Rodents and Lagomorphs of the Carpinteria Asphalt

Plant and animal remains were first discovered in the Carpinteria asphalt deposits on the Higgins Ranch near the town of Carpinteria early in 1927. A preliminary announcement of the occurrence was published by Hoffman, Stock, and Chaney.(1927) Since then more detailed work carried on at the locality has furnished additional and larger collections of bird and mammal material. While the bird assemblage has been determined by Loye Miller(1931) and by Alden Miller(1932:), no very complete set of the mammals is as yet available. The present study embodies a critical determination of the various rodent and rabbit types occurring in the fauna with a view to establishing evidence of value in an interpretation of the age relationships of the deposits and of the environmental conditions under which the mammalian fauna existed. The problem was suggested by Doctor Chester Stock of the California Institute of Technology to whom the author is indebted for guidance during the course of the investigation and for criticism of the manuscript. The author also wishes to thank the staff of the late Mr. Donald R. Dickey at the California Institute of Technology for their courtesy in permitting tree use of their collections of Recent mammals.