A coyote-like wolf jaw from the Rancho La Brea Pleistocene

Abstract

Examination of several hundred lower jaws in the collections of the Los Angeles Museum representing principally the coyote but including also timber wolf material from the Pleistocene of Rancho La Brea brings to light a single specimen of unique character from excavation No. 61. This mandible No. V 5203, consists of the two rami with the dentition including P²- M¹ inclusive. P¹ is absent. The jaw, Plate 10, figs. 1 and 2, is characterized by a shortness and massiveness in which it exhibits a decided contrast to the mandible of the coyote from Rancho La Brea. Massiveness is particularly displayed by the horizontal ramus which is noticeably thicker transversely than in the coyote and is more like that in the timber wolf. This is likewise true when the specimen is compared with jaws that belong to larger individuals of the extinct coyote from the asphalt deposits. A distinctive feature of the wolf separating it from the coyote is the greater convexity of the inferior margin of the horizontal ramus. In this character No. V 5203 is more like the former than the latter.

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