California Mediterranean Research Learning Center National Park Service
California Mediterranean Research Learning Center: National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
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Channel Islands National Park
Pigmy Mammoth dig
Pigmy Mammoth dig
Channel Islands National Park Facts:
• Over 2,000 species of plants and animals can be found in Channel Islands National Park (145 of which are found nowhere else in the world)
• Seventeen animals and fourteen plants that occur in the park are on the federal list of threatened and endangered species
• The park, totaling approximately 250,000 acres, is ½ land and ½ marine water
• Created in 1980 because of its outstanding natural and cultural resources
• Designated an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976
• Recognized for its genetic diversity and importance for research
• The largest and most diverse island is Santa Cruz Island, with an area of 96 square miles (approximately one-fifth the size of the City of Los Angeles)
• The park receives 30,000 visitors and an additional 60,000 people visit its waters every year
Please contact the Channel Islands National Park for more information at (805) 658-5730, or visit their website at www.nps.gov/chis.

Paleontology

Channel Islands National Park contains numerous plant and animal fossils that illuminate the natural history of the California coastal region, including the remains of a pygmy mammoth unique to the northern Channel Islands. Fossils from the islands offer many opportunities to study speciation, evolution, and the effects of human colonization. As a result, the five islands that make up Channel Islands National Park are of special interest to researchers and subject to a number of paleontological studies.

Research indicates that the Pleistocene fauna found in Channel Islands National Park is unique in many respects. Discoveries include:

• Several extinct species, including pygmy mammoth, owl, flightless goose, puffin, vampire bat, and two species of giant mouse
• The best representation of a Pleistocene marine avifauna on the Pacific coast, with over 70 species having been discovered on San Miguel Island
• A nearly complete adult pygmy mammoth skeleton discovered and excavated on Santa Rosa Island in 1994
• Pygmy mammoth fossil bones found on more than 140 sites on the islands of San Miguel, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz
• Fossils from the Pleistocene Age exposed in sands, silts, and gravels anywhere on Santa Rosa Island
• The caliche fossil forests, or rhizoconcretions, on San Miguel Island

Current Research
Scientists conducted paleontological research in Channel Islands National Park throughout the 20th century. Recent studies include:

• Examination of the Quaternary paleontology of megamammals from National Park units of the Colorado Plateau and Channel Islands
• Identification of a temporal overlap of pygmy mammoths and the earliest human remains on Santa Rosa Island
• Ongoing investigation of fossil records from the past 10,000 years to document historical significance of Torrey Pine stands and other paleo-botany through the analysis of pollen and sediment chemistry

Research Opportunities
The National Park Service is particularly concerned with the following studies:

• Effects of erosion and human activity on the paleontological resources found in Channel Islands National Park
• Inventories and assessments of threats to resources (whether natural or human-related)
• Invertebrates from the tertiary marine sediments
• Smaller terrestrial species of Pleistocene age and invertebrate fossils embedded within the Miocene strata of the islands
• Effects of climate change on island ecology

Researchers in Channel Islands National Park have access to an extensive geographic information system (GIS) database that includes land use, demographic, jurisdictional, political, and natural and cultural resource data.

The National Park Service looks forward to working with researchers to explore novel opportunities and facilitate future studies in the Channel Islands National Park through the CMRLC. Please contact Channel Islands National Park for more information at (805) 658-5730, or visit their website at www.nps.gov/chis.

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