AN ANIMAL- AND PLANT-FOSSIL ASSEMBLAGE FROM THE SANTA CLARA FORMATION (PLIOCENE AND PLEISTOCENE), SARATOGA, CALIFORNIA

Animal and plant fossils recovered from a site near Saratoga, Santa Clara County, Calif., about 460 m above the faulted base of' the Santa Clara Formation indicate a late Blancan (latest Pliocene) age for the site. Important faunal remains include those of a large cat (Acinonyx? studeri), as well as other mammals, birds, fish, mollusks, and ostracodes. Plant remains include pollen, Isoetes megaspores, and poorly preserved leaves. Although the pollen assemblage shows signs of differential destruction of angiosperm taxa, it is nevertheless of interest because it contains at least 50 percent spruce (Picea) pollen. The presence of spruce pollen suggests that this site predates the development of the Pacific summer highpressure cell, which causes the present California mediterranean (summer drought) climate.