(251) 



4. (7)*. The Fossil Fishes of tlw Upper Karroo Beds of South 

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



(With Plates XII., XIII.) 



Curiously enough almost nothing is known of the fishes of our 

 marine formations. From the Bokkeveld beds (Devonian) a badly 

 preserved fish spine is the only fish fossil as yet obtained, and so far 

 no fish remains have been discovered in the Upper and Lower 

 Cretaceous beds of Sunday's Eiver and Pondoland. The fresh-water 

 deposits of the Karroo have, however, a considerable number of 

 interesting forms. One or two well-preserved fish have been 

 obtained from the Dwyka shales, a few scales from the Ecca beds, 

 and a number of badly preserved fishes from the Pareiasaurus beds. 

 From the Middle Karroo beds a considerable number of specimens 

 have been obtained. In a later paper I hope to deal with the fishes 

 of these lower beds, reviewing the state of our knowledge, and 

 describing one or two new forms. In the present paper I wish to 

 deal with the fishes of the Upper Karroo beds, including the Upper 

 Beaufort and Stormberg series. 



All the fishes at present known from the Upper Karroo come from 

 two horizons, by far the largest number having been obtained from 

 the Eouxville district of the Orange Eiver Colony. They occur in 

 sandstone beds, which, with a high degree of probability, may be 

 referred to the Upper Beaufort series, and may thus be of Upper 

 Triassic Age. All the specimens of Scmionotus, on the other hand, 

 come from the Ficksburg and Ladybrand districts, from beds 

 which are apparently Cave sandstone. If this is so then they 

 most probably are of Lower Jurassic Age. 



The collections which I have examined have been (1) a very fine 

 collection obtained by Mr. Alfred Brown, of Aliwal North, from 

 some locality near the Caledon Eiver, O.E.C. ; (2) a fine collection 

 obtained by Dr. Kannemeyer, of Smithfield, from Bekker's Kraal, 



* This series of contributions is numbered paper 4 of vol. vii. The figures in 

 brackets are the Nos. of Dr. Broom's contributions, the last of which, No. 6, 

 appeared in Part VIII. of Vol. IV. 



18 



