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Sy | 7 "i 8 ' WA @ t MeL Ue a ear - aaa von i = hii zt A GUIDE TO THE FOSSIL REPTILES AND FISHES IN THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY), CROMWELL ROAD, LONDON, S.W. WITH 165 ILLUSTRATIONS. PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES. 1896. (All rights reserved.) Price Sixvencu. VS FHPLLGD PetgLy AQ (AdO4sT ET [BANGQUN ) UNeSN PL YST}Lg op} O} poyuosoa gy “JOSLOUlOg *400I49 JO sur] JOMOT Ol[} WOT . ‘(otNoqAUOD) STULSOUIONAL SAUAVSOAMLHOL Oe OE © Ge ey 3, 4 Da] wD oe gx 9 ® 96, 9 OO, > A GUIDE TO THE FOSSIL REPTILES AND FISHES IN THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND PALAZONTOLOGY. BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY), CROMWELL ROAD, LONDON, 8.W. PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES. 1896. (All rights reserved.) LONDON: HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY, ST. MARTIN’S LANE. TAB Ole CONTENTS: TABLE OF CONTENTS . List of Illustrations Preface Table of Stratified Tite Introduction ; ‘ Cuass 3.—REPTILIA Order I. PTEROSAURIA = A. CROCODILIA . » Il. DrINOSsAURIA . Sub-order 1. SAUROPODA 2. THEROPODA » >» & ORNITHOPODA . Order IV. SQUAMATA : Sub-order 1. OPHIDIA . 2. LACERTILIA is » 3 PYTHONOMORPHA Order V. RHYNCHOCEPHALIA » WI. PROTEROSAURIA » WII. IcHTHYOSAURIA » VIII. CHELONIA » IX. SAUROPTERYGIA X. PLACODONTIA » X1. ANOMODONTIA Sub-order 1. PROCOLOPHON IA 2. DIcYNODONTIA 3. THERIODONTIA 4, PARIASAURIA . 2° ” 2 ” Crass 4.—AMPHIBIA Order I. EcaupDATA 5 | LE CaUDATA ae LABYRINTHODONTIA Sub-order 1.—Microsauria 2.—Aistopoda 3.—Branc)hiiosauria 2? ” bP) 2? ” Fx. sSTPRINTS PRIMITIVE CHORDATE ANIMALS MARSIPOBRANCHIL OsTRACODERMI . bo PAGES 5 Tbh aie vy-xX x1 - Xil Xlll, XiV 1-63 6L 64 64: 65 66 72 ie ~~ bo bo b 72 74 74 76 1V TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Crass 5.—PISCES : é : j 79 Sub-class I. EnasmoBRANCHII . : : ; : ‘ 81 Order I. PROSELACHII . - 5 : ‘ A 5 : : 84 » If IcurayorTomr ~ y , , : : : : 84 » LIT. AcantHopir . : : : 4 A 5 : ‘ 85 ae LV. SEnAonir : s : : P , ‘ : ; 85 Sub-order 1. TECTOSPONDYLI : 3 , 2 ; : 86 » o. 2 ASTEROSPONDYLE ~ ; A P : . < 88 Sub-class I]. HoLocEPHALtI 2 F é : ; 93 Order I. CHIM®ROIDEI. 3 , ‘ 5 é 5 r : 93 Sub-class III. Dipnor . ‘ : : : : L : 94 Order I. SIRENOIDEI . : 5 A : i , s 6 94 » iI. ARTHRODIRA . : : ; ; 5 : ; ; 96 Sub-class IV. TELEOSTOMI . : : , : : : 97 Order I. | CROSSOPTERYGII . 3 ; : é : : : 98 >) LL VAcriInNOoOPrERNGIE —s . , : : : : 7 = LOG Sub-order 1. CHONDROSTEI . ; ; 4 A =~ e100 3 » 2. PROTOSPONDYLI ; : 5 ; : SeeRLOes 55 , 8 AETHEOSPONDYLI . ‘ ; 3 : - 107 os » 4 ISoSPONDYLI . ‘ 2 ‘ 3 . -0 08 s 3) 0 PLECTOSPONDYLI . ; : : : a ale. : » 6. NEMATOGNATHI ; , : ee OSS a >» 7. HAPLOMI. : : : : ; : aot A » 98 APODES . : j : , 3 : 4: “s », 12. PERCOMORPHI.: . é 4 ' = aS ne ,, 13. LOPHOBRANCHII : 4 : 120 14, HEMIBRANCHIL : : : A : a 1 120 we ; 15. PLECTOGNATHI : ‘ : ; 4 #7) 120 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page FRONTISPIECE.—Ichthyosaurus Tenuirostris, Conyb.; L. Lias, Street, Somerset. Fia. 1.—Rhamphorhynchus Muensteri, Goldf. ee ation ee eee Lithographic Stone, Bavaria .. oe 1 » 2.—Pterodactylus spectabilis, Meyer ; ibid. 36 2 » 5 antiquus, Sémmerring; ibid. .. AG 3 » 4.—Pteranodon longiceps, Marsh (skull) ; Cretaceous, N. America 3 », 9.—Dimorphodon macronyx, Buckl. sp. (restoration by Owen) ; Lower Lias, Lyme Regis ee a ar a san 5 », 6.—Crocodilus palustris, Lesson (skull) ; Recent, India .. s 5 a B Spenceri, Buckland (skull) ; London Clay, Sheppey 6 », 8.—Belodon Kapffi, Meyer (skull); U. Trias, Stuttgart .. oO 5, 9.—Steneosaurus Heberti, Geoftr. Gull) ; L. Oxfordian, Nor- mandy .. ae ae 250 ft. | Raised Beaches 2 3 ) | Paleolithic Age L , Boulder ead and Gravels | Norfolk Forest-bed Series alae PLIOCENE { Norwich and Red Crags ie: (100 ft.) _ Coralline Crag (Diestian) NJ MIOCENE € < < £ | Gn n Beds Freshwater, &c. S E (125 ft.) {| ingen Be reshwate a EOCENE ( pasts, marine wes (Oligocene) < gshot Beds : litic Bed (2,600 ft.) 1 London Tertiaries Eee itic Beds) U jean = = Maestricht Beds CRETACEOUS Ghalk & 5 | Upper Greensan = | (7,000 ft.) : Gault i ; = ower Greensan iS NEOCOMIAN «| Wealden EZ iba le7 a8 SE) ey 5 (| Bavpeck Beds ss | Portland Beds Kimmeridge Clay (Solenhofen Beds) . JURASSIC || Corallian Beds ‘| Oxford Clay ( 0 a Ga | Great Oolite Series a | | Inferior Oolite Series a | Lias ‘Ss | — vm <= ie | “ig Ti wat “ fa Rhetie Beds TRIASSIC Keuper ft. Muschelkalk Ou) Bunter Red Sandee, “Marl (500 to 3,000 ft.) CARBONIFEROUS (12,000 ft.) DEVONIAN & OLD RED SANDSTONE (5,000 to 10,000 ft.) SILURIAN (3,000 to 5,000 ft.) ORDOVICIAN (5,000 to 8,000 ft.) _— PRIMARY OR PALAOZOIC. CAMBRIAN (20,000 to 30,000 ft.) Red Sandstone and Conglomerate Rothliegende Coal Measures and Millstone Grit Carboniferous Limestone Series | Upper Old Red Sandstone | Devonian Lower Oid Red Sandstone Ludlow Series Wenlock Series Llandovery Series | May Hill Series Bala and Caradoc Series Llandeilo Series Llanvirn Series Arenig and Skiddaw Series Tremadoc Slates Lingula Flags Menevian Series | Harlech and Longmynd Series | : = FOZOIC— ARCH BAN (30,006 ft.) = (| Pebidian, Arvonian, and Dimetian U Huronian and Laurentian LIFE- PERIODS, Range of Invertebrata and Plants in time. Range of Fishes in time. Range of Amphibia and Reptilia in time. Footprints of Birds ?—Range of Birds in time. Range of Mammalia in time. pe, Dominant ty Man, Dominant types, Birds and Mammals, pe, Dominant ty Reptilia Dominant type, Fishes, Dominant type, Invertebrata. DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY anp PALHONTOLOGY. INTRODUCTION. NeaRLY every city has within its bounds some relics of earlier times, when a more ancient people occupied the same spot. Thus below modern London we find various layers of accumulated soil, each marked by tokens of former times. In one we find the charred relics of the wooden buildings which preceded the more modern brick and stone houses; be- neath this are found weapons, coins, and pottery, telling of Norman and Saxon times. More than 20 feet down we come upon the relic-bed of Roman London, and in some parts two Roman periods have been recognised with remains of buildings at different depths. Ata still lower level, along the course of the ancient Wall-brook, remnants of pile-dwellings have been discovered, which were probably occupied by an earlier British race. In the ancient gravels of the Thames Valley, both beneath and around London, stone implements, left by a yet earlier people, have been frequently met with, associated with bones and teeth of the Mammoth. If in a similar manner we investigate those larger layers of Chalk and Limestone, Sandstone, Clay, or Slate, composing the Karth’s crust, we not only find that they rest upon one another, so that we can judge of their relative age by the order of their superposition, but that, like the layers of. soil below London, they are often full of relics which teil of the former inhabitants that lived, flourished, and died out, to be succeeded by another race which have in their turn shared the same fate. X1V INTRODUCTION. Geology deals with the Earth, the composition of the various strata, or layers, of which it consists, their present and former extent, and the physical conditions under which they were deposited, and the changes they have since undergone. Paleontology deals with the remains of ancient life found in the various layers, and strives, by comparison with living forms, to restore the successive faunas and floras which have passed away, and to trace by those relics their past dis- tribution, and thus to show the evolution of life on the earth from the earliest times to our own. So many good books on Geology and Paleontology