Occasional Papers OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES XI SAN FRANCISCO Published by the Academy March 18, 1925 COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION George C. Edwards, Chairman C. E. Grunsky Barton Warren Evermann, Editor Fauna and Stratigraphic Relations of the Tejon Eocene at the Type Locality in Kern County, California BY FRANK M. ANDERSON AND G. DALLAS HANNA Department of Paleontology SAN FRANCISCO California Academy of Sciences March 18, 1925 CONTENTS PAGE Introduction ......... 5 Marine Eocene Deposits of California .... 6 The Proper Limits of the Tejon Group .... 8 Historical Notes on the California Eocene .... 12 Eocene Subdivisions by Various Authors in Tabular Form 23 Type Locality of the Tejon Group 24 Local Geology of the Tejon Group ..... 28 Paleontology of the Tejon Group ..... 36 Collecting Stations in the Tejon Group ..... 39 Special Collections ........ 40 Checklist of Species ........ 41 Table or Reported Species ...... 45 Description of Species ........ 46 Cephalopoda . 49 Gastropoda 50 Scaphopoda 143 Pelecypoda .......... 146 Crustacea .......... 191 Echinodermata ......... 192 Vermes 193 Coelenterata . 193 Illustrations of Species ..... Plates 1 to 15 Geological Map Plate 16 Index 227 <3/'^8D Vol. XI] ANDERSON AND HANNA—TYPE TEION EOCENE 5 Introduction In 1854 a portion of the Pacific Railroad Survey expe- dition under Lieutenant R. S. Williamson camped in what is now Kern County, California, In the vicinity of old Fort Tejon. The geologist of the party, W.P.Blake, made numer- ous excursions In the region during which some paleontologic specimens were collected. In "Canada de las Uvas", now known as Grapevine Creek, he picked up a float boulder containing fossils and this soon passed Into the hands of T. A. Conrad. Several species new to science were detected in the small collection and the age of the formation from which it came was definitely determined as Eocene. Thus was initiated the long series of studies on California paleontology which have followed. The strata from which the boulder came were located by subsequent workers and were given the name "Tejon." The Group has been found to be a distinct portion of the Eocene Series, demarked both above and below by profound uncon- formities. For this reason and because of its historical im- portance the "Tejon" has become the basis of a voluminous literature on west American Eocene. A large and well preserved fauna has been found in the Group and many species have been first described from there. But a great many others have been listed as occurring In the strata without proper discrimination or through errors of various kinds. No thorough systematic study of the fauna has heretofore been completed, yet a knowledge of the Tejon is essential before studies on other portions of western Eocene can well be attempted. In order to meet this need the senior author in 1913 and 1914 had large collections of fossils made at this and other horizons of possible equiva- lent age from Seattle, Washington, to San Diego, California. It was then proposed to make a thorough study of the fauna of the Tejon Group at its Type Locality and use this as a basis for correlation elsewhere. Other tasks interfered and the work has been delayed until this time. In the preparation of the report we have enjoyed the advantages of having very large collections with which to OF g CALIFORNIA ACADEMY SCIENCES [Oc. Papers. work. By far the most Important is that of the California Academy of Sciences. The University of CaHfornia also possesses a large collection from the region and this was generously placed at our disposal by Professor Bruce L. Clark. Another large collection of beautifully preserved Tejon material was made by Mr. G. C. Gester, This be- came the property of the Southern Pacific Company and has recently been deposited in the California Academy of Sciences through the office of Professor E. T. Dumble. We wish to express our greatest appreciation for the assistance rendered by those above mentioned; also to Mr. Marcus A. Hanna of the University of Washington for the loan of valuable comparative material from San Diego. MARINE EOCENE DEPOSITS OF CALIFORNIA Distribution: The marine Eocene deposits of California are known to extend throughout the coast region from below the Mexican border northward for nearly 600 miles to their most northern occurrence in the valley of Clear Lake, Lake County. South of the Tehachapi Mountains in southern California they are extensive and well developed, making up either the whole or considerable parts of several impor- tant ranges, such as the Santa Ynez, San Cayatano, Santa Susana and other Coast Ranges, and over wide areas are covered by later Tertiary formations. North of the Tehachapi Mountains in central California, where these deposits are chiefly of interest in this paper, they not only have a great development, but it is here per- haps that they appear