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Late Pleistocene vertebrates from downtown San Francisco, California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Peter U. Rodda  and
Nina Baghai
Peter U. Rodda
Affiliation:
Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco 94118
Nina Baghai
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Texas, Austin 78713
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Abstract

Disarticulated elements from three individuals of Mammuthus cf. M. columbi (Falconer) and one individual of Bison cf. B. latifrons (Harlan) were recovered from an excavation in gravelly, sandy clay of the Colma Formation at the southeast base of Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, California. This is the most abundant collection of late Pleistocene terrestrial vertebrates reported from San Francisco, and only the fourth record from excavations in the city proper. The Mammuthus-Bison association indicates a Rancholabrean age, and elements of these two taxa from this site have been radiocarbon dated at 25,380 ± 1,100 years B.P. Geologic setting, lithology, associated diatoms and pollen, and preservation of the bones suggest that these animals were buried rapidly in a boggy environment on the west margin of the broad valley now occupied by San Francisco Bay.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 67 , Issue 6 , November 1993 , pp. 1058 - 1063
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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