have been published * that it is not necessary to give in such a guide- book as the present a treatise on the science, but merely to explain that the Vertebrata in the Galleries are arranged according to their zoological classes, orders, and families (so far as these can be ascertained); and upon the label to each is placed its name, its geological position, and the locality whence it was derived. In the Invertebrata and Plants each class is also grouped chronologically in order, from the latest deposits to the earliest in which it occurs. Whenever a specimen has been figured and described in a scientific work, a green disk is affixed to it, and a reference is given to the author, and to the name and date of the work where it was published. Explanatory labels and illustrations have been introduced in many instances, to afford fuller information to visitors respecting the objects exhibited. A plan of the Gallery will be found affixed to the wall in each room, which will serve to show the general arrange- ment of the cases and their contents. The small Table of Strata, on p. xii, is given to indicate the range in time of the great groups of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, Invertebrates, and Plants. HB. We * See specially “Manual of Paleontology,” by Prof. H. Alleyne Nicholson and R. Lydekker, in 2 vols, (3rd Edition). Wm. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London. 1889. GUIDE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND PALAONTOLOGY. REPTILIAN GALLERY.* Tuts Gallery is devoted to the exhibition of the remains of PHS fossil Reptilia, a class which includes the Tortoises and Turtles, Wall-casee Snakes, Lizards, Crocodiles, and a large number of extinct No. 1. forms, the exact zoological position of many of which we can only judge by analogy. Like the Mammalia, the Reptilian class lived both on land and in the water; some being evidently fitted for terrestrial locomotion by their well-developed legs ; others, as shown by their paddle-shaped limb-bones, must have passed their entire existence in the water. One group, now extinct, possessed, like the Bats and the Birds, the power of flight. Crass 3.—REPTILIA. Order I.--PTEROSAURIA (WincGep-Lizarps). Fic, 1.—Restoration ot Lhumphorhynchus Muensteri, Goldfuss (after Marsh) ; one-seventh naturai size, from the Lithographic Stone, Eichstiidt, Bavaria. In Wall-case No. 1, and in Table-cases Nos. 1 and 2, are Pterodac- placed the fossil remains of this extinct group of “ Flying tyles- Lizards,” or Pterodactyles. These animals had the centra of eae the vertebra hollow in front; they possessed a broad sternum or cases, Nos. 1 ‘*breast-bone,” with a median ridge or keel, similar to that of and 2. birds; the jaws were usually armed with teeth fixed m sockets. ‘The fore-limb had a short humerus, a long radius and ulna, and * Galleries 3, 4, and 5 on Plan facing p. 102. (1876) 2 Fiying Lizards. Wall-case, No. 1. 2 Flying Lizards—Pterodactyles. one of the fingers of the hand was enormously elongated to give support to the wing-membrane (patagiuvm), which was attached to the sides of the body, the arm, and the long finger, and also to the hind-limb and tail. The other fingers of the hand were free and furnished with claws. The wing-membrane appears to have resembled that of the Bat, being destitute of feathers. The caudal series of vertebrae in some genera (as in Rhampho- rhynchus) was greatly elongated and _ stiffened with slender ii Fic. 2.—The nearly entire skeleton of Pterodactylus spectabilis (Meyer), from the Lithographic Stone, Upper Jurassic, Eichstidt, Bavaria. «@ is the pubis; on the right side the jlium is exposed (figured nat. size). ossified fibres (Figs. 1 and 5). The bones were pneumatic (7.e., filled with large air-cavities), the walls of the bones being very thin, and their substance very hard and compact, thus combining strength with lightness. Numerous remains of nearly perfect Pterodactyles, with both long and short tails, and varying greatly in size, have been Pterodactyles—Dimorphodon. 3 obtained from the Solenhofen Limestone in Bavaria—others Ptero- occur in the Great Oolite at Stonesfield, near Oxford, and in dactyles. the Lias formation, Lyme Regis, Dorset. The most remarkable eee Fie. 3.—The almost complete skeleton of Pterodactylus antiquus (Sémmerring’, from Table-case, the Lithographic Stone, Eichstiidt, Bavaria (} nat. size). a, humerus; 0, radiusand yo, 1, ulna; c, carpus; d, metacarpus; e, clawed digits; f, g. hk, 7, phalangeals of ulnar digit; k, rib; J, femur; s, tibia; 7, tarsus; m, metatarsals; ¢, t’, phalangeals of pes. ZS Fic. 4.—Left lateral view of skull of Ptleranodon longiceps (Marsh), from the Cretaceous of North Ameiica (>, nat. size). a, preorbital vacuity; ), orbit; ce, supraorbital crest; d, angle of mandible; g, quadrate; s, symphysis. (Not represented in the Collection.) of these English examples is the Dimorphodon macronyx from Dimorpho- the Lias of Lyme, which had a large head, the jaws armed with don. lancet-shaped teeth, along tail, and well-developed wings. The Wall-case, skull was 8 inches in length, and the expanse of the wings Ns about 4 feet (see Fig. 5). Many remains have been discovered by Prof. Marsh in the Cralk of North America. One singular form, named by him 22 Pterodac- tyles. Wall-case, No. 1. Table-case, No. 1. Crocodiles. Wall-case, No. 2, and Table-cases, Nos. 9 to 13. 4 Crocottiles. Pteranodon, had no teeth in its jaws, which were a yard in length, sharp-edged and pointed, and were probably encased in a horny sheath like the beak of a stork or heron (see Fig. 4). The Flying Lizards of the Chalk and Greensand attained even a larger size —hbut their remains are all very fragmentary. For exam- ple, some detached vertebrae of the neck of one species have been found in the Cambridge Greensand, measuring 2 in- ches in length, and portions ° of humeri 3 inches broad. Such bones give evidence of a flying lizard having pro- , bably an expanse of wings ° of from 18 to 20 feet. The Pterodactyles of the Chalk of Kent were nearly, if not quite, as large. The smallest species of Pterodactyle from Solenhofen was not larger than a sparrow (see Table-case No.1). These singular flying reptiles do not appear to have lived longer than the period of time repre- sented by the deposition of the strata from the lias formation to the Chalk, their remains being confined to rocks of the Secondary, or \ Mesozoic age. They are now entirely extinct. (LLOwny JO WOJJOYS—'S “OV *yooy=d ‘qasto ‘sidoy aud ‘sery “TT “F noqy i f) | i) | } i t\ { : Order II—CROCODILIA. (Croccpies.) The CrocopiniaA, except in one or two instances (which are placed in Wall-case No. 2, and in Table-cases Nos. 9-13) have the body covered with a thick layer of oblong bony plates or scutes, pitted on the surface, and covered witha horny substance. They have a single row of pointed and subconical or laterally Crocodiles. 5 compressed teeth in distinct sockets, which are continually being renewed from below. The skull is relatively large in proportion to the body, and is usually much depressed ; its component bones are firmly united and generally have a characteristic sculpture on their external surface. The palatines and pterygoids unite in the middle line and thus close the palate, and very frequentiy one or both of these paired bones develop inferior plates, which meet beneath the narial passages. The quadrate is tightly wedged in Fic. 6..—Crocodilus palustris (Lesson). 