Tar Pit Bird Carpometacarpus ID?

[Mochaccino]

Hello,

 

This is a bird Carpometacarpus wing bone said to be from the La Brea Tar Pits of LA County, California, USA, and it measures 3.7 cm. I have a few questions:

 

1. Could someone provide a more specific ID on the species? 

2. How good of an example is it? I'm aware it's missing the thin section of bone that runs between the two distal ends, but perhaps that's not unexpected given the fragility of bird bones in general.

3. Are there any doubts to the locality? Personally I would've preferred a specimen on tar matrix because I know non-tar-pit localities like Florida also produce Pleistocene-aged bird bones, and with isolated bones it may not be easy to distinguish. In this specimen's favor, I do see the bone is brown in color and there is still some tar matrix leftover on the bones. Even so, I know there are other tar pits, such as McKittrick Pits of Kern County and the Maricopa Pits; is there any way to distinguish localities based on the preservation? The seller is going by the label, which they say is from an old collection put together between 1970's - 1990's.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

Reference Carpometacarpus for comparison:

https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Natural_History/Bones/Atlas/Atlas.htm

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by Mochaccino

[Coco]

Hi,

 

@Auspex

 

Coco

[Mochaccino]

Just bumping this a bit

[siteseer]

There are dealers who just assume it all comes from La Brea and there are dealers who'd rather say their specimens come from La Brea because that's the general locality everybody knows.  There are collectors who have La Brea material - stuff from very old collections that has been sold and resold over the decades - but a good amount is actually from Maricopa and McKittrick in Kern County.  That material was more recently collected in the 1960's-1980's.  It's messy collecting and prepping so few people have gone hunting for that in more recent years.  It's not very productive.  You have to be lucky to hit a nice pocket of the stuff.  You find the same kinds of mammals and birds at La Brea, McKittrick, and Maricopa but the percentages are different (e.g. less Smilodon at McKittrick and Maricopa).

 

You want to beware of anyone trying to sell you "giant vulture," teratorn, or condor material.  That stuff is out there but it's very rare and it tends to stick out from other bones.  A teratorn has a radius as large as that of a grown man.  If you are interested in tar pit bones, you need to educate yourself on bird and mammal bones so you know what's unusual when you see it.  Sometimes you find a lizard jaw too.

[Lorne Ledger]

I doubt it came from La Brea, in the 30's Berkeley oversaw the tar pits and that is how a lot of stuff got out into the fossil market.  But LA County is really possessive of the wilshire material and very little La Brea Tar Pits material has gotten out.  My bet is also Mckittrick, what @siteseer said.  

[Mochaccino]

49 minutes ago, Lorne Ledger said:

I doubt it came from La Brea, in the 30's Berkeley oversaw the tar pits and that is how a lot of stuff got out into the fossil market.  But LA County is really possessive of the wilshire material and very little La Brea Tar Pits material has gotten out.  My bet is also Mckittrick, what @siteseer said.  

Thanks, I see, and what do you mean by "wilshire material"? Is that a term for La Brea Tar Pit stuff?

[DPS Ammonite]

6 minutes ago, Mochaccino said:

Thanks, I see, and what do you mean by "wilshire material"? Is that a term for La Brea Tar Pit stuff?

La Brea Tarpits are near Wilshire Boulevard. Sometimes the tar oozes up in the middle of the nearby streets including Wilshire especially during hot times of the year.

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by DPS Ammonite

[Mochaccino]

1 hour ago, DPS Ammonite said:

La Brea Tarpits are near Wilshire Boulevard. Sometimes the tar oozes up in the middle of the nearby streets including Wilshire especially during hot times of the year.

 

 

 

 

Ah so the specimens from this locality are referred to as Wilshire material? Seeing that video you linked I can see why tar pit fossils are generally pricey, like @siteseer said it does NOT seem fun to dig through that stuff to try and fish out fossils, especially if the fossils are only concentrated in pockets.

 

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Mochaccino