Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T13:38:07.950Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

California Condor Associated with Spruce-Jack Pine Woodland in the Late Pleistocene of New York

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David W. Steadman
Affiliation:
Biological Survey, New York State Museum, The State Education Department, Albany, New York 12230 USA
Norton G. Miller
Affiliation:
Biological Survey, New York State Museum, The State Education Department, Albany, New York 12230 USA

Abstract

A humerus, coracoid, and pedal phalanx of the California Condor, Gymnogyps californianus, were recovered from the Hiscock Site in western New York, in an inorganic stratum containing wood that is 11,000 radiocarbon years old. Associated vertebrates include mastodont, wapiti, and caribou. Pollen and plant macrofossils from the sediments indicate a spruce-jack pine woodland and a local, herb-dominated wetland community. Historic records (all from western North America) and previous late Pleistocene fossils of the California Condor are associated mainly with warm-temperate climates and floras. The New York fossils show that this bird was able to live in a colder climate and in a boreal, coniferous setting at a time when appropriate food (large mammal carrion) was available. The California Condor, which survives only in captivity, has suffered a greater reduction in geographical range than previously suspected. Much of this reduction in range probably occurred ca. 11,000 yr B.P. when the extinction many North American large mammals resulted in severely reduced availability of food for the California Condor and other large scavenging birds.

Type
Articles
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, T.W. Pollen and Plant Macrofossil Analyses on Late Quaternary Sediments at Kitchener, Ontario 1982 131 136 Geological Survey of Canada Paper 82-1A Google Scholar
Calkin, P.E. McAndrews, J.H. Geology and paleontology of two late Wisconsin sites in western New York State. Geological Society of America Bulletin 91 1980 295 306 Google Scholar
Crawford, M. The last days of the wild Condor?. Science 229 1985 844 845 Google Scholar
Critchfield, W.B. Little, E.L. Jr. Geographic Distribution of the Pines of the World 1966 U.S. Department of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publication 991 Google Scholar
Davis, M.B. Holocene vegetational history of the eastern United States Wright, H.E. Jr. Late-Quaternary environments of the United States Vol. 2 1983 Univ. of Minnesota Press Minneapolis 166 181 Google Scholar
Emslie, S.D. Canyon echoes of the Condor. Natural History 95 1985 10 Google Scholar
Emslie, S.D. Canyon echoes of the Condor. Natural History 95 1985 12 14 Google Scholar
Emslie, S.D. Age and diet of fossil California condors in Grand Canyon, Arizona. Science 237 1987 786 Google Scholar
Futyma, R.P. Miller, N.G. Stratigraphy and genesis of the Lake Sixteen peatland, northern Michigan. Canadian Journal of Botany 64 1986 3008 3019 Google Scholar
Gordon, A.D. Birks, H.J.B. Numerical methods in Quaternary paleoecology. I. Zonation of pollen diagrams. New Phytologist 71 1972 961 979 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, A.D. Birks, H.J.B. Numerical methods in Quaternary paleoecology. II. Comparison of pollen diagrams. New Phytologist 73 1974 221 249 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heubusch, C.A. Mastodons and mammoths in western New York. Science on the March (Buffalo Museum of Science) 40 1959 3 9 Google Scholar
Howard, H. The prehistoric avifauna of Smith Creek Cave, Nevada, with a description of a new gigantic raptor. Bulletin, Southern California Academy of Sciences 51 1952 50 54 Google Scholar
Howard, H. Postcranial elements of the extinct condor Breagyps clarki (Miller). Contributions in Science 1972 Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County No. 256 Google Scholar
Ives, P.C. Levin, B. Robinson, R.D. Rubin, M. U.S. Geological Survey radiocarbon dates VII. Radiocarbon 6 1964 37 76 Google Scholar
Jacobson, G.L. Jr. Bradshaw, R.H.W. The selection of sites for paleovegetational studies. Quaternary Research 16 1981 80 96 Google Scholar
Kiff, L.F. Peakall, D.B. Wilbur, S.R. Recent changes in California Condor eggshells. Condor 81 1979 166 172 Google Scholar
Koford, C.B. The California Condor. National Audubon Society Research Report 4 1953 Google Scholar
Laub, R. S. Deremer, M. F. Dufort, C. A., and Parsons, W. L. (in press). The Hiscock Site: A rich late Quaternary locality in western New York State. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences .Google Scholar
Lundelius, E.L. Jr. Anderson, E. Graham, R.W. Guilday, J.E. Holman, J.A. Steadman, D.W. Webb, S.D. Terrestrial vertebrate faunas Porter, S.C. Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States Vol. 1 1983 Univ. of Minnesota Press Minneapolis 311 353 Google Scholar
Martin, P.S. Klein, R.G. Quaternary Extinctions 1984 Univ. of Arizona Press Tucson Google Scholar
McAndrews, J.H. Late Quaternary climate of Ontario: Temperature trends from the fossil pollen record Mahaney, W.C. Quaternary Paleoclimate 1981 Geo Abstracts Ltd Norwich 319 333 Google Scholar
Mead, J.I. Martin, P.S. Euler, R.C. Long, A. Jull, A.J.T. Toolin, L.J. Donahue, D.J. Linick, T.W. Extinction of Harrington's mountain goat. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 83 1986 836 839 Google Scholar
Mead, J.I. Phillips, A.M. III The late Pleistocene and Holocene fauna and flora of Vulture Cave, Grand Canyon, Arizona. The Southwestern Naturalist 26 1981 257 288 Google Scholar
Meltzer, D.J. Mead, J.I. The timing of late Pleistocene extinctions in North America. Quaternary Researcy 19 1983 130 135 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, L. The Pleistocene birds of San Josecito Cavern, Mexico. University of California Publications in Zoology 47 1943 143 168 Google Scholar
Miller, N.G. Late-glacial and postglacial vegetation change in southwestern New York State. New York State Museum and Science Service Bulletin 420 1973 Google Scholar
Miller, N.G. Late glacial plants and plant communities in northwestern New York State. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 54 1973 123 159 Google Scholar
Miller, N. G. (in press). The late Quaternary Hiscock Site, Genesee County, New York: Paleoecological studies based on pollen and plant macrofossils. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences .Google Scholar
Muller, E. H., and Calkin, P. E. (in press). Late Pleistocene and Holocene geology of the eastern Great Lakes region: Geologic setting of the Hiscock paleontological site, western New York. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences .Google Scholar
Rea, A.M. California Condor captive breeding: A recovery proposal. Environment Southwest 484 1981 8 12 Google Scholar
Snyder, N.F.R. California Condor reproduction, past and present Temple, S.A. Bird Conservation 1983 National Audubon Society Washington, DC 67 86 Google Scholar
Snyder, N.F.R. Ramey, R.R. Sibley, F.C. Nest-site biology of the California Condor. Condor 88 1986 228 241 Google Scholar
Spear, R.W. Miller, N.G. A radiocarbon dated pollen diagram from the Allegheny Plateau of New York State. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 57 1976 369 403 Google Scholar
Steadman, D. W. (in press). Late Quaternary vertebrates of the Hiscock Site, Genesee County, New York. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences .Google Scholar
Steadman, D.W. Laub, R.S. Miller, N.G. The late Quaternary Hiscock Site, Genesee County, New York: Progress report. Current Research in the Pleistocene 3 1986 22 23 Google Scholar
Steadman, D.W. Martin, P.S. Extinction of birds in the late Pleistocene of North America Martin, P.S. Klein, R.G. Quaternary Extinctions 1984 Univ. of Arizona Press Tucson 466 477 Google Scholar
Steadman, D. W., and Miller, N. G. (in press). Paleoecology of the late Quaternary Hiscock Site, Genesee County, New York. New York State Museum Bulletin 462. [Abstract] Google Scholar
Terasmae, J. Matthews, H.L. Late Wisconsin white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) at Brampton, Ontario. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 17 1980 1087 1095 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Revised California Condor Recovery Plan 1984 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Portland, OR Google Scholar
Watts, W.A. Vegetational history of the eastern United States 25,000 to 10,000 years ago Porter, S.C. Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States Vol. 1 1983 Univ. of Minnesota Press Minneapolis 294 310 Google Scholar
Wetmore, A. Friedmann, H. The California Condor in Texas. Condor 35 1933 37 38 Google Scholar
Wilbur, S.R. The California Condor in the Pacific Northwest. Auk 90 1973 196 198 Google Scholar
Wilbur, S.R. The California Condor, 1966–1976: A look at its past and future. North American Fauna 72 1978 Google Scholar
Wilbur, S.R. Estimating the size and trend of the California Condor population 1965–1978. California Fish and Game 66 1980 40 48 Google Scholar