1, lateral, and 2, upper views of skull; 3, palatal view of cranium; Z, aperture of median eustachian canal; JV, posterior nares; 0, O, orbits; P, P, palato-pterygoid vacuities; 7’, supra-temporal fosse: V, basi- occipital. The figures are much reduced. Common, living in Western India. Fossil in the Pleistocene deposits of the Narbada Valley, India. among the adjacent bones ; the tympanic cavities usually com- municate with the mouth by three eustachian canals; the mandibular symphysis unites by suture ; there are, as a rule, no ossifications in the sclerotic of the eyeball. There is almost invariably a lateral vacuity in the mandible. The vertebrae of these reptiles are cup-shaped or concave at both ends, as in Teleosawrus; or concave in front and convex behind, as in the Crocodile from Sheppey (Fig. 7) and in all living Croco- Crocodilia, Wallcase, No. 2. Table-cases Nos. 9 tols. Crocodilia. Wall-case, No. 2. Table-cases, Nos. 10 to ll. Table-case, No. 12. Belodon,. Wall-case, No. 2. Table-case, No. 13. Wall-case, No. 2. Geosaurus. 6 Crocodiles—Geosaurus. diles. Professor Owen has constituted two groups, based on these modifications of the vertebrae. The Crocodiles belong to the Proccelian section (vertebree concave in front), and are divided into a brevirostrine, or short-snouted section, containing the Alligator, the Crocodile, and the Tertiary genus Diplocynodon; and a longirostrine, or long-snouted section, embracing the Garials, Tomistoma, Thoracosaurus, and Rhamphosuchus. The Amphiccelian section (vertebre concave at both ends), embraces Hyleochampsa, also a second brevirostrine section including Theriosuchus, Goniopholis, Nannosuchus, and Owenia- suchus, and a second longirostrine section for Pholidosaurus and Petrosuchus, all from the Wealden and Purbeck beds. The older secondary forms belong to the Amphiccelian section as Dacosaurus, Metriorhynchus, Teleidosawrus, Machimosaurus, Pelagosaurus, Steneosaurus, and Teleosawrus. The earliest of the Crocodilian reptiles is named Belodon (Fig. 8); it had long and pointed slightly-curved teeth, longitudinally grooved, and Fic. 7.—Crocodilus Spenceri (Buckland). Upper view of skull restored, from the London Clay of Sheppey (about + nat. size). elongated jaws Jike the modern Garials; the other, named Stagonolepis, resembled the existing Caimans, but with an elon- gated skull like the Garials; the body was covered by bony scutes. Both these reptiles are from the Trias, the former from Stuttgart,Germany; the latter from Elgin, Scotland. In the Oolitic and Liassic series the old type of long and slender- jawed Teleosaurs and Steneosaurs (Figs. 9 and 11), with strong bony scutes, was abundantly represented. Here are exhibited the type specimens of Geosaurus, from the lithographic stone (Upper Oolite) of Solenhofen, Bavaria. Baron Cuvier inferred, from the form and structure of its skull, that Geosawrus held an intermediate place between the crocodiles and the monitors, but was more nearly related to the latter. The orbits are largeand the eyes were protected by bony sclerotic plates, like those of Ichthyosawrus. It had Crocodiles—Belodon, etc. 7 > = —— Sa —— ° 0 222 °298 00nq0 B0000(600 nS OFS = eo° 2900, = ic] Fie. 8.—Belodon Kapffii (Meyer); from the Keuper, Upper Trias, Stuttgart, Wurtemberg. A, lateral view of skull; B, upper view of skull; C, palatal aspect of same; pmz, premaxilla; ma, maxilla; na, nasal; na, nares; or, orbit; por, preorbital vacuity; pnea posterior nares (greatly reduced). Fic. 9.—Upper view of cranium of Stencoswurus Heberti (E. Geoffroy) ; from the Lower Oxfordian of Normandy (about 7, nat. size). BELODON AND STENEOSAURUS. Wall-case, No. 2. Pelagosau- rus, Wall-case, No. 2. Wall-cases, Nos. land2. Table-cases, Nos. 9and 10. Wall-cases, Nos. 3—7, 8 Dinosauria. numerous, large, compressed, and slightly recurved teeth, and the vertebre are constricted and biconcave. It probably attained a length of ten or twelve feet. The original specimens from Monheim, first described and figured by Scemmerring in ° 1816, as a gigantic lizard (Lacerta gi- gantea) ave exhibited in the case. Itis now known that Geosawrus is very closely allied to, if not identical with Metriorhynchus, a genus of Crocodiles remarkable for the presence of a sclerotic ring in the eye and the absence of bony scutes. Many species of Metriorhynchus are found in the Jurassic rocks of Europe and two nearly complete skeletons of a form common in the Oxford Clay of Peterborough are mounted in Wall- case No. 2. These specimens, as well as the skeleton of Steneosawrus placed near them, were obtained by A. N. Leeds, Esq., F.G.S. A reproduction of the entire skeleton of the Pelagosaurus typus, from the Lias of Curcy, Normandy, prepared by the late R16 1G aOOR Dace Professor K. Deslongschamps, is pees in er ee ee the same wall-case (No. 2). ae From the Wealden of the South- ee of England, the Purbeck beds of Dorset, we have a true Croco- dilian, the Goniopholis; and a dwarf species, Theriosuchus pusil- lus, Owen (Table-case No. 11). Fa Fic. 11.—Profile of skull of Pelagosaurus typus (Bronn), from the Upper Lias of Normandy (reduced). J, supra-temporal fossa; 0, orbit. 4 nat. size. A large Crocodile has been obtained from the Eocene Ter- tiary of the Isle of Wight, and from Hordwell, Hampshire and remains of many species of Crocodiles and Garials, from the Tertiary rocks of India, may be seen in the wall-case. These are referable to the typical genus Crocodilus, and also to the other living genera, namely, Garialis of India and Tomis- toma of Borneo; both the last-named genera being long- snouted types. Order III.—_DINOSAURIA. This remarkable group of huge terrestrial reptiles is quite extinct. Some of them had bony dorsal plates and long and Dinosauria—Sauropoda. 9 formidable spines (as Acanthopholis, Polacanthus, Hyleosaurus, &c.), others were without such defences. Most of these animals had flat or biconcave centra to their vertebra, the anterior (cervical) vertebre had hollow cups behind. Two pairs of limbs were always present, furnished with strong-clawed digits. They were probably to some extent amphibious in their habits, but their limbs were well fitted for progression on the land. The group has been provisionally sub-divided into the following sub-orders, namely :— Sus-orper 1.—Sauropoda (Lizard-footed). The members of this group of Dinosaurs were all herbi- yorous, and included some of the largest forms hitherto dis- covered, by far the hugest being the American genus Atlan- tosaurus, from the Jurassic of Colorado. Although no entire skeleton has been found, it is supposed to have attained a Fic. 12.—Lateral view of skull of Diplodocus longus (Marsh), from the ‘* Atlantosaurus”’ beds (Upper Jurassic), near Cafion City, Colorado, N. America (j nat, size). (Not yet represented in the Collection.) length of over 80 ft., and a height of 30 ft. postorbital articula- tion of the upper jaw with the cranium. noteworthy both on account of the primitive character of their : skull and backbone (Fig. 118), and for the possession of six or seven gill-clefts instead of the usual five. Whole skeletons of Asterospondylt. 89 Notidanus are known from the Lithographic Stone of: Bavaria and the Upper Cretaceous of Mount Lebanon, but there are none in the Collection. Numerous teeth are shown from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary Formations, and it is note- worthy that the largest and most complex teeth are those of the latest deposits (Fig. 119). The Cestraciontide are also primi- & tive and represented only at the present day by the Port Jackson Shark (Cestracion, Fig. 109, p. 82). Their extinct representa- tives are extremely numerous. As in Cestracion (Fig. 120), the majority of the teeth are always adapted for crushing, though Fic. 120.