The first record of <i>Brachypsalis modicus</i> (Carnivora, Mustelidae) in California from the Cuyama Valley (Caliente Formation, Middle Miocene)

<i>Brachypsalis</i> are medium-sized mustelid carnivorans known mostly from Hemingfordian to Clarendonian North American Land Mammal Age deposits in the Great Basin and Great Plains regions of North America. In addition to its general rarity along the west coast, most materials assigned to this genus are highly fragmentary and consequently, confident taxonomic assignment is difficult. Here I report on the first confirmed record of <i>Brachypsalis modicus</i> from the west coast. Several jaw and dental fragments of a single adult individual are described from the Barstovian Upper Dome Spring Local Fauna of the Caliente Formation, Cuyama Valley, California. The California record of <i>B. modicus</i> shares with Colorado and Texas specimens in having relatively robust cheek teeth indicative of a hypocarnivorous lifestyle. Associations of <i>Brachypsalis</i> with nearshore marine and non-marine deposits in California indicate potential incorporation of nearshore or marine prey in their diet. <i>Brachypsalis modicus</i> represents a medium-sized, coastal terrestrial carnivoran that may be ecomorphologically convergent with extant lutrine mustelids (river otters) and/or procyonids (raccoons), or alternatively, a niche that is entirely missing from extant carnivoran assemblages along the California coast.