tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post1644564662943603290..comments2024-03-14T08:31:00.349-06:00Comments on The Coastal Paleontologist: Southern California Research Trip, Part 4: Page Museum at the La Brea tar pitsRobert Boesseneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157434108254005433noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post-88736567811027160602012-01-31T03:42:35.828-07:002012-01-31T03:42:35.828-07:00What was your faunal list idea?What was your faunal list idea?Robert Boesseneckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04157434108254005433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post-1363521106537768612012-01-30T16:43:49.811-07:002012-01-30T16:43:49.811-07:00i thought the holotype came from Indiana. Oh wait,...i thought the holotype came from Indiana. Oh wait, that's dire wolf, never mind. I guess if paleontology got more funding we could do stuff like that. <br /><br />Those specimens were collected long before i came around (I assume Smilodon was found in the Carpenteria tar pits, but i can't know for sure because as with most Central Coast fossils i have found no information. Plus my idea for faunal lists got shot down. Foiled once again by NHMLAC!). But now there is one person interested in preserving them. It's just hard fighting that "picked over" mentality...Doughttp://accpaleo.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post-84971359618425301632012-01-30T14:25:08.261-07:002012-01-30T14:25:08.261-07:00-The Morphology vs. molecules debate is certainly ...-The Morphology vs. molecules debate is certainly a touchy issue, but more complex than that. See Demere et al. (2008) and Geisler et al. (2011) for alternative methods involving both.<br /><br />-That's what I thought I had heard. Which is ridiculous; the holotype isn't even from La Brea - it's from Mississippi, and if it's common name gets renamed anything, should be named after someone from there, or Leidy himself.<br /><br />-Nobody from the central coast aside from private collectors interested in selling fossils have bothered digging them up, so kudos to LACM and UCMP for taking the initiative and securing those important specimens.Robert Boesseneckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04157434108254005433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953405279736337089.post-4876522799783852962012-01-30T09:27:13.311-07:002012-01-30T09:27:13.311-07:00"Still not as big as Pelagornis, but impressi..."Still not as big as Pelagornis, but impressive and terrifying none the less."- Last i heard the theory was that Teratornis stalked birds, reptiles, and small mammals on the ground.<br /><br />"Some recent studies have indicated the skull and mandibular morphology of Panthera atrox is more similar to the extant Jaguar (Panthera onca) than it is to African Lions (Panthera leo). There is a conflicting molecular study done with ancient DNA, however..."- I don't get where the controversy is. I thought genetics and molecular evidence always trumped morphology.<br /><br />"Here's a question for any readers in the know: who the hell is Naegele? Joseph Leidy named the damn thing after all, so why isn't it named Leidy's Giant Jaguar?"- It's named after the husband of a museum benefactor. <br /><br />"Is that a walrus in there? Damn, it's just a Smilodon."- Well the Central Coast has Smilodon and walruses! too bad they're both in LA...Doughttp://accpaleo.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com