Californian turkey on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Californian turkey (''Meleagris californica'') is an extinct species of turkey indigenous to the Pleistocene and Early Holocene of California. It has been estimated that the Californian turkey went extinct about 10,000 years ago.
Fossil evidence indicates that the Californian turkey was stockier than the wild turkey of the eastern United States, with a shorter, wider beak, but was largely similar otherwise. It is a very common fossil in the
Fossil evidence indicates that the Californian turkey was stockier than the wild turkey of the eastern United States, with a shorter, wider beak, but was largely similar otherwise. It is a very common fossil in the La Brea Tar Pits
La Brea Tar Pits is an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' in Spanish) has seeped up from the gro ...
. Size-wise, though, the California turkey might have been intermediate in size between the smaller southwestern turkey (''Meleagris crassipes'') and the larger North American wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'').
The extinction of this species is thought to have been caused by a combination of drought, which would have forced turkeys to restrict their lives to areas close to water sources, and overhunting by humans who had arrived relatively recently in the region.
This species was originally described as a type of peafowl by Miller in 1909 and placed in the genus '' Pavo'' with that bird. Years later he reclassified it as an intermediate between the Indian peafowl and the ocellated turkey. But it eventually was seen as a close relative of modern extant wild turkeys.
Distribution and origin
"The unquestionable geographic range of ''M. californica'' extended from Orange County in the south (Imperial Highway), through Los Angeles County (Rancho La Brea and probable also Workman and Alhambra Streets), to Santa Barbara County in the north (Carpinteria)." During the Miocene, Californian turkeys probably originated from other turkey populations that have become restricted to southern California. However, the similarities between the Californian and wild turkey suggest the former, following isolation of their ancestors, may have faced similar evolutionary pressures when compared to their mainland relatives. The xeric desert topography that prevails now in southeastern California and western Arizona may have prevented its neighbor, the wild turkey, from exchanging genes with one another. This would therefore indicate the California turkey has been an isolated species separated from the more abundant wild turkey for some time before their extinction.References
* ''Physical Geography of North America'', by Antony Orme * https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/california-s-wild-turkey-troubles/ {{- Meleagris Pleistocene birds of North America Fauna of California Pleistocene California Quaternary California Holocene North America Pleistocene first appearances Holocene extinctions Extinct birds of North America Extinct animals of the United States