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3. On a Nearly Perfect Skull of a New Species of the Gorgonopsia. 



-By E. BROOM, M.D., D.Sc. 



THE skull here described was found by Mr. S. H. Haughton on 

 the farm Dunedin, Beaufort West, about 3 miles WSW. of the 

 homestead. The exact horizon of the- beds is still uncertain, but 

 they must be at least 2,000 feet above the horizon of Beaufort West. 

 Whether they correspond to the Cistecephalus beds or may be as 

 high as the Lystrosaurus zone is at present in doubt. We know 

 that Cistecephalus occurs at Kuilspoort probably 1,500 feet above the 

 horizon of Beaufort West, and about 500 feet higher up there are 

 obscure indications which incline me to believe we are into the 

 Lystrosaurus zone, but as Dr. Eogers, who has gone over the ground, 

 is rather opposed to this idea, we must at present leave the matter 

 in doubt. In any case it is quite certain that the specimen comes 

 from a very much higher zone than does Gorgonops tor mis, Owen. 

 Owen's type comes from Fort Beaufort, and it has also been obtained 

 at Beaufort West, so that there is no doubt it belongs to the lower 

 part of the Endothiodon zone, not more than a few hundred feet 

 above the Pareiasaurus zone. Another Gorgonopsid occurs in the 

 same zone, viz. Scymnognathus whaitsi recently described by me. 

 The occurrence of a new Gorgonopsid at a very much higher horizon 

 is thus particularly interesting, and the fact that the skull is the 

 most perfect known and reveals most of the details of the structure 

 makes the find a most important one. 



The skull measures 190 mm. in length, and the greatest width 

 across the temporal region is about 128 mm. The snout is rounded 

 and broader than deep. The nostrils are directed forwards and are 

 much flattened as in Gorgonops torvus. The frontal region is broad 

 and the orbits look more outwards than upwards. The parietal 

 region is as broad as the frontal and the temporal fossae of fair size. 

 The occiput is nearly vertical, sloping only very slightly backwards 

 from the parietal. 



The premaxillary is similar to the Therocephalian type. It bears 

 5 rounded and pointed incisors. I do not find any evidence of 



