| Please Note--I observed, encountered, all fossil vertebrates imaged here already weathered out of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation in Fossil Bone Basin during occasional hikes with a Nikon CoolPix 995 digital camera through the bone-bearing badlands; photographs later processed with Adobe Photoshop (black background added, plus additional image tweaks). |
| A proximal phalanx (one of the foot bones) from a camel. Various skeletal elements from several species of camels are among the most common finds throughout the bone-bearing badlands, Fossil Bone Basin, Mojave Desert, California. 80mm long. Upper Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. 15 to 13.4 million years old. |
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| Reverse sides of the same specimen, a camel astragalus (ankle bone), which articulates with the lower (distal) end of the tibia, the lower rear leg bone. 53mm long. Upper Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. 15 to 13.4 million years old. |
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Two images of the same lower cheek tooth from an extinct three-toed horse, Scaphohippus sp.; Middle Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. Grinding surface bottom is 23mm across. 16.3 to 15 million years old. Identified by Dr. Xiaoming Wang, Curator Vertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. (Genus identification is mine). |
| Two views of the same camel lower jaw fragment. Top perspective is 75mm long. Middle Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. 16.3 to 15 million years old. |
| Left, a phalanx (toe bone) from a pronghorn, 10mm long; right, a tooth from a pronghorn, 14mm long; Middle Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. 16.3 to 15 million years old. |
| This is the grinding surface of the pronghorn tooth seen in previous photograph. 10mm across. Middle Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. 16.3 to 15 million years old. |
| Tip of a pronghorn horn. It's 42mm long. Upper Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. 15 to 13.4 million years old. |
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| Reverse sides of the same pronghorn astragalus (ankle bone), which in actual life articulates below the lower hind limb bone, the tibia. 21mm long. Upper Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. 15 to 13.4 million years old. |
| Two proximal phalanges (toe bones) from a pronghorn. Left--28mm long; right--27mm long. Upper Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. 15 to 13.4 million years old. |
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These are called tarsals (analogous to human ankle bones), from the tarsus, or hind limbs of an unidentified ungulate (a hoofed mammal). They fit just below the tibia, the lower hind leg. Specimen at top, for perspective, is 33mm across. All from the Upper Member of the Barstow Formation. 15 to 13.4 million years old. Identified by Dr. Xiaoming Wang, Curator Vertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. |
| Two different images of the same specimen--a cervical (neck) vertebra from a camel. View of specimen at top is 25mm across. Upper Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. 15 to 13.4 million years old. |
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| Reverse sides of the same horse proximal phalanx (toe bone); Scaphohippus sp. 40mm long, Upper Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation, Fossil Bone Basin, Mojave Desert, California. 15 to 13.4 million years old. |
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Three images of the same lower cheek tooth from an extinct three-toed horse, Scaphohippus sp.--it lies partially embedded in a chunk of the volcanic tuff within which it was preserved. Grinding surface view at center is 20mm across. From the Middle Member of the middle Miocene Barstow Formation. 16.3 to 15 million years old. Identified by Dr. Xiaoming Wang, Curator Vertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. (Genus identification is mine). |