EGYPTIAN TERTIARY VERTEBRATA 669 



sabre-toothed tiger and members of the Canidae, Lutrinae, and 

 Phocidas. The next bone-bearing horizon is the Lower Miocene, 

 fluvio-marine beds of this age at Mogara, about a hundred and 

 fifty miles west of Cairo, and the Wadi Faregh, nearer the Nile 

 valley, having yielded a number of interesting forms. Of these, 

 Brachyodus africanns, an animal closely allied to Hyopotamus, 

 bones of which are common in the Oligocene beds of the Isle of 

 Wight, was discovered in 1898 by Dr. Blanckenhorn, and seems 

 to be the first Tertiary land-mammal recorded from Egypt. 

 Later, Mogara was visited by Mr. Beadnell and the late Mr. 

 Barron, who was accompanied by the present writer. Many 

 specimens were collected, including remains of a Rhinoceros, 

 and also of a Proboscidean closely allied to, if not identical with, 

 Tetrabclodon angustidens, from beds of similar age in Europe. 



Although the mammals and other vertebrates found in the 

 beds above referred to are of considerable interest, they are only 

 such as might have been found in any European deposits of 

 similar age, and afford no clue to the real autochthonous 

 mammalian fauna of the Ethiopian region ; in fact, it is only in 

 the Middle and Upper Eocene beds of the Fayum that we find 

 remains of animals that can be regarded as representing that 

 fauna. Considering the importance of these fossils, it is proposed 

 to give a brief account of their discovery, of the locality in 

 which they are found, and, finally, of the more important forms 

 represented in the collections which have been made up to the 

 present. 



The first remains of land-mammals from this locality were 

 collected in 1900. In this year the present writer had the 

 privilege of visiting the district with Mr. Beadnell, of the 

 Egyptian Survey, who was engaged in mapping this area. On 

 this occasion remains of marine animals, including a Sirenian 

 (Eosiren) and large snakes {Gigantophis and Pterosphenus), were 

 collected, accompanied by traces of an ungulate, to which the 

 name Mceritherium was afterwards given. These seemed to be 

 of such interest that a further visit was made, resulting in the 

 discovery of many new forms, including Barytherkim from 

 the Middle Eocene, and Palceomastodon from the Upper Eocene. 

 Towards the end of the same year Mr. Beadnell discovered 

 remains of an extraordinary ungulate, to which he gave the 

 name Arsiuoitherium, and he also obtained portions of the 

 skeleton of several other new forms. Since then the locality 



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