INTRODUCTION 



Remains of canid forms constitute a large part of the total quantity of fossil 

 remains found in the deposits at Rancho La Brea. Thus far six species have 

 been recognized in the fauna at this locality: these species are, Canis dims 

 Leidy ; Canis occidentalis furloityi Merriam, J. C. ; Canis milleri Merriam, J. C. ; 

 Canis ochrojnis orcutti Merriam, J. C. ; Canis andersoni Merriam, J. C. ; and 

 IJrocyon calif or nicus Mearns. Of these forms the great wolf, Canis dims, 

 makes up more than half of the total number of specimens obtained. C. o. 

 orcutti, though much rarer than C. dims, is known by a considerable number 

 of specimens. The other species are quite rare. 



It is probably true that the species known from the deposits at Rancho La 

 Brea varied to some extent in degree of susceptibility to entanglement in the 

 tar, and therefore that the specimens found represent slightly different percent- 

 ages of the number of individuals in existence during the period of deposition. 

 It is also probable that some of the forms known were less characteristic of this 

 region than of adjacent territory. There seems, however, little doubt that the 

 proportion of remains of the several species obtained in the asphalt gives a 

 fairly satisfactory approximation of the canid fauna of this region while the 

 beds were accumulating. Though foreshadowing the fauna of the present 

 period in the presence of a gray fox, a coyote, and a timber wolf, the difference 

 between the canid life of this period and that of the present is emphasized in 

 the dominance of the wolves of the Canis dirus type, in the presence of the 

 peculiar short-faced Canis andersoni, and in the specific or subspecific difference 

 in the coyote and the timber wolf. The gray fox, the only canid of the Rancho 

 La Brea fauna which does not seem to differ distinctly from existing species, 

 is known by very few specimens. 



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