Las Tunas ( of Mexico)

Also known as Las Tunas Wash; Jeffries Site

Where: Baja California Sur, Mexico (23.3° N, 109.6° W: paleocoordinates 23.2° N, 108.6° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

When: Blancan (4.9 - 1.8 Ma)

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; silty mudstone and silty sandstone

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collected in 1976, 1977

Collection methods: bulk, surface (float), sieve,

• mostly "obtained through surface pick-up... only a little scree-washing was done. Approximately 1,000 kg of matrix was washed... in the sea"

Primary reference: W. E. Miller. 1980. The Late Pliocene Las Tunas Local Fauna from Southernmost Baja California, Mexico. Journal of Paleontology 54(4):762-805 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Uhen]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 19673: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 18.02.1993, edited by Mark Uhen and Philip Mannion

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• from two major sites and others in an area of "several square kilometers" that span about 30 m of the section
NISP 509+
unclassified
  -
Amphibia
 Salientia -
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Sciuridae
Ammospermophilus jeffriesi n. sp. Miller 1980 antelope squirrel
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Neotoma sp. Say and Ord 1825 pack rat
 Lagomorpha - Leporidae
Hypolagus vetus5 Kellogg 1910 rabbit
130+specimens
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
"Equus cf. simplicidens" = Plesippus simplicidens
"Equus cf. simplicidens" = Plesippus simplicidens Cope 1892 horse
200+ specimens
 Artiodactyla - Camelidae
cf. Camelops sp. Leidy 1854 camel
cf. Hemiauchenia sp. Gervais and Ameghino 1880 camel
 Cetacea - Pontoporiidae
cf. Pontoporiinae indet. Gray 1870 toothed whale
 Artiodactyla - Antilocapridae
cf. Antilocaprinae indet. Gray 1866 pronghorn
 Carnivora - Felidae
Lynx sp.1 Kerr 1792 lynx
 Carnivora - Canidae
"Cerdocyon avius" = Ferrucyon avius3, Borophagus hilli4
"Cerdocyon avius" = Ferrucyon avius3 Torres and Ferrusquia 1981 canine
Borophagus hilli4 Johnston 1939 bone-crushing dog
 Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae
Rhynchotherium cf. praecursor Cope 1893 gomphothere
150+specimens
Reptilia
 Testudines - Testudinidae
"Geochelone (Hesperotestudo) sp." = Hesperotestudo
"Geochelone (Hesperotestudo) sp." = Hesperotestudo Williams 1950 turtle
 Squamata - Crotalidae
cf. Crotalus sp. Linnaeus 1758 rattlesnake
 Squamata - Colubridae
? Pituophis sp. Holbrook 1842 gopher snake
 Squamata - Iguanidae
? Iguanidae indet. Oppel 1811 squamates
 Crocodylia - Crocodylidae
Crocodylus sp.2 Laurenti 1768 crocodile
Aves
 Accipitriformes - Accipitridae
? Buteo sp. de Lacepède 1799 hawk