The geologically recent existence of this now vanished fauna is
evidenced by the presence in the asphalt pits of bones of the gray
fox, the mountain lion, and close relatives of the bobcat and coyote,
as well as the condor, which still frequent that region, and thus link
the past with the present. The only traces of the ancient vegetation
discovered in these asphalt pits are a pine and two species of juniper,
which are members of the existing flora.
There is reason for believing that primitive man occupied California
and other parts of the West during at least the latter part of the
period when the fauna of the asphalt pits still flourished. Dr. C.
Hart Merriam informs me that the folk-lore of the locally restricted
California Indians contains detailed descriptions of a beast which is
unmistakably a bison, probably the bison of the asphalt pits.
The discovery in these pits of the bones of a gigantic vulturelike bird
of prey of far greater size than the condor is even more startling,
since the folk-lore of the Eskimos and Indians of most of the tribes
from Bering Straits to California and the Rocky Mountain region
abound in tales of the “thunder-bird”--a gigantic bird of prey like a
mighty eagle, capable of carrying away people in its talons. Two such
coincidences suggest the possibility that the accounts of the bison and
the “thunder-bird” are really based on the originals of the asphalt
beds and have been passed down in legendary history through many
thousands of years.