The Los Angeles Basin 283 



Many Herbivorous Animals Trapped 



Among the herbivores (plant-feeders) , remains of which 

 have been exhumed at Rancho La Brea, the largest family is 

 that of the bison (Bovidae) . Then follow in turn the horses 

 (Equidae), edentate ground sloths (Mylodontidae), the camels 

 (Camelidae) , the antelopes (Antilocapridae) , the huge Mega- 

 therium ground sloth, the elephants, the mastodons and the 

 deer, and finally the peccaries and the tapirs. Many animals 

 belonging to the families mentioned are now extinct, but many 

 living species are included in the preserved fauna. 



Bison or buffalo were apparently more numerous than the 

 horses in the vicinity of Rancho La Brea during Pleistocene 

 time. The total number of these animals from the asphalt 

 deposits exceeds that of all other even-toed hoofed animals. 

 These ancient bison were larger than the living North Ameri- 

 can buffalo, the mounted skeleton having a height of more than 

 six feet. Some individuals are thought to have been even 

 taller. 



That bands of horses existed in the vicinity of the asphalt 

 deposits during Pleistocene time is attested by the numerous 

 remains of these animals found at Rancho La Brea. This 

 species, now extinct, resembles the modern horse, but differs in 

 many particulars, noticeably in the hoofs which are distinctly 

 smaller and more slender than in the larger types of existing 

 horses. 



Several distinct types of camels are known from the Pleis- 

 tocene of North America, but the camels of Rancho La Brea 

 all belong to a single species. The fossil materials recovered 

 have made it possible to more completely restore this species 

 than any other camel type from the Pleistocene. The restored 

 skeleton has a height of more than seven feet as measured from 

 the highest point of the back. 



Remains of elephants and mastodons occur at Rancho La 

 Brea, but not frequently. The elephants and mammoths re- 

 covered from the asphalt were distinctly larger than the masto- 



