 USA 2National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 USA 3Kaua`i Community College, Lihu`e, Hawaii 96766 USA 4National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawa`i, Hawaii 96756 USA Abstract. Coring and excavations in a large sinkhole and cave system formed in an eolianite deposit on the south coast of Kaua`i in the Hawaiian Islands reveal a fossil site with remarkable preservation and diversity of plant and animal remains. Radiocarbon dating and investigations of the sediments and their fossil contents, including diatoms, invertebrate shells, vertebrate bones, pollen, and plant macrofossils, provide a more complete picture of prehuman ecological conditions in the Hawaiian lowlands than has been previously available. The evidence con®rms that a highly diverse prehuman landscape has been com- pletely transformed, with the decline or extirpation of most native species and their re- placement with introduced species. The stratigraphy documents many late Holocene extinctions, including previously un- described species, and suggests that the pattern of extirpation for snails occurred in three temporal stages, corresponding to initial settlement, late prehistoric, and historic impacts.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationships of the Hawaiian Honeycreepers (Drepaninini) As Indicated by Dna-Dna Hybridization
    THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE HAWAIIAN HONEYCREEPERS (DREPANININI) AS INDICATED BY DNA-DNA HYBRIDIZATION CH^RrES G. SIBLEY AND Jo• E. AHLQUIST Departmentof Biologyand PeabodyMuseum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511 USA ABSTRACT.--Twenty-twospecies of Hawaiian honeycreepers(Fringillidae: Carduelinae: Drepaninini) are known. Their relationshipsto other groups of passefineswere examined by comparing the single-copyDNA sequencesof the Apapane (Himationesanguinea) with those of 5 speciesof carduelinefinches, 1 speciesof Fringilla, 15 speciesof New World nine- primaried oscines(Cardinalini, Emberizini, Thraupini, Parulini, Icterini), and members of 6 other families of oscines(Turdidae, Monarchidae, Dicaeidae, Sylviidae, Vireonidae, Cor- vidae). The DNA-DNA hybridization data support other evidence indicating that the Hawaiian honeycreepersshared a more recent common ancestorwith the cardue!ine finches than with any of the other groupsstudied and indicate that this divergenceoccurred in the mid-Miocene, 15-20 million yr ago. The colonizationof the Hawaiian Islandsby the ancestralspecies that radiated to produce the Hawaiian honeycreeperscould have occurredat any time between 20 and 5 million yr ago. Becausethe honeycreeperscaptured so many ecologicalniches, however, it seemslikely that their ancestor was the first passefine to become established in the islands and that it arrived there at the time of, or soon after, its separationfrom the carduelinelineage. If so, this colonist arrived before the present islands from Hawaii to French Frigate Shoal were formed by the volcanic"hot-spot" now under the island of Hawaii. Therefore,the ancestral drepaninine may have colonizedone or more of the older Hawaiian Islandsand/or Emperor Seamounts,which also were formed over the "hot-spot" and which reachedtheir present positions as the result of tectonic crustal movement.
    [Show full text]
  • American Paleontologist Pages 1 and 4
    FinalV OLUMEIssue 19, NUMBER 4 AMERICAN WINTER 2012 PALEONTOLOGIST A MAGAZINE OF EARTH SCIENCE PUBLISHED BY THE PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION AND ITS MUSEUM OF THE EARTH The Last Good Buy Birds in the New Age of Extinction Also in this issue... An Inordinate Fondness for Vertebrae page 20 Goodbye American Paleontologist pages 1 and 4 ...plus much more! US $5.00 FEATURE ARTICLE Th e Last Good Buy: Birds in the New Age of Extinction By Constance M. Soja Th e oldest fossils belonging to the undisputed bird survivors of the end-Mesozoic biodiversity crisis experienced Archaeopteryx date back 140-150 million years to the extraordinary evolutionary radiations. Co-adapting to the Mesozoic. During that geologic era, dinosaurs dominated brave new world, they fi lled vacated ecologic niches and terrestrial ecosystems around the globe. Pterosaurs – evolved into the iconic species that defi ne the Cenozoic – dinosaurs' evolutionary cousins, the fl ying reptiles – soared our modern world and Earth's current great geologic era. overhead, and an astounding variety of diminutive to gigantic With most animal and plant groups of the Mesozoic laid to aquatic reptiles – ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, and rest, new species rose to dominance, and new competitive mosasaurs – cruised the world's oceans. Consuming squid- relationships were established. Oversized, fl ightless "terror like belemnoid and ammonoid prey, those top predators birds" – T. rex ultimate but down-sized body doubles – were also swam in the shallow seaways that fl ooded the interior pitted against fox- and pony-sized mammals, which in the of North America and other continents. Within 80 million previous 150 million years had been small, nocturnal, rat- years, the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction that brought like animals eeking out a subsidiary existence.
