UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 



BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 



GEOLOGY 



Vol. 7, No. 16, pp. 335-339 Issued September 19, 1913 



A PECULIAR HORN OR ANTLER FROM THE 

 MOHAVE MIOCENE OF 

 CALIFORNIA 



BY 



JOHN C. MERRIAM 



In a collection of mammalian remains from Miocene beds 

 in the Mohave Desert recently obtained by H. S. Mourning and 

 J. P. Buwalda, there is a horn or antler of peculiar type, unlike 

 any form known to the writer. This specimen is described in 

 advance of a discussion of the whole fauna, in the hope that 

 a fuller expression of opinion may be obtained through the 

 discussion. 



The specimen consists of a single fragmentary horn or antler 

 (no. 20052), which had been considerably weathered. It was 

 found at the University of California collecting locality, no. 2057, 

 in the Mohave Miocene north of Barstow, California. From 

 earlier studies the fauna in the beds of this region has been con- 

 sidered as upper Miocene. 1 Much larger collections than those 

 originally available are now at hand for study, and it is possible 

 that in this material more than one faunal zone may be repre- 

 sented, but the largest part of the Mohave Beds seems quite 

 certainly to represent an upper phase of the Miocene. 



The portion of the horn or antler represented in specimen 

 20052 consists of a part of the beam, which divides into two 

 nearly equal branches diverging almost horizontally. Upon the 

 nearly even superior surface of the branches are a considerable 

 number of small spikes or papillae. Of the two branches, one 



i Merriam, J. (J., Univ. Calif. Publ. Bull. Dept. Geol., vol. 5, p. 169, 1911. 



