20 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



of Stëgocephalians from iSTova Scotia; of these in the family of Dendrer- 

 petontidae are Dendrerpeton acadianum, D. oweni, Baphetes minor, 

 B. planiceps and Platystegos loricatum, all from the South Joggins 

 except B. planiceps, which is from Pictou. As regards Eosaurus aca- 

 dianus from the South Joggins, described by Marsh in 18G2, from 

 vertebrae only, doubt exists as to its exact position in the zoological 

 scale. Lydekker suggests that it may belong to the Anthracosauridae. 

 Marsh described the vertebrae as those of a new Enaliosaurian. 



The various tracks of this age from Nova Scotia, grouped under 

 the name Ichnites, were probably, in some cases at least, made by the 

 StegO'cephalians above mentioned. 



7. Triassic dinosaue. — The only vertebrate fossil collected from 

 the Triassic of this country consists of the anterior end of the right 

 ramus of the lower jaw, in which seven trenchant teeth are preserved, 

 of a carnivorous dinosaur from Prince Edward island, described by 

 Leidy in 1854 under the name Bathygnathus borealis; this is the earliest 

 evidence we have of dinosaurian life in this country. The specimen 

 was found by Mr. D. McLeod, of New London, on the north shore of 

 the island, and sold by him to the Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia in whose museum it is now on exhibition. B. borealis is 

 placed by Marsh in the family of Anchisauridœ ; it may Fave been re- 

 sponsible with Anchisaurus and other allied forms, for the numerous 

 tracks of the Triassic sandstone of the Connecticut valley, which are 

 now regarded as having been made by dinosaurs and not by birds, as 

 formerly supposed. Por full particulars as to the form of teeth, etc., 

 of this species the reader is referred to Leidy's admirable description to 

 be found in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- 

 phia. As Sir William Dawson has remarked, this very interesting 

 fossil greatly aids in establishing the age of the red sandstones of Prince 

 Edward island. 



The dinosaur above mentioned affords us a very meagre glimpse 

 of the vertebrate life of earliest Mesozoic times. Of the known varied 

 aquatic and terrestrial vertebrate life of the Jurassic and earlier Cre- 

 taceous perio'ds we have no evidence whatever in Canada, principally 

 for the reason that a systematic search for fossils in the rocks of the 

 formations representing Jurassic and early Cretaceous times has not 

 as yet been instituted. Our lack of information is largely the result 

 of lack of effort to secure the same. 



The closure of this immense gap in our partial knowledge of the 

 vertebrate life of the northern half of this continent is reached with 

 the finding of fish remains in the Colorado formation in Manito'ba, 

 mentioned under the next heading. 



