[matthkw] new genus OF BATRACHIAN FOOTPRINTS 88 



In offering conjectures about the known animals which might be 

 represented by^ these footmarks, Sir William Dawson, in his " Air- 

 breathers," compares //. Logani to Dendrepeton, but in his latter work, 

 in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, he favours 

 the view tha,t the JVEicrogauria, notably Hyjlerpeton and Hylo- 

 nomus, are the creatures which most likely left these footmarks. These 

 Sir William separates from the Labyrinthodonts, as their