Mammoth Find

We, too, are excited by the discovery of the partial mammoth skeleton at Hemet that you discussed in your July 11 editorial. This specimen confirms the presence of large specimens of the American mastodon over much of North America and emphasizes the unusual nature of the small mastodon skeletons recovered from the La Brea Tar Pits.

However, your claim that the fossils from the Eastside Reservoir site may provide a more accurate picture of prehistoric life in California than those from the Los Angeles locality seems a little exaggerated. Rancho La Brea has yielded more than 650 species of animals and plants, and these are represented by more than 3 million specimens. The Rancholabrean biota has been selected as that best representing the entire continent of North America during the late Pleistocene epoch. The Hemet locality has much scientific potential but is unlikely to yield the incredible diversity of fossils that has been recovered to date from Los Angeles’ asphaltic deposits.

JOHN M. HARRIS

Administrator/Chief Curator

George C. Page Museum

Los Angeles

The July 10 story of our recent fossil find at the Eastside Reservoir was well-written and conveyed a sense of the excitement that our museum’s paleontology team is having on this project. However, I was surprised at the implication that good fortune alone was responsible for the presence of paleontologists in the field. This is not the case.

The San Bernardino County Museum has been working closely with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California at the Eastside Reservoir Project since mid-1993; we are under contract to provide paleontologic monitors whenever excavation is underway. We aren’t there by chance--we’re there by design.

I believe it important to observe that the recovery of the East Dam mastodon was less a matter of good fortune than proof of the effectiveness of our association.

ERIC SCOTT

Paleontology Field Supervisor

San Bernardino County Museum