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Bonnima sp. (Trilobita; Corynexochida) from the Chambless Limestone (Lower Cambrian) of the Marble Mountains, California: First Dorypygidae in a cratonic region of the southern Cordillera

A trilobite pygidium, likely referable to the genus Bonnima, is the first evidence of a member of the Corynexochida reported from the Lower Cambrian (Dyeran Stage) Chambless Limestone of the southern Marble Mountains in the Mojave Desert of California. This specimen represents the first occurrence of the family Dorypygidae in the cratonic facies of the Lower Cambrian in the California-western Nevada region, as all of the few previous reports of the family (mostly Bonnia) have been from much thicker, more distal open-shelf deposits far to the northwest in the White-Inyo—Esmeralda County region of California and Nevada. Although still relatively rare, the occurrence of Dorypygidae across a range of environments biofacies realms in this area is typical of their distribution in other regions.

A report on late Quaternary vertebrate fossil assemblages from the eastern San Francisco Bay region, California

Here we report on vertebrate fossil assemblages from two late Quaternary localities in the eastern San Francisco Bay region, Pacheco 1 and Pacheco 2. At least six species of extinct mammalian megaherbivores are known from Pacheco 1. The probable occurrence of Megalonyx jeffersonii suggests a late Pleistocene age for the assemblage. Pacheco 2 has yielded a minimum of 20 species of mammals, and provides the first unambiguous Quaternary fossil record of Urocyon, Procyon, Antrozous, Eptesicus, Lasiurus, Sorex ornatus, Tamias, and Microtus longicaudus from the San Francisco Bay region. While a radiocarbon date of 405 ± 45 RCYBP has been obtained for a single bone sample from Pacheco 2, the possibility that much of the assemblage is considerably older than this date is suggested by (1) the substantial loss of collagen in all other samples for which radiocarbon dating was unsuccessfully attempted and (2) the occurrence of Microtus longicaudus approximately 160 km to the west of, and 600 m lower in elevation than, its present range limit. The taphonomic data and limited stratigraphic information for the two localities suggest deposition of bones within a riparian system. Multiple lines of evidence including the taxonomic composition and the relative abundance of skeletal elements point to the original accumulation of most, if not all, of the small vertebrate remains at Pacheco 2 by owls. Based on taxonomic composition, Pacheco 1 appears to have been located in a mosaic of grassland and woodland habitats, and Pacheco 2 in moist woodland with dense underbrush and a body of freshwater.