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Seasonal Migration of Bison Antiquus from Rancho La Brea, California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

George T. Jefferson  and
Judith L. Goldin
George T. Jefferson
Affiliation:
George C. Page Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90036
Judith L. Goldin
Affiliation:
George C. Page Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90036
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Abstract

Evidence for annual seasonal migration of extinct Bison antiquus in the late Pleistocene fossil assemblage from Rancho La Brea, California, is demonstrated for the first time. The maturation of individuals from the B. antiquus sample was analyzed using the cheek tooth eruption sequence and occlusal wear patterns in juvenile and young adult inferior dentitions. Individual age of the specimens was established by comparison with wear stages observed in modern B. bison dentitions of known age. Assuming that reproductive behavior was restricted to a specific annual cycle similar to modern B. bison, B. antiquus was seasonally present at Rancho La Brea during the late spring. An annual migratory pattern is indicated by the presence in the assemblage of yearly groups of young individuals of the same age.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , January 1989 , pp. 107 - 112
Copyright
University of Washington

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