A Tertiary Mammalian Fauna from the Mint Canyon Formation, Southern California

Abstract

The Mint Canyon beds, typically exposed in Mint Canyon seven miles northeast of Saugus, California, were described by Dr. W. S. W. Kew in Bulletin 753 (1924) of the United States Geological Survey. In 1919 during the course of geologic mapping of this region by Dr. Kew, fossil vertebrate remains were found at several localities. The types represented in the collection were recorded in Kew’s paper in a provisional list submitted by Dr. Chester Stock. However, no detailed study was made of this material. Further mammalian remains have been recently secured from the Mint Canyon formation by Mr. Thomas Clements during geologic study of the Tejon Quadrangle. In view of the geologic position of the Mint Canyon beds, intercalated in a series of marine formations of the Pacific Coast marine province, the terrestrial fauna secured from these deposits is not only important in establishing the age of the Mint Canyon but also furnishes a basis for comparing the Tertiary record of this region with that of the Great Basin to the east. Opportunities to correlate the Tertiary marine record with the terrestrial record of the Great Basin and of the Great Plains on the basis of land vertebrates are of infrequent occurrence and warrant in the present instance a careful survey of the Mint Canyon fauna.