The camel bones are inseparable from the Rancholabrean species and are larger than the Irvingtonian species of the genus Camelops. They do not represent the genus Paracamelus which entered eastern Asia by Villafranchian time but rather are from a camel considered part of a separate lineage and not known from the Old World.

The cervid antler fragment could be from a long-beamed Alces, as Alces latifrons but could equally well be part of the beam of a large male Rangifer. It matches nicely in size, cross section, curvature, and rugosity a specimen of Rangifer in our office.

Largely on the basis of the camelid, the fauna appears to be Rancholabrean in age, possibly between 5,000 and 600,000 years old.

Dear Florence:
Your shipment of May 22 from 74 AWr 14 (Alaska specimen) was interesting in that you found more fragments of almost every specimen you sent before. The Camelops radius-ulna is now essentially complete, the small horse pelvis is more complete and has associated fragments of a femur, the camel vertebrae is more complete. Of the two new vertebrae you sent one is not identifiable but the other is a cervid corvical which I questionably assign to ?Rangifer sp. The large, coarsely structured bone fragment is not identifiable but I would certainly suspect it was proboscidean. The framents of carnivore tooth are those of a large species of Canis cf. Canis lupus.

I would expect that the environment represented was a savanna sort with grasslands and open woodlands. The camel cannot be correlated with the habits of the living Old World camels. Its feet were constructed much more like the South American llama, hooved almost like a deer, rather than having the big pads of the Old World camel. In addition, it had extremely elongate legs and neck which certainly suggest that browsing was a significant part of its easting habits, as well as grazing. It is my impression that Camelops is most often found in fluvial food plain deposits and I suspect that the long legs may have been of advantage in wading, much like a moose does. The horse is a horse and not an ass, and would have preferred permanent water nearby. I would think the questionable reindeer would questionably indicate a comparable open woodland situation and the wolf would have enjoyed all of them.

There is a noticeable amount of protein left in some of the bones, to judge from the smell when scorched. This indicates that not all carbon has leached out and you might try for a C14 date. But ordinarily people don’t seem to trust carbon dates on bone. You might talk it over with Dave Hopkins.

I do not know what mineral (or alteration of a mineral) it is that causes fossil teeth to turn black, but I don’t think it has any temporal significance as it can happen very rapidly or, sometimes, not al all. I suspect it might have more significance regarding the depositional environment.

If there is publishable significance to this fauna it is the stratigraphic context which you, and perhaps others, can give it. I don’t think you need me unless you find a lot more of the fauna. But thanks for the consideration.

Best regards,

Charles A. Repenning