in their most complete and most legible sequence, and where, therefore, they are most advantageously studied. They are found on both borders of the central valley at intervals, and doubtless pass beneath it where they are covered by later sediments. Along the flanks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from Butte County southward they have been found at several points, as at Table Mountain, Marysville Buttes, lone, and on the Merced River, and also farther south in the region of the Tehachapi Mountains. On the opposite side of the valley they extend along the Mount Diablo Range as far south as Vol. XI] ANDERSON AND HANNA—TYPE TEJON EOCENE J McKittrick, and they appear also in the outer Coast Ranges farther west bordering the Temblor Basin. It appears from a closer study of these deposits that during Eocene time, as during later Tertiary periods, the area was normally sensitive to the crustal stresses that affected the margin of the continent, and oscillations of land level have been perhaps more plainly recorded here than elsewhere on the coast. The region seems to have been structurally and otherwise well constituted to respond to such stresses, and to preserve the records of all the more important dynamic events of Tertiary time, even as it is at present. Volume: It is not claimed that the thickest development of the Eocene deposits of California is in the central valley, although they attain here a stratigraphic volume of over 6,000 feet, according to estimates that have been made. In contrast with the smaller aggregate of the Eocene deposits of the Gulf Coast this estimate for the California Eocene seems large, though it is much less than the estimates for parts of the Rocky Mountains, and less also than that of western Oregon or Washington. Contrasted with the vol- ume of Eocene strata in western Europe, with the exception possibly of England, that of central California is by no means exceptional, or even above average. In regard to composition there is considerable variety, since there are not only strata of detrital origin, but some more or less organic in character, including calcareous, as well as carbonaceous and lignitic beds, where coal mining has been carried on extensively in the past. The time repre- sented by this accumulation has been very long and the volume serves to emphasize, rather than illustrate the long duration of the Eocene period. It need occasion no surprise, then, that this volume of sediment, situated as it is in a basin, and region, notably subject to crustal disturbances, and representing a correspondingly long interval of geologic time, should be found to contain the records of several distinct epochs of sedimentation. The time has been suffi- ciently long for the enactment of many diastrophic events. It should be expected, rather, that here, as elsewhere on the continent, and in Europe, warpings, overlaps and uncon- g CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OP SCIENCES [Oc. Papers. formities would appear, separating the series into groups, representing as many epochs of deposition. And so they do, though it is not claimed that the record is completely known to us. The Proper Limits of the Tejon Group Since the early days of paleontologic study in California the strata of the Eocene period have been subject to mis- conception and dispute, and accordingly, the literature has become not only voluminous, but also confusing, and during the last decade it has continued to grow in both volume and confusion; unless the source of error can be pointed out and corrected the end of this is not likely to be reached soon. The rich faunas of the Eocene have attracted interest and have been extensively illustrated, but systematic study of the deposits has lagged far behind until within the last few years. Withal it still remains necessary to bring forward for review some of the earlier work, and the formations and localities with which it was concerned, before satisfac- tory progress can be made in the further study of the Eocene series, or of its groups of deposits. Among the localities of early geologic interest in Cali- fornia was that near old Fort Tejon, "Canada de las Uvas", now known as Grapevine Creek in Kern County, at the southern extremity of the central valley. Early interest in this locality led Gabb and Whitney of the old State Survey to adopt the name "Tejon Group" for what they believed to be a unit of California stratigraphy, but strangely enough they were quite unaware of the real significance and value of this collection of strata in the further study of the geologic history of the region, and some later and better informed geologists have not fully appreciated it. Even at the present time the question as to what prop- erly constitutes the Tejon Group of the California Eocene is far from being settled, and it continues to be a subject that may be fruitful of dispute unless a better understanding of it can be gained.