Vol. 5] Qrinnell. — Quaternary My riopods and Insects. 209 



The asphalt beds 4 at Rosemary, near Los Angeles, cover a con- 

 siderable area. Bones are scattered through the whole deposit, 

 but in uneven numbers, and the beetles and myriopods were found 

 in the neighborhood of the bones. Blake in his expedition 

 through California in the early days noticed the bitumen lakes 

 or tar springs, and similar ones are still found in the same region. 

 The remains of the animals we find are of those which were en- 

 trapped in these tar springs. And if we note the preponderance 

 of the family Tenebrionidae which come out from their hiding 

 places in the evening to forage, their presence can readily be ac- 

 counted for. One might expect to find carrion beetles, Silphidae, 

 but when one reflects, it can readily be seen that if an animal has 

 sunk out of sight, as it surely does in these tar springs, it is shut 

 out from the air and no odor could attract carnivorous animals or 

 insects. The plausible explanation is that insects just wandered 

 or flew in by mistake ; and the forms found certainly bear out this 

 conclusion. The age of these beds is Quaternary. The great re- 

 semblance of the insects to those now living, in most cases amount- 

 ing to identity, shows that it takes a long time to effect a change 

 in the Coleoptera. 



The writer's thanks are due Dr. F. B. Blaisdell and Dr. E. C. 

 Van Dyke of San Francisco for assistance in the identification 

 of the Coleoptera. 



All of the drawings were executed by Miss Julia D. E. Wright 

 of Palo Alto. 



MYBIOPODA. 



JlTLUS OCCIDENTALIS, 11. sp. 



PI. 15, figs. 9 and 11. 



Type specimens Nos. 10005 and 10006, Univ. Calif. Col. Invert. Palae. 

 Samwel Cave, Shasta Co., Calif. 



There are two fairly complete remains of this myriopod, be- 

 sides some remains and fragments of others on a larger block. 

 Both are coiled, one completely. The segmentation is very plain, 

 and fairly constant in width; the intersegmental ridge is very 

 pronounced, and high. The ventral furrow is comparatively 



* Merriam, J. C. Recent Discoveries of Quaternary Mammals in Southern 

 California. Science (n. s.), Vol. XXIV, pp. 248-250, 1906. 



