Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo13amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: Erwin S. Christman, American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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Restoration of the extinct wolf (Canis dims) by Erwin Ohristman. Asphalt pool in foreground with a bursting gas bubble answers with a savage snarl, which we may interpret as a wish, soon to be fulfilled, that the wolf would bear him company in his troubles. Such is the little drama that our group sets forth. A realistic story it is — a characteristic incident which must have happened, pretty much as we have told it, again and again during the time — many thousands of years ago — when these tar-springs were active. That thousands upon thousands of animals, great and small, perished by this frightful death in the tar-pits of La Brea, is witnessed by their skeletons; that so large a proportion of them were savage beasts of prey may be to some a consolation, although nature accords no higher place or superior morality to the vegetarian over the carnivore. At all events it does not appear that the trap was seen by human eyes in the days of its vigor. No remains of man, tools, weapons, or other indications of his presence have been found associated with the extinct animals. There are various reasons for the belief that man is rather a recent arrival in the New World, and had not reached the Pacific Coast when these animals were perishing in such numbers in the tar-pits. Still he might have witnessed it. The fossil skeletons used in preparing this group were presented in ex- change by the University of California, through Professor J. C. Merriam, to whom we are also indebted for most of the evidence upon which their grouping is based, and many helpful suggestions and criticisms. 297

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