410 Transactions. 



seas. The percentage of Recent species in the Waiarekan is not inconsistent 

 with an older age than Miocene for this stage, and there seems no reason 

 why a Cretaceous survival should not occur. The presence of Avellana 

 tertiaria does not by itself prevent the correlation of the Hampden beds 

 with the Waiarekan. Obviously, then, it would be unsafe at present to 

 base a new stage or group name on the Wangaloa series of Marshall if the 

 Hampden beds are correctly placed in this series. 



The beds at Wangaloa, however, are in a different category. They 

 are given a more distinctively Cretaceous aspect than the Hampden beds 

 by the presence of Pugnellus australis Marshall, a form nearly allied to 

 Conchothyra parasitica Hutton of the Piripauan. Marshall's list of fossils 

 contains twenty-nine new species not hitherto found in the Tertiary, and 

 only twenty-one found in the Oamaruian or higher beds. Although little 

 has been yet published as to the range of the species within the Oamaruian, 

 a large number of species from this division of the Notocene has already 

 been described, and from the very considerable collections examined by 

 Mr. Suter a large number of additional new species have been detected 

 and are now being described. The presence of so many new species at 

 Wangaloa (58 per cent, of the entire collection), coupled with the Cretaceous 

 relationships of some of them, is sufficient ground for considering that this 

 fauna is intermediate between the Oamaruian and the Piripauan. A new 

 adjectival name is therefore desirable, and in choosing it two earlier local 

 names must be taken into consideration — viz., the Kaitangata series (Park, 

 1912) and the Wangaloa series (Marshall, 1916). On grounds of priority 

 Park's name should be chosen as the basis, a course that has the further 

 advantage that the rocks intended to be included in it are clearly defined, 

 which is not the case with the Wangaloa series. The Kaitangatan, 

 then, includes the Kaitangata upper and lower coal-measures as described 

 by Park (1911) and the intermediate marine horizon, but excludes the 

 Oamaruian coal series and overlying Oamaruian marine rocks which rest 

 unconformably, according to Park, on the Kaitangata coal-measures proper. 

 The Kaitangatan, like the Piripauan and the Clarentian, includes both 

 coal-beds and marine rocks, and is a group name, which may be subsequently 

 resolved into stages, for the name of one of which " Wangaloa " may still 

 serve as a basis. 



The classification of the Notocene rocks proposed by me is thus as 

 follows : — 



Group Names Stage Names. 



Castleclifnan. 

 itotaran. 



(Other stages possible.) 

 / Awamoan. 

 Hutchinsonian. 

 Oamaruian . . \ Ototaran. 



Waiarekan. 

 i Ngaparan (coal-beds). 



(Other stages possible.) 

 (Other groups or stages possible) . . Paparoan (coal-beds). 

 Kaitangatan. 



(Other groups or stages possible.) 

 Piripauan. 



(Other groups or stages necessary.) 

 Clarentian. 



Wanganuian 