—Jaw of Port Jackson Shark, Cestracion Philippi (recent). some in front are prehensile and many are cuspidate. Their variation in different parts of the mouth is thus so great, that it 1s often almost impossible to name detached fossil teeth. As in CVestracion, also, each of the two dorsal fins is invariably pro- Table-case, No. 27. Table-case, No. 27. Wall-case, No. 2, and 90 Asterospondyli. vided with an anterior spine. The Carboniferous sharks, Sphenacanthus and Tristychius, with cuspidate teeth and ribbed dorsal fin-spines, are probably to be placed here; so also are the fine teeth from the Carboniferous Limestone named Orodus. Hybodus, ranging from the Muschelkalk to the Wealden, has a persistent notochord, cuspidate teeth, and ribbed dorsal fin- spines (Fig. 123); many specimens, presumably males, are Fie. 121. Fre. 123. B Fie. 122. A yyy if tN Eta Fie. 121.—A, spine of Lepracanthus Colei, Owen ; Coal-measures, Ruabon, N. Wales; B, a portion of the spine enlarged, to show tbe external ornamentation. Fig. 122.—Teeth of Acrodus Anningia, Ag. ; Lower Lias, Lyme Regis. Fic. 123.—Dorsal spine of Hybodus ; Wealden, Sussex. further provided on either side of the head with two large barbed hooklets, each fixed on a broad base, and these were originally named Sphenonchus by Agassiz. who supposed them to be the teeth of a distinct fish. The skull much resembles that of Notidanus, and the teeth in some species are also very similar to the early forms of the last-named genus. The finest speci- mens of Hybodus exhibited, were obtained from the Lower Lias Asterospondyli. 21 of Lyme Regis and the Wealden of Pevensey Bay, Sussex. Paleospinax, from the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis, and the Upper Lias of Wirtemberg, is a small fish with smooth dorsal fin-spines and simple constricted vertebrae; Synechodus, of Cretaceous age, is almost identical. Acrodus, ranging from the Muschelkalk to the Gault, only differs from Hybodus in the less cuspidate character of its teeth (Fig. 122). Asteracanthus, with a dentition commonly named Strophodus (Fig. 124), is proved by specimens in the collection to differ only from Acrodus in the pattern on its teeth and fin-spines. Fine examples of its head- spines (Sphenonchus), from the Oxford Clay of Peterborough, are exhibited; while a jaw in a block of Great Oolite from Caen, Normandy (Fig. 124), is unique. It will be observed that the front prehensile teeth in Hybodus, Acrodus, and Asteracanthus ( Strophodus), are relatively larger and less numerous than those Fic. 124.—Jaw of Asteracanthus (Strophodus medius, Owen); Great Oolite, Caen, Normandy. of Cestracion. The latter genus seems to range from the Upper Jurassic to the present day. An interesting Carboniferous family of which little is known beycnd the dentition, is that of the Cochliodontide, apparently closely related to the Cestracionts. Their jaw is arranged somewhat lke that of Cestracion, but the several series of lateral teeth are each represented by a single plate, coiling inwards by growth at the outer edge. Cochliodus (Fig. 12 5) is the typical genus, and Streblodus, Psephodus, Sandalodus, Pecilodus, etc., are very similar forms. Many of the teeth named Helodus pertain to the symphysis of the jaw of these fishes; and in one genus, Plewroplax, from the Lower Carboni- ferous and Coal Measures, such teeth are only imperfectly fused together in the plates. Table-cases, Nos. 27,'28. Table-case, No. 29. Table-case, No. 30. Wall-case, No. 3, and Table-case, No. 27. Wall-case, No. 3, and Table-cases, Nes 26 and 27. 92, Asterospondyli. The Scylliide frange from the later Jurassic upwards. They are represented in the Bavarian Lithographic Stone by Paleoscyllium, in the Upper Chalk of Mount Lebanon by Fic. 125.—Teeth of Cochliodus contortus, Ag.; Carboniferous Limestone, Armagh. Mesiieia, and in the English Chalk by Cantioscyllium. Teeth of the existing Ginglymostoma are exhibited from the Eocene. The Lamnide and Carchariidx are the characteristic sharks of modern times, but are very rarcly found fossil except in the form of detached teeth, vertebrae, and portions of calcified carti- lage. To the Lamnide may be assigned the fine examples of Scapanorhynchus from the Upper Cretaceous of Mount Lebanon, which exhibit a dentition identical with that of Odontaspis, but ciffer in the remarkable elongation of the snout and in the arrangement of the fins. To the Carchariide belong several fine fishes from the Upper Eucene of Monte Bolea, near Verona, of which there are no specimens in the Collection. A large series of detached teeth is exhibited, but it is impossible to name and arrange them satisfactorily, owing to the variation of shape always occurring in oneand the same mouth. Lamna (including Otodus, in part) and Oxyrhina seem to range from the Cretaceous, Fie. 126. Hires 127. Fig. 126.—Tooth of Odontuspis elegans, Fic, 127.—Tooth of Carcharodon megalodon, Agassiz ; London Clay. Agassiz ; Suffolk Crag, (One-third nat. size.) while Coraw is the tooth of an extinct member of the Lamnide of the same age. Odontaspis (Fig. 126) is Tertiary and Recent. The Jurassic Orthacodus may even belong to this family. The teeth of Carcharodon, however, are the most interesting of such Holocephali—Chimeroidei. 93 fossils, those named Carcharodon megalodon (Fig. 127) having an almost world-wide distribution. Specimens are exhibited from New Zealand, Australia, South Carolina, the West Indies, France, Spain, Italy, Malta, and Arabia, as also from the Antwerp and Suffolk Crags. The Carchariide are almost, if not exclusively, Tertiary, and only a small collection of teeth of Galeocerdo, Carcharias, Hemipristis, etc., is exhibited. It may be interesting to add that in some places, both in the Atlantic and Pacific (especially at extreme depths in the red-clay areas), the ‘“‘ Challenger” dredged up many teeth of Sharks and ear-bones of Whales, all in a semi-fossil state, and usually im- pregnated with oxides of iron and manganese. The Sharks’ teeth belong principally to species believed to be extinct, and resemble those found fossil in the late Tertiary formations. Sub-class II.—HOLOCEPHALI. Orver |.—Chimeroidei. The Chimeras resemble the Sharks in many important features, but, in the skull, the upper jaw is fused with the cranial cartilage, not suspended by the upper part of the hyoid arch. The skeleton is wholly cartilaginous, and the notochord is tolerably persistent, the vertebree being represented by mere slender rings. In the two living genera, there is a strong spine in front of the dorsal fin: the gill-clefts are covered by a fold of skin, so that only a single external opening is observed : and the dentition consists of four plates above and two below. Teeth of Rhynchodus and Palceomylus from the Devonian ot North America, and of Ptyctodus from the Devonian of Russia, are the earliest fossils hitherto definitely referred to this sub- class, but there are no examples in the Collection. The early Jurassic family of Squaloraiide is represented by the unique genus Squaloraja, of which several fine specimens are exhibited from the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis. The trunk is shaped like that of a narrow skate of the family Rhinobatide, and the rostral spine in the male is long and slender; there is ne dorsal fin-spine. Another Jurassic family is that of the Myriacan- thide. Myriacanthus itself, also from the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis, is represented by numerous fragmentary specimens. One slab of M. granulatus shows the dorsal and rostral spines, and a produced snout resembling that of the existing Callo- rhynchus. The dentition (originally named Prognathodus) is remarkable fora median chisel-like tooth in front of the lower jaw. The long dorsal spine is covered with tubercles, which are often pointed and thorn-shaped. The still-surviving family of Chimeeride is first represented by teeth of Ganodus and Wall-case, No. 8, and Table-case, No. 33. 