    [Show full text]
  • Grounded Birds in New Zealand
    Flightless Grounded Birds in New Zealand An 8th Grade Research Paper By Nathaniel Roth Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School June 2014 1 More than half of the birds in New Zealand either can’t fly, can only partially fly, or don’t like to fly. (Te Ara) This is a fact. Although only sixteen species in New Zealand are technically flightless, with another sixteen that are extinct (TerraNature), a majority of more than 170 bird species will not fly unless their lives are threatened, or not even then. This is surprising, since birds are usually known for flying. A flightless bird is a bird that cannot fly, such as the well­known ostrich and emu, not to mention penguins. The two main islands southeast of Australia that make up New Zealand have an unusually diverse population of these birds. I am personally very interested in New Zealand and know a lot about it because my mother was born there, and I still have family there. I was very intrigued by these birds in particular, and how different they are from most of the world’s birds. I asked myself, why New Zealand? What made this tiny little country have so many birds that can’t fly, while in the rest of the world, hardly any live in one place? My research has informed me that the population and diversity of flightless birds here is so large because it has been isolated for so long from other land masses. Almost no mammals, and no land predators, lived there in the millions of years after it split from the Australian continent, so flying birds didn’t have as much of an advantage during this time.
    [Show full text]
  • La Brea and Beyond: the Paleontology of Asphalt-Preserved Biotas
    La Brea and Beyond: The Paleontology of Asphalt-Preserved Biotas Edited by John M. Harris Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Science Series 42 September 15, 2015 Cover Illustration: Pit 91 in 1915 An asphaltic bone mass in Pit 91 was discovered and exposed by the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and Art in the summer of 1915. The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History resumed excavation at this site in 1969. Retrieval of the “microfossils” from the asphaltic matrix has yielded a wealth of insect, mollusk, and plant remains, more than doubling the number of species recovered by earlier excavations. Today, the current excavation site is 900 square feet in extent, yielding fossils that range in age from about 15,000 to about 42,000 radiocarbon years. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Archives, RLB 347. LA BREA AND BEYOND: THE PALEONTOLOGY OF ASPHALT-PRESERVED BIOTAS Edited By John M. Harris NO. 42 SCIENCE SERIES NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE Luis M. Chiappe, Vice President for Research and Collections John M. Harris, Committee Chairman Joel W. Martin Gregory Pauly Christine Thacker Xiaoming Wang K. Victoria Brown, Managing Editor Go Online to www.nhm.org/scholarlypublications for open access to volumes of Science Series and Contributions in Science. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Los Angeles, California 90007 ISSN 1-891276-27-1 Published on September 15, 2015 Printed at Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas PREFACE Rancho La Brea was a Mexican land grant Basin during the Late Pleistocene—sagebrush located to the west of El Pueblo de Nuestra scrub dotted with groves of oak and juniper with Sen˜ora la Reina de los A´ ngeles del Rı´ode riparian woodland along the major stream courses Porciu´ncula, now better known as downtown and with chaparral vegetation on the surrounding Los Angeles.
    [Show full text]