OBSERVATIONS REOARDING THE RECENT 

 DISCOVERY BY G. THUREAU, F.G.S., OF A 

 FOSSIL REPTILE IN THE MERSEY COAL 

 MEASURES AT RAILTON. 



By R. M. Johnston, F.S.S. 



Mr. Gr. Thureau, formerly Oovernment Geologist 

 of Tasmania, has kindly submitted to me a carefully 

 prepared cast of the remains of a fossil reptile discovered 

 by him in the spoil-heap from a (then) new main shaft sunk 

 by a Sydney company near Railton, in the Mersey Coal 

 Measures, and, therefore, of Upper Permo-Carboniferous 

 age. The original was placed by Mr. Thureau in the 

 hands of the late Professor M'Coy for identification ; 

 but the regrettable death of the Professor soon after 

 prevented this investigation, and Mr. Thureau is now 

 anxious to make known his important discovery to the 

 Members of this Society ; because — as Mr. Thureau 

 thoughtfully observes — the possession of this interesting 

 fossil from our rocks — now in the Melbourne Museum — 

 " rightly belongs to Tasmania." 



The cast referred to — now submitted for the inspection 

 of the Members of this Society — represents portion of 

 the central and caudal vertebra? of the reptile, with the 

 simple gently-curved ribs of the central part perfectly 

 connected. The central or pre-sacral vertebra number 

 13 or 14, with a length of three inches, and greatest 

 breadth one and a half inches ; vertebra of the tail 

 thicker, more pronounced, four to five in a length of 

 nearly one inch. 



The absence of the head, limbs, and caudal extremity, 

 and the absence of definite knowledge regarding the 

 articulation, form, &c., of the vertebra, make it impossible 

 to do more than assign its position to the great family of 

 Labyrinthodonts, whose range in Europe is generally 

 determined as from the Carboniferous to the Trias, and 

 are especially abundant in the Permian. It is stated by 



