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Introduction


                     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 bJ  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.



                                         Acknowledgements


                       The  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to  Dr.  Kew  and

             Dr.  Chester  Stock  for  the  collection  of  most  of  the  material.  He  wishes

             to  thank  the  Department  of  Paleontology  of  the  University  of  California

             for  kindly  loaning  the  material  for  study.  Likewise  he  expresses

             appreciation  of  the  cooperation  given  by  Mr.  Clements.  Especially  does

             the  writer  wish  to  thank  Dr.  Stock  for  criticism  and  assistance  during
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