94 Dipnoi—Nirenoidei. Ischyodus in the Stonesfield Slate, and the latter genus ranges upwards to the Upper Cretaceous. Nearly complete skeletons have been found in the Lithographic Stone of Bavaria. Hda- Fie. 128.—Lower Jaw of Edaphodon leptognathus, Ag.; Middle Eocene, Bracklesham Bay, Sussex. phodon (Fig. 128) and Elasmodus are Cretaceous and Hocene; Chimera dates back at least to the Pliocene. Sub-class III.—DIPNOI. Orper |.—Sirenoidei. Wall-case, The typical Dipnoi (double-breathers) are so named because No.5,and in their living representatives the air-bladder assumes the Table-case, . ay : : 4 . 34. function of a lung, and thus furnishes them with a second Fic. 129.—Skeleton of the African Mudfish, Protopterus annectens, living in the Rivers of Africa. means of respiration. They are a nearly extinct race, only three forms now surviving, namely, Protopterws in Africa (Fig. 129), Lepidosiren in South America, and Ceratodus (Hpiceratodus) in Australia (Fig. 130). Fic. 130.—‘* The Australian Mudfish,” Ceratodus Forsleri (recent), Australia. The notochord in these fishes is always persistent, and the tail is diphycercal or heterocercal. There are two pairs of Dipnoi—Nirenoider. 95 nostrils more or less within the mouth (Fig. 131, w) ; and the dentition (Fig. 131) consists of a pair of ridged plates above and below, usually with a pai of incisor-lhke vomerine teeth above. An ordinary bony operculum covers the gill-cavity. The paired fins are acutely lobate, supported by a central jointed cartilaginous stem fringed with radial cartilages and dermal fin-rays. The earliest Dipnoi are Lower Devonian. Dipterus (Fig. 132) is beautifully preserved in the Caithness flagstones, and exhibits two dorsal fins, a heterocercal tail, and enamelled scales. Phaneropleuron (Fig. 133) occurs in the Upper Old Red Sandstone of Dura Den, Fifeshire, and Scauwmenacia in the Upper Devonian of Canada. Ctenodus is characteristic of the Carboniferous and Lower Permian, and is met with both in Europe and America. All these genera are characterized by the roof of the skull exhibiting more numerous bones than that of the living Dipnoi. The teeth of Ceratodus occur in early Mesozoic strata in Europe, India, South Africa, and Central North America; but only one important skull has Fic. 131.—Mouth of Ceratodus. nn, narial openings; xz, vomerine teeth; «x, palato-pterygoid teeth ; wrx, mandibular teeth, been described, this from the Rheetic of Austria. A fine series of teeth is exhibited from the Rhetic of Aust Cliff near Wall-case, No. 5, and Table-case, No. 34. Fig. 132.—Dipterus Valenciennesi, Sedgw. and Murch. (restored by C. H. Pander); Lower Old Red Sandstone, Scotland. Wall-case, No. 4 96 Arthrodira. Bristol, and from the Trias (Lettenkohle) of Wirtemberg The characters of the skull of Ceratodus in the Museum of the Fic. 183.—Phaneropleuron Andersoni, Huxl. (restored by Dr. R. H. Traquair); Upper Old Red Sandstone, Dura Den, Fife. Austrian Geological Survey, Vienna, suggest that the early Mesozoic fish was gener ically distinct from the living fish similarly named from the Queensland rivers. Orver Il.—Arthrodira. The Coccosteus-like fishes have already been mentioned (p. 76) as originally classified with the Ostracoderms in the un-natural and artificial group of ‘ Placodermata.” In them the head and anterior portion of the trunk are armoured with bony plates, and the head is movable with respect to the trunk. In all the satisfactorily-known genera, there is an elaborately- formed joint between the hinder ; angles of the head-shield and a rounded process of the antero- lateral plates of the trunk; an arrangement unique among fishes and referred to in the name ARTHRODIRA (joint-neck) now given to this group. The principal upper teeth are fixed on the bones of the roof of the mouth ; the lower jaw comprises only one bone on each side. The notochord must have been persistent, and the paired fins are rudimentary or absent. The Arthrodira are only provisionally placed among the Dipnoi, on account of the very striking resemblance between their dentition and that of certain mud- fishes, also because they seem to have possessed a skull of the same type. Coccosteus (Fig. 134) is the best-known Arthrodiran, and a fine series of specimens is exhibited from the Lower Old Red Sandstone of Scotland. There is also a unique head-shield from the Upper Devonian of Scaumenac Bay, P.Q., Canada. The eyes form notches in the head-shield; there seem to be premaxillz, and there is one large plate upon the cheek which may be maxilla or suborbital, or both. The teeth are stout and conical, in one close series on the mandible, clustered on the palate. A pair of dermal plates occupies the position of clavicles ; and the basal supports of the pelvic fins are often distinct (Fig. 134). There isa membranous median dorsal fin, and the tail may have been either diphycercal or heterocercal. Teleostomt. 97 Homosteus (Hugh Miller’s “ Asterolepis of Stromness’’) is a very similar fish, with toothless jaws and the eyes within the head-shield. Plaster casts of the shields of Homosteus Milleri Fic. 134.—Coccosteus decipiens, Ag. ; Lower Old Red Sandstone, Scotland. from the Caithness flagstones are exhibited on the pillar between Wall-cases Nos. 4 and 5. There are fragments of Wall-case, other species from the Devonian of Livonia, Russia. Heterosteus Nene is a gigantic fish from the Devonian of Livonia, with a great bony process from the body-shield extending forwards on each side of the head. Dinichthys is a still larger Arthrodiran from the Upper Devonian of Ohio, U.S.A. Its dentition (Fig. 185) much resembles that of the recent Protopterus. Fic. 135.—Jaws of Dinichthys ; Devonian, North America. Sub-class IV.—TELEOSTOMI. These are fishes with a bony armour or bony skeleton, or both; with the margin of the mouth completed by membrane- bones; with the more or less ossified cartilages of the upper jaw suspended from the skull by the upper part of the hyoid arch (hyomandibular) ; and with a bony operculum covering the gill-cavity. The name of the sub-class Teleostomi (com- plete-mouth) refers to the ossification of the margin of the aws. : Nearly all the Devonian representatives of this sub-class have lobate paired fins fringed with dermal rays, and are thus named Crossopreryail (fringe-fins). A single Devonian genus, Cheirolepis, belongs to a higher order which began to replace the Crossopterygians in the Carboniferous period, and which is named AcTINOPTERYGII (ray-fins) because here the lobe is insignificant and the enlarged dermal rays support almost or quite the whole of each paired fin. (1876) 8 98 Crossopterygit. Orver I.—Crossopterygii. iatiecascs, The fringe-finned fishes, or Crossopterygians, are now Nos.5to7, almost extinct, being represented only at the present day by cage Polypterus (Fig. 136) and Calamoichthys of the African rivers. ease, So-* Tn the Devonian and Carboniferous periods they existed in Fic. 136.—Polypterus bichii, living in the Nile, Gambia, etc. a, pectoral fin; 0, pelvic fin; c, anal fin. large numbers and in much greater variety. Holoptychius (Fig. 137) is an Upper Devonian genus from Scotland and Russia, with long and acutely-lobate pectoral fins, obtusely-lobate pelvic Fie. 1387.—Holoptychius ; U. Old Red Sandstone, Fifeshire (restored by Huxley). «a, paired pectoral fins; }, pelvic fins; c, the anal fin; d, anterior dorsal fin; e, posterior dorsal fin. fins, and thick, round, deeply overlapping scales. Glyptolepis, from the Lower Old Red Sandstone of Scotland, and apparently from the Upper Devonian of Canada, is a nearly identical genus. Glyptolemus (Fig. 138), from the Upper Old Red Sand- stone of Dura Den, Fifeshire, has more obtuse pectoral fins and rhombic scales. Osteolepis (Fig. 139), Diplopterus, Thursius (Devonian), and Megalichthys (Carboniferous and Lower Per- mian) are another group of genera with enamelled rhombic saa ‘igre mi I B KR EEN C (( Q ( C aes belch é tie ee a dtd ( HNN ch fact (4 v CK rs Fic. 138.—Glyptolemus Kinnairdi, Huxl. (restored by Huxley) ; U. Old Red Sandstone, Scotland. Crossopterygit. 99 scales and obtusely-lobate paired fins. Rhizodopsis is represented by small species in the Carboniferous, Rhizodus and Strepsodus by comparatively large species. A fine series of remains of wall-case Rthizodus Hibbertt and R. ornatus, from the Lower Carboniferous No. 6, of Scotland, is exhibited in Wall-case No. 6. Fie. 139.—Csteolepis macrolepidotus, Ag. (restored by C. H -Pander); L. Old Red sandstone, Scotland. The Coelacanthidee (hollow-spines) are the most remarkable Wall-case, Crossopterygians, ranging almost unchanged from the Lower No.7, and ! ‘S) eg 5 S ¢ Table-case, Deyonian to the Upper Chalk. Their name refers to the cir- Wo, 35, cumstance that the spines of the backbone are only superficially ossified and so appear hollow when fossilized. The head-bones and opercular bones are much reduced, and the tail is produced into a small terminal extension. The air-bladder is ossified. The trunk is covered with thin, deeply overlapping scales. ty CEG AAs. Wks Jed J MAA SAA A MidddlédéoE Fic. 140.—Undina (Holophagus) gulo, Egert. ; Lower Lias, Lyme Regis. OCcelacanthus is Carboniferous and Permian; Undina (Fig. 140) is Jurassic, and beautiful specimens are exhibited from the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis; Macropoma is Cretaceous, and represented by the unique collection of Dr, Mantell besides later acquisitions from the English Chalk. 8 2 Wall-case, No. 8, and Table-cases, Nos. 37 to 389. Wall-case, No. 8, and Table-cases, 39, 40. 100 Actinopterygii-—C hondroste?. Orpver Il.—Actinopterysgii. Sun-orper I.—Chondrostei. The earliest known ray-finned fishes are the Paleeoniscide, represented in the Devonian by Chewrolepis. They exhibit a very imperfectly essified skeleton with heterocercal tail; and they must have had a persistent notochord. In their most fundamental characters they agree with the modern sturgeons, and are thus classed in the same sub-order (Chondrostei). Vic. 141.—Ganoid scales of Elonichthys striatus, Ag. sp.; Carboniferous. Nearly all of them, however, are covered with regular series of scales, which are usually rhombic and united by a peg-and-socket articulation (Fig. 141). Hlonichthys, Rhadi- nichthys, and Gonatodus are the commonest Carboniferous genera; Palwoniscus (Fig. 142), Acrolepis, Amblypterus, and Pygopterus are Permian; Gyrolepis is Triassic, and Atherstonia is represented by a fine specimen from the Karoo Formation (probably Triassic) of Cape Colony; Oxygnathus and Platy- siagum ave Liassic ; and Coccolepis ranges from the Lias to the Purbeck Beds. The Platysomide are deep-bodied fishes closely related to the Paleeoniscide, confined to the Carboniferous and Permian. Eurynotus (Fig. 143) is Lower Carboniferous; Cheirodus Fic. 142.—Palwoniscus macropon us, Ag. (restoration by Dr, R. H. Traquair) ; Kupferschiefer, Germany. ; and Mesolepis are best known in the Coal Measures ; Platysomus (Fig. 144) is both Carboniferous and Permian. Actinopterygii—Chondrostet. 101 These fishes all have strongly heterocereal tails, but there is one family (that of Catopteride) in the Trias, in which the JS E === Z Fic. 143.—Eurynotus crenatus, Agassiz (restoration by Dr. R. H. Traquair) ; ‘‘ Cement- stones,” Carboniferous Series of Scotland. tail is hemi-heterocercal and the rays of the dorsal and anal fins are nearly as few as their supporting cartilages. They are represented by Dictyovyge, from Hurope, North America, and Australia, and by Catopterus from North America. They are a distinct link between the Chondrosteans and the great majority of Mesozoic fishes. Here are also placed the Belonorhynchide, which are elongated fishes with much-produced snont, diphycercal tail, and the trunk only armoured with four longitudinal rows of scutes—one dorsal, another ventral, and one along the course of the “ lateral line” on eachside. Skeletons of the small Belono- rhynchus striolatus from the Upper Trias of Raibl, Carinthia, and fine skulls of larger species from the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis and the Upper Lias of Wiirtemberg, are exhibited. Fic, 144.—Platysomus striatus, Agassiz (restoration by Dr. R. H. Traquair) ; Magnes‘an Limestone, Durham, Wall-case, No. 8, and Table-case, No. 40. Table-case, No. 40. Chondrostet. Actinopterygii 102 *squt 40 $sug petoqzood Jo red ‘y !suy opajod jo ued ‘4 Sug peus Y Sug pepnvo 9 tuy vssop ‘9 $pLoyoojou oyy Moped poovtd ‘soyoie [vUeY ‘Q ‘pLoyoojou ayy eAoqge pa0~v d ‘gourds puv sayote peanau ‘v ! yous [esozood ‘g ft satpo.e I p l 1 poov] Ld +ptoy 1 P -[15 ‘g Saul donor ‘p fauoq avjnqrpuvmody ‘g ! rel soddn ‘5 tsayeid-peoy oy} Yywousq WnTUBLO SnOULse[yavo Jo LyrUIayxe Loleysod ‘[ *(wasuad2o fp) UOIG.M}Y JO UOJOaYS—'eFL 91 ees ett SSS SSS =F wa of ant SS aD ‘Tojsorpuoyo—ususo-uy = “IsAteydoulyoy—' quo Actinoptery qiui—P rotospondyli. 103 The Rheetic teeth named Sawrichthys belong to a very similar fish. The Chondrosteide, represented by Chondrosteus (Fig. 146) from the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis, perhaps also by the gigantic Gyrosteus from the Upper Lias of Whitby, are inter- mediate between the Paleoniscidwe and the modern sturgeons. The fine specimens exhibited show that the skeleton is identical with that of the sturgeons (Fig. 145), and that the jaws are reduced and toothless ; but the roof of the skull and the develop- ment of the branchiostegal rays more closely resemble the corresponding parts in Paleoniscids. A few dermal scutes identical with those of the existing sturgeon, Acipenser, are shown from the Knglish Locene. There are also pectoral fin-spines both from the Eocene and Pliocene. Sun-orper I].—Protospondyli. The large majority of Mesozoic fishes are closely related to the existing “ bony pike ” (Lepidosteus) and ‘ bow-fin ” (Amia) of North American lakes and rivers. They have the upper lobe of the tail excessively abbreviated, the rays of the dorsal and anal fins equal in number to their supports, and no infra- clavicular plates in the pectoral arch. They are represented in the Collection by a very extensive series of specimens. The first family is that of the Semionotide, already repre- sented by one genus of small fishes, Acentrophorus, in the Upper Permian. They are stout-bodied, with a small mouth and blunt, often powerfully crushing teeth. Semzonotusand Colo- bodus are Triassic and Rhetic; Dapedius (Fig. 147) is Liassic ; and Lepidotus (Fig. 148) ranges from the Rheetic to the Wealden. The powerful dentition of Lepidotus, originally named Sphero- dus, is particularly noteworthy ; the successional teeth when first formed in the jaw are directed away from those they are destined to replace, and gradually turn through an angle of 180° as they come into use. The Macrosemiide are elongated fishes with small mouth, obtuse teeth, and extended dorsal fin, ranging from the Rheetic to the Chalk. Fine examples of Ophiopsis and Macrosemius are shown from the Lithographic Stone of Bavaria and France, others of Ophiopsis and Histionotus from the Purbeck Stone of Dorsetshire and Wiltshire. The Pyenodontide (thick-teeth) are a remarkable family of deep-bodied fishes, so-called in allusion to the powerful erinding teeth (Fig. 149) which arm their forwardly-displaced mouth. The rhombic scales are usually so thin, that their ribbed front margin is often the only part preserved, producing the appearance of a series of parallel streaks from the upper to Wall-case, No. 7. Table-case, No. 40. Wall-cases, Nos. 9 to 11. Table-case, Nos. 40, 41. Table-case, No. 41. Wall-case, No. 11, ana Table-cases, Nos. 42, 43. 104 Actinopterygii—Protospondyli. Fic. 146.—Restoration of Head of Chondrosteus acipenscroides, Ag. (after Traquair) ; Lower Lias, Lyme Regis. ag, angular bone ; br, branchiostegal rays; ch, ceratohyal; c/, clavicle: d, dentary bone of mandible ; 7, frontal; iim, hyomandibular ; j, jugal; i.c/, infraclavicle ; i, maxilla|’ op, operculum; p, parietal; p.7, postfrontal; p.t, post-temporal; s.c/, supraclavicle ; s.0, Suborbital; s.op, suboperculum; s.t, supratemporal; sy, squamosal. coe & Fic. 148.—Lepidotus maximus, Wagn. ; Lithographic Stone (Upper Oolite), Bavaria. Actinopterygii—Protospondyli. 105 the lower margin of the trunk. In several genera (e.g. Meso- don, Microdon, and Celodus) the tail is destitute of scales. These fishes range from the Lower Lias (Mesodon liassicus) to the Upper Hocene (Pycnodus platessus) with very little modification. The fine series of examples of Gyrodus from e is) fa ©oc 099 C00 ©cce \ Looe OH OCKOO SO cect a © i Fic. 149.—Portions of Pyenodonts. a. transverse section of jaws, showing the two halves of the mandibular dentition opposing the ‘vomerine teeth; b, dentition of Microdon; c, dentition of Celodus; d, portion of vertebral column of Colodus, showing persistent notochord (shaded), and the expanded bases of the arches; e, the same of Pycnodus; f, inner view of scales, showing mode of interlocking by pegs and sockets, which are continued as longitudinal ribs. the Lithographic Stone of Bavaria, and of Palcobalistwin from the Hard Chalk of Mount Lebanon, are particularly worthy of attention. The armoured Coccodus and Xenopholis from Mount Lebanon are also remarkable. None of these fishes have vertebrae, but in the later genera the arches above and below the notochord are often expanded to unite at the side (Fig. 149). The Eugnathide are the rhombic-scaled forerunners of the modern Ania (Fig. 150), and range from the Upper Trias or Rheetic to the Chalk. They are predaceous fishes with a large Fie. 151.—Eugnathus orthostomus, Ag. ; Lower Lias, Lyme Regis. Wall-cases, Nos. 12, 18, Table-cases, Nos. 43, 44. Actinopterygii— Protospondyli. 106 “BOLI YON JO SlOPVALYSo.ly OLY YSY JUIIad JO UOJa[ays § tuuLT ‘2/90 DUP —*Oe] ‘OIG See ‘ . ‘ \\ \ \ So esses pe . —— = yy yy SBN NN Sse ect LEZ yy Za LE ZY i Zupp pe ‘tTApuodsojorg—uddu0 any “I8ALOYdouTyOW—uadu¢ Actinopterygii— Aetheospondy lt. 107 mouth and conical teeth. The thick-scaled Hugnathus (Fig. 151) and the thin-sealed Caturus (Fig. 152) both range throughout the Jurassic, the specimens from the Lower Lias of Lyme TT Ah i, Yin, Chit es, BMC“ Fig. 152.—Caturus furcatus, Ag.; Lithographic Stene, Bavaria. [Scales omitted. Regis and the Lithographic Stone of Bavaria being particularly fine. Neorhombolepis is an iteresting fish from the English Chalk and Wealden, with rhombic enamelled scales and disc- shaped vertebre. The Amiide are first certainly represented in the Upper Jurassic. Megalurus, from the Lithographic Stone of Bavaria and France and from the English Purbeck Beds, is very similar to Amia but has a shorter dorsal fin. The existing genus is represented by fine specimens from the Lower Miocene of France, and is also known in Germany. Detached vertebree are shown from the Lower Tertiaries of the Hampshire Basin. A family of Amioids which curiously mimic the modern sword-fishes, ranges throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and is represented by Pachycormus (Upper Lias), Hypsocormus (Oxfordian and Kimmeridgian), and Protosphyrena (Upper Cretaceous), besides other genera. The notochord is persistent, but to strengthen the trunk the vertebral arches are multiplied and very closely arranged; the powerful forked tail is supported by a triangular expansion of one of the hemal bones ; and the snout gradually becomes elongated until it is a formidable weapon in Protosphyrcena. Sus-orper IIl].—Aetheospondy]li. Next to the Pachycormide, in an uncertain position, are placed the Aspidorhynchide and the modern Lepidosteidex, the former ranging from the Lower Qolites to the Upper Chalk, the latter exclusively Tertiary. Aspidorhynchus (Fig. 153), with prominent rostrum, is represented by a fine series of specimens from the Lithographic Stone of Bavaria; the closely-related Belonostomus, with elongated jaws but little or no prominent rostrum, is shown both from this formation and in a unique Wall-case, No. 13, and Table-case, No. 44. Wall-cases, Nos. 13, 14. Table-case, No. 45. Wall-case, No. 14, and Table-case, No. 45. Table-case, No. 45. Table-case, No. 46. Table-case, No. 15, and Table-cases, Nos. 47, 48. 108 Actinopterygii— Isospondyli. collection of nodules from the Upper Cretaceous of Brazil. Of the existing American genus Lepidosteus, there are numerous fragments of skulls, characteristic vertebra, and scales from the English Eocenes; and similar specimens are found both in France and Germany. Fie. 153.—Aspidorhynchus ornatissimus, Ag. ; Lithographic Stone, Bayaria. All the preceding fishes have a complex lower jaw, each half consisting of at least four or five pieces; and when the teeth are powerful, those on the inner (or splenial) element are specially well-developed. In all the following groups the lower jaw consists normally of only two pieces on each side, one behind (articulo-angular) and a larger piece (dentary) in front. Sup-orper 1V.—Isospondyli. The first and earliest group of the higher fishes is that in which the vertebra never fuse into a complex behind the head, in which the simple air bladder is directly connected with the gullet, and in which the pelvic fins are always situated well behind the pectorals. Here may be placed the Pholidophoride which are remarkably like the herrings in general aspect, but have only ring-vertebree, ganoid scales, and fulera on all the fins. Pholidophorus iiself ranges from the Rheetic to the Purbeck Beds, but is especially well represented by a large series of specimens from the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis. Some diminutive fishes of the genera Pellopleurus (Upper Trias) and Plewropholis (Kimmeridgian and Purbeckian) exhibit a series of remarkably deepened scales on the flank. The Oligoplenuride, ranging from the Upper Jurassic to the Upper Cretaceous, come next. The Leptolepidee follow, with Leptolepis, Aethalion, and Thrissops, Fie. 154.—Leptolepis dubius, Blainy. sp.; Lithographic Stone, Bavaria. [Scales omitted.] Actinopterygii—Isospondyli. 109 mostly from the Lithographic Stone of Bavaria ; and these differ from the herrings (Clupeide) chiefly in the meeting of the parietal bones and in the simple character of the tail. Lep- tolepis (Fig. 154) is first represented by small species in the Upper Lias of England, France, and Wirtemberg Either here or immediately after the ‘‘ Amioids” (the Pholidophoride having previously been classed with the Lepidosteoids”’), it has long been customary to recognize a break in the series of Teleostomatous fishes. All groups below have been united under the name of GANoipEI (enamelled-scaled fishes) ; all above have been termed Trtxoster (bony-fishes). This arrangement was very convenient so long as the extinct families were more incompletely known; but fossils now show that it cannot be scientifically maintained, and the terms “Ganoid” and ‘“ Teleostean’’ must thus be employed in future merely in a general way for enamelled-scaled and modern bony fishes respectively. Most of the so-called “‘ Teleostean ”’ fishes have a remarkably developed internal skeleton, as may be perceived from the Lg Fey DP Wy je Yj Fic. 155.—Skeleton of the Common Perch. a, premaxillary bone; 0, maxillary bone; ¢c, lower jaw; d, palatine arch; e, cranium ; f, interopereulum ; q g’, vertebral column ; h, pectoral fin; 7, pelvic fin; /, spinous dorsal fin; 7, soft dersal fin; 7, anal fin ; n, upper, and n’, lower lobe of caudal fin. [The pectoral and pelvic fins each form a pair, and correspond respectively to the anterior and posterior pairs of limbs of the higher vertebrata. The dorsal, caudal ,and anal fins are median and unpaired. ] Fie. 156.—Scales of Teleostean Fishes. a, Cycloid; B, Ctenoid. accompanying figure of that of the common perch (Fig. 155). Very few are covered with bony scales, the large majority ‘‘Ganoid ”’ and ‘‘Teleos- tean,”’ 110 Actinopterygii—Isospondyli. being invested with thin and flexible, deeply-overlapping scales which are either smooth (‘“ cycloid,” Fig. 1564), or pectinated (‘‘ctenoid,” Fig. 1568), at the hinder margin. Table-case, Next to the Leptolepide are arranged the representatives of No. 49. the lowest of the truly bony fishes which still survive, namely, the herring-like family Elopidz, which comprises several genera exhibiting a gular plate like that of Amia. Among these, the finest are the examples of Osmeroides and Aulolepis from the English Chalk, long supposed to be Salmonide. The series in the table-case includes the type-specimens from the collection of the late Dr. Mantell, and several beautifully worked out of the chalky matrix by this distinguished pioneer in paleontology. Those of Osmeroides are especially perfect, and, like most fossil fishes from the Chalk, they are almost uncompressed, the fine calcareous particles having replaced the muscular and other tissues as rapidly as they were destroyed by decomposition, thus preventing the collapse of the flanks, and preserving the natural rotundity and form of the fish when lving. Other closely- related genera are Thrissopater from the Gault of Folkestone, and hacolepis in nodules from the Upper Cretaceous of Brazil. Table-case, The Clupeide, or herrings-proper, date back to the Cretaceous, No. 50. where they are represented both in Mount Lebanon and MM PZ Byes aiaislelelelaiel= Fie. 157.—Diplomystus brevissimus, Blainv. sp. (after Pictet and Humbert); Upper Cretaceous, Mount Lebanon. Brazil by Diplomystus (Fig. 157), which only seems to differ from the modern Clupea in the possession of a series of scutes between the back of the head and the dorsal fin. This fish is alsocommon in the European and North American Lower Tertiaries, and still survives in the rivers of Chili and New South Wales. Clupea itself may date back to the Eocene, but this is uncertain. Sconcbroclupea (with finlets behind the anal), Tthinellus (Fig. 158), Leptosomus, Chirocentrites, and other fishes from Mount Lebanon, are also believed to be Clupeoids. It is interesting to notice that in the Syrian area, owing to some physical change in the conditions of the sea at the time the Cretaceous deposits were being laid down, these fishes Actinopterygii—ITsospondyli. 111 appear to have been sometimes suddenly destroyed in shoals, and buried at once by the fine calcareous mud. This circum. stance is well illustrated in Wall-case No. 15, by several slabs Fie. 158.—Rhinellus furcatus, Ag. (after Pictet and Humbert) ; Upper Cretaceous, Mount Lebanon. of fossil limestone from Hakel, near Beyrout, which are covered with hundreds of their remains. The Salmonide are scarcely known among fossils and very difficult to distinguish from the Clupeide. It is usually possible only to recognise the genera which still exist. Some surviving Fig. 159.—Capelin (Mallotus villosus), in nodule of Glacial Clay, Greenland. species are found fossilized in comparatively recent deposits, and an interesting series of nodules is exhibited from the glacial clays of Greenland, Norway, and the banks of the Ottawa River, Canada, each enveloping a “‘ Capelin” (Mallotus villosus). The shape of the nodule (Fig. 159) in each case is observed to correspond precisely with the contour of the enclosed fish, and the concretion is probably due to the escape of gases from the decomposing body leading to a concentration of mineral matter at the spot from the clay around it. Near the Salmonide are placed the remains of the Cretaceous family of Saurodontide, which have powerful teeth implanted in distinct sockets on the margin of the jaw. Portheus attains a large size, as shown by the very fine slab of Portheus molossus from the Chalk of Kansas, U.S.A., exhibited in Wall-case No. 16. More fragmentary specimens are shown from the English Chalk. Closely allied are Ichthyodectes and Sawro- cephalus, The large Cretaceous fish Pachyrhizodus (= Hypsodon in part) is also perhaps related to the Salmonoids. It has power- ful conical teeth firmly fixed to the jaws, and fragments from the English Chalk have been erroneously referred to reptiles. Table-case, No. 49. Wall-case, No. 16, and Table-case, No. 49. Wall-case, No. 16. Table-case, No. 51. Table-case, No. 51. Wall-case, No. 16, and Table-cases, Nos. 52, 53. 112 Actinopterygii—P lectospondyli. The Scopelidee and allied families are probably represented in the Upper Cretaceous by the fishes named Spaniodon, Enchodus, and Hurypholis (¥ig. 160), some of which from Vg. 160.—Lurypholis Boissicri, Pict. (after Pictet and Humbert) ; Upper Cretaceous, Mount Lebanon. Westphaha (not in the Collection) exhibit distinct traces of an adipose dorsal fin, They have very irregularly developed large teeth within the mouth, and Hwrypholis exhibits ornamented dermal scutes both on the anterior part of the back and along the lateral line. Cimolichthys and Pomognathus from the English Chalk also seem to be related to these fishes. Phylacto- cephalus from Mount Lebanon is probably identical with Pomognathus. Typical Scopelide are Parascopelus and Anapterus from the Upper Miocene of Licata, Sicily The extinct Cretaceous family of Hoplopleuride follows next, comprising much-elongated fishes wanting true scales but armoured with longitudinal series of scutes. Dercetis (Leptotrachelus) occurs in the English Chalk, and still more abundantly in the Upper Cretaceous of Mount Lebanon. Pelargorhynchus is an allied fish from the Chalk of Westphalia. Sus-orpER V.—Plectospondyli. Remains of Cyprinide are not uncommon in freshwater formations above the Eocene both in Europe and North America, but almost all the extinct species are referable to existing genera. The true Carp (Cyprinus) and Gudgeon (Gobio) occur in the Miocene of Oeningen. Species of “Leuciscus (Roach, Dace, Minnow, etc.) are represented in the same deposit, in the lignites of France and Germany, and in the Upper Miocene Infusorial Harth of Licata, Sicily. The latter formation also yields remains of other genera, e.7. Rhodeus and Aspius; and as Herrings, Scopeloids, etc., occur abundantly in association with these, the mingling of marine and freshwater fishes is here very remarkable. The Tench (Tinca) is found in the Oeningen beds and Tertiary lenites; and the httle Acanthopsis, now of Tropical India, is met with in the Miocene of the Puy-de-Dome, France. Other genera exhibited are Barbus, Actinopterygvi—Nematognathi—Hapl omi—-Apodes. 113 Thynnichthys, Amblypharyngodon and Hexapsephus, from the Kocene of Padang, in Sumatra; also Cobitis from Oeningen. Sup-orper VI.—Nematognathi. The remarkable family of Siluride, or ‘“ Cat-fishes,” though so widely distributed at the present day, is very imperfectly known among fossils. The earliest known member of the family is Bucklandiwm diluvii, represented by a skull from the London Clay of Sheppey. The Bracklesham beds and Barton Clay yield evidence of a fish indistinguishable in its head from the living genus Arius, and named Arius egertoni. 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