THE KANSAS UNIVERSITY 

 SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



Vol. X, No. 4.] January, 1917. [vol^xx^nTI 



On a Collection of Fossil Vertebrates Made by Dr. F. W. 

 Cragin in the Equus Beds of Kansas.* 



BY OLIVER P. HAY. 



IN the sixth volume of the Colorado College Studies, on pages 53 

 and 54, issued at Colorado Springs, Colo., March, 1896, Dr. F. 

 W. Cragin made a'brief report on some vertebrate fossils which he 

 had discovered in 1891, in Meade and Clark counties, Kansas. 

 Later Doctor Cragin became interested in other studies and did 

 not come back to these fossils. These now form a part of the col- 

 lection of Colorado College, and, through the kindness of the 

 honorary director of the museum, Mr. Edward R. Warren, the 

 writer has been permitted to bring them to Washington and to 

 study them. 



A portion of the fossils were found near the head of BlufT creek, 

 in the western part of Clark county, east of Minneola,and the others 

 along Spring creek, a tributary of Crooked creek, about four miles 

 southwest of Meade, in Meade county. In this region Doctor 

 Cragin discovered thi'ee terranes, the lowest of which, varying 

 from ten to forty feet in thickness, he named the Meade gravels. 

 He recognized that these gravels belonged to what has been called 

 the Equus beds. From them he reported Elephas imperator (?), 

 Megalonyx leidyi, Equus complicatus, E. curvidens, and Auchenia 

 huerfanensis. 



Overlying the Meade gravels there was found a bed of volcanic 

 ash which reached a thickness of thirteen feet. This contained 

 few fossils. It was named the Pearlette. Above this ash bed were 

 found marls, to which was applied the name Kingsdown. In that 

 region the marls were apparently not less than 100 feet thick. 

 Only Elephas was reported from them. 



All of the materials of the collection made by Cragin which 

 have been studied by the writer belong to the lowest terrane, the 



♦Published by permission of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 



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