Vertebrate Paleontology Section Telephone: (213) 763-3325

e-mail: [email protected]

18 May 2020

CAJA Environmental Services, LLC 15350 Sherman Way, Suite 315 Van Nuys, CA 91406

Attn: Sherrie Cruz re: Paleontological resources for the Vertebrate Paleontology Records Check for paleontological resources for the proposed 6000 San Vicente Project, in the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, project area

Dear Sherrie:

I have conducted a thorough search of our paleontology collection records for the locality and specimen data for the proposed 6000 San Vicente Project, in the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, project area as outlined on the portion of the Hollywood USGS topographic quadrangle map that you sent to me via e-mail on 4 May 2020. We do not have any vertebrate fossil localities that lie directly within the proposed project area boundaries, but we do have fossil localities nearby from the same sedimentary deposits that occur in the proposed project area.

Surface deposits for the entire proposed project area consist of older Quaternary Alluvium, derived primarily as alluvial fan deposits from the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. The proposed project area occurs just southwest of Hancock Park, a site that contains the famous Rancho La Brea tar pits, perhaps the densest accumulation of vertebrate fossils in the world. The Rancho La Brea asphalt deposits are also unusual in preserving a substantial portion of the total biota, including an extensive list of fossil plants, insects, and invertebrates in addition to the justly renowned vertebrate fauna. Over 200 species of fossil vertebrates are represented in these deposits, including extinct forms of bison, camel, horse, mammoth, mastodon, ground sloths, , lion, condor, eagle, turkey, etc. One of the earliest human skeletal remains has also been recovered from these deposits. Numerous holotypes (name bearing specimens for species new to science) have come from the Rancho La Brea deposits, including the holotype of the sabre-toothed tiger, Smilodon californicus (now known as Smilodon fatalis), designated as the state fossil. The Rancho La Brea paleobiota documents climatic change in the Los Angeles Basin during the latest and earliest Holocene, including the last “ice age”. It is so significant that this deposit served as the basis for designating the late Pleistocene as the North American Land Age called the Rancholabrean.

Besides the Rancho La Brea tar pits throughout Hancock Park, we have a great number of vertebrate fossil localities nearby, especially from asphaltic sands occurring from the ground surface to depths of at least 20 feet around Hancock Park. Just to the north and northeast of the proposed project area, within one block of Hancock Park, we have the asphaltic localities LACM 4204, 4590, 5481, 6345, 7247, 7297-7298, and 8061, all producing specimens similar to those from the Hancock Park localities. Marginally further eastward, at Hauser Boulevard just south of Wilshire Boulevard, we have another locality, LACM 1724 that produced fossil specimens of pond turtle, Clemmys marmorata, bird, Aves, racoon, Procyonidae, sabretooth tiger, Smilodon fatalis, dire wolf, Canis dirus, coyote, Canis latrans, antelope, minor, and bison, Bison, from an asphaltic layer at a depth of eight feet below the surface. Further eastward, just east of La Brea Avenue to Tremaine Avenue south of Wilshire Boulevard to just south of Olympic Boulevard, we have additional vertebrate fossil localities from asphaltic sands. Locality LACM 1198 produced fossil mastodon, Mammut, at a depth of 17 feet, LACM 1814 produced a specimen of fossil bovid, Preptoceras sinclairi, at a depth of only 2 feet, and locality LACM 5599 produced fossil camel, Camelops, at a depth of 12 feet.

Any excavations in the proposed project area may well encounter significant remains of fossil vertebrates at depths as shallow as two feet below the original surface. Any excavations in the proposed project area, therefore, should be monitored closely to quickly and professionally recover any fossil vertebrate remains without impeding development. Also, sediment samples should be collected and processed to determine the small fossil potential in the proposed project area. Any fossils recovered during mitigation should be deposited in an accredited and permanent scientific institution for the benefit of current and future generations.

This records search covers only the vertebrate paleontology records of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. It is not intended to be a thorough paleontological survey of the proposed project area covering other institutional records, a literature survey, or any potential on-site survey.

Sincerely,

Samuel A. McLeod, Ph.D. Vertebrate Paleontology enclosure: invoice