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TITLE: Harlan's Ground Sloth (Glossotherium harlani) and a Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) from Stevenon Bridge, Yolo County, California
AUTHOR: Robert G. Dundas and Laura M. Cunningham
JOURNAL: PaleoBios
PUBLISHED: May 24, 1993
NOTES: 15(3)
ABSTRACT: Skeletal remains of a subadult and adult Glossotherium harlani and an adult Mammuthus columbi were recovered from fluvial sediments of Putah Creek near Davis, California in July 1975. U/Th radiometric age determination of two mammoth bones suggests a possible late Sangamonian interglacial age (180 isotope stage 5a) for the site. The mammoth material as well as an adult ground sloth femur show evidence of substantial green bone fracturing and bone surface scratches indicative of trampling prior to final deposition. The subadult ground sloth partial skeleton lacks the extensive fracturing and other bone modification noted for the mammoth and adult ground sloth. Additionally close associations of the skull and first three cervical vertebrae, a partial rib cage, and left scapula and left humerus epiphysis suggest that the subadult ground sloth was deposited with some soft connective tissue remaining on the skeleton. These and other taphonomic inferences were made possible by utilization of appropriate data collection methods at the time of excavation. This emphasizes the significance of how good techniques in the collection of field data and laboratory preparation may permit important taphonomic inferences long after a site has been excavated by other researchers.
COLLECTION: PaleoBios Archive Public
ID: 180

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    BNHM      University of California, Berkeley