. Bulletin. Science; Natural history; Natural history. 1972 NEW FOSSIL SEA OTTER FROM CALIFOl ihe Palos Verdes Sand, and various limbs and vertebral elements from Late Pleistocene deposits of Santa Rosa Island, Leffler referred the Oregon femur u> Enhydra sp. while Mitchell concluded thai all the southern California specimens probafelj were referable u> Enhydra lutris (Linnaeus). In May 1967, a well preserved mandible of a fossil sea oiler, lacking only a lew teeth, was recovered from a Late Pleistocene marine deposit, located on the Humboldl County coast, north- western California. The
. Bulletin. Science; Natural history; Natural history. 1972 NEW FOSSIL SEA OTTER FROM CALIFOl ihe Palos Verdes Sand, and various limbs and vertebral elements from Late Pleistocene deposits of Santa Rosa Island, Leffler referred the Oregon femur u> Enhydra sp. while Mitchell concluded thai all the southern California specimens probafelj were referable u> Enhydra lutris (Linnaeus). In May 1967, a well preserved mandible of a fossil sea oiler, lacking only a lew teeth, was recovered from a Late Pleistocene marine deposit, located on the Humboldl County coast, north- western California. The mandible is evidently the first known of a fossil sea otter from ihe north- eastern Pacific and il provides the first major indication of (he cranial morphology of fossil sea otters. The Humboldt County mandible is inter- preted to be that of a new species of sea otter referable to the genus Enhydra. The left and right rami of the mandible were discovered at the same locality by different persons at different times. The close morphologic agree- ment of the two rami and near perfect fit of the symphysis make it virtually certain that they are from the same individual. GENUS ENHYDRA FLEMING, 1822 Enhydra macrodonta, new species Figures 1 and 2 Holotype: California State University, Humboldt. Department of Geology and Earth Science, specimen No. 745-1, a mandible lacking left P», M,, and M2; right incisors and M-. The medial projection of both condyles has been broken off. Type locality: California State University, Hum- boldt, Department of Geology and Earth Science, locality No. 745. A moderately steep, north-facing, excavated slope located approximately 11 miles north of Areata. Humboldt County, California, at the junc- tion of 101 and Crannell Road. The exposure consists of three, nearly flat-lying, sedimentary units including (from bottom to top): 1) a basal 12 feet of gray, medium-grained, pebbly, fossiliferous. semi- consolidated sand: 2) 50 feet of gray, clayey, fine
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