Documenting the Paleontological Resources of National Park Service Areas of the Southern California Coast and Islands

Abstract

Paleontological resource inventories for the parks of the National Park Service's Mediterranean Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network (MEDN) indicate a significant Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic fossil record for the southern California coast and islands. These inventories document over 100 million years of biologic and geologic changes along the Pacific coast of southern California. During 2012, comprehensive paleontological resource data were compiled for Cabrillo National Monument (CABR), Channel Islands National Park (CHIS), and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SAMO). This recent work expands the paleontological resource data previously compiled for each of the parks in 2003 and during the SAMO paleontological survey of 2004. Fossil plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates and trace fossils represent both marine and terrestrial life along the ancestral coast of southern California. Within the boundaries of SOMA, 38 fossil taxa have been described from specimens discovered there, and 19 more have been described from CHIS. Among the significant fossils found within the MEDN are the pygmy mammoths of CHIS, which continue to be a subject of scientific research. Recent work at SAMO has helped refine the stratigraphic interpretation of the park's geology; helped provide additional documentation of the Miocene flora and fauna; and led to the description of new taxa, including the Upper Cretaceous gastropod Pyropsis aldersoni (Squires 2011) and the Paleocene crab Costacopluma squiresi (Nyborg et al. 2009). The recent MEDN paleontological resource inventory will help stimulate future research, education, interpretation, and proper management of these important paleontological resources.