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Scientists Identify First Extinct Ice Age Amphibian Found in Los Angeles Tar Pits
Researchers say the find is only the second Pleistocene amphibian species known from North America and could help reconstruct ancient climate change.
- On Wednesday, paleoecologist J. Alberto Cruz of the National Institute of Anthropology and History announced discovery of Spea labreae, an extinct Ice Age spadefoot toad from the La Brea Tar Pits, in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
- Cruz identified the species while re-examining the Tar Pits' 1929 collection for the first time in almost 30 years, noting distinctive bone features that separated it from modern spadefoot toads.
- This finding marks only the second extinct Pleistocene amphibian ever discovered in North America, doubling known species from the era, said Dr. Emily Lindsey, Curator and Excavation Site Director at the Samuel Oschin Center for Global Ice Age Research at La Brea Tar Pits.
- Cruz also discovered a fossilized Mexican burrowing toad more than 1,500 miles north of its current range, suggesting Los Angeles likely hosted rainforest conditions during the Ice Age.
- Because amphibians are sensitive to environmental shifts, these fossils serve as reliable indicators to "infer the climate of the past," Cruz says, potentially helping scientists protect threatened species today.
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La Brea Tar Pits Yield New Species of Ice Age Toad
Paleontologists studying the La Brea Tar Pits, one of the world’s richest Ice Age fossil sites, have identified a previously unknown species of spadefoot toad that lived in what is now California during the latest Ice Age. The post La Brea Tar Pits Yield New Species of Ice Age Toad appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Research conducted in the famous La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, USA, has led to the discovery of a previously unknown species of frog that lived during the Ice Age. The species, named Spea labreae, is believed to be the second Pleistocene amphibian species identified in North America to date.
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