Unique Collection of Mammal and Bird Micro Fossils from Brea Pits
"from the Spinner Estate Collection"

Mammal and Bird micro bone fossils

Class Mammalia and Class Aves

Geological Time: Pleistocene (Irvingtonian to Rancholabrean Stage)

Size: Fossils range from 2 mm to 3 cm

Fossil Site: Brea Pits, Southern California

Fossil Code: PFV365

Price: Sold


Mammal and Bird Micro Fossils from Brea PitsDescription: I’m selling these micro mammal and bird bones in the cigar box holding the smaller specimen boxes with the original masking tape labels from the collector. Judging from the price of the cigars, then at 16 cents each, I would place the cigar box from the late 1950s to early 1960’s. Most likely the general time the fossils were collected. I estimate the number of fossils at 200-300 total. They are clearly from a Brea (tar) pit. The bones are sorted by type: femur, teeth, digits etc. Twelve small boxes total. This is just a marvelous collection with lots of interesting provenance, and perhaps, my favorite acquisition of the lot.

At the end of October, 2010 I acquired a large percentage of the Paul Spinner Collection from his fossil estate manager. Paul was a Native American who worked for the U.S. Forrest Service and lived in the western side of Kern County, California. During the 1950s through the early 1980s he accumulated his collection from Fresno county, the Lompoc area fish beds, Sharktooth Hill bone beds, Kern county Brea (tar) pits, etc. As his reputation grew for having the largest privately held and valuable fossil collection from these areas, he developed a special relationship with the University of California Santa Barbara department of Paleontology as well as the La Brea Tar Pits staff. This unique collection of Southern California fossils was primarily from the Cenozoic, with an emphasis on the Miocene.

Unfortunately, the collection was left with no identifications for time, location, species or age. This is where the mystery lies. The vast majority of the specimens are easy to identify under the trained eye of a commercial dealer, or paleontologist. Locations are somewhat tricky, however. The matrix surrounding the fossil, or the fossil itself often is evidence of location. These dire mammal remains show the dark oily looking exterior of a Brea (tar) pit specimen. But, were these specimens discovered in the LaBrea tar pits of Los Angeles? The estate manager of the collection told me that Paul Spinner had collected in the LaBrea pits, possibly with the permission of one of the academic institutions he was affiliated with. It is possible he collected these back in the 50’s or 60’s before the pits became a strictly administered academic sanctuary. Otherwise they came from some other Brea (asphalt) pit located in the S. California, Kern County area. We’ll never know for sure. Paul died back in the 80’s and his collection sat packed away for over 25 years until now.

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