A Cat among the Wolves: An attempt to reveal the identity of a felid‐like humerus misidentified as Canis dirus from Rancho La Brea

Abstract

There have been many kinds of animals found at Rancho La Brea located in Los Angeles, California; both carnivore and herbivore alike. The most common species found in the tar pits are the predators of the area such as Canis dirus (Dire wolf), Smilodon fatalis (saber‐tooth cat), and Canis latrans (American coyote). Other large carnivores that are not as common but still prevalent include Panthera atrox (American lion), Puma concolor (mountain lion), Panthera onca (jaguar), and Arctodus simus (short‐faced bear). Multitudes of these fossil specimens have been excavated from Hancock Park since the 1870s, and the University of California, Berkeley, was the first institution to house these fossils. Since these early dig operations in the 1900s, University of California, Berekely has traded fossil specimens with other large institutions, including the Field Museum of Natural History located in Chicago, Illinois. It was during a recent visit to the Field Museum to study the La Brea specimens in the Geology collection, that I found a misidentified limb bone. The bone is a humerus which was labeled Aenocyon dirus (Canis dirus). This humerus shows some characteristics that hint toward it belonging to a felid of some kind rather than a large canid. The most likely taxa include Panthera onca and Puma concolor.Grant Funding Source: Nothern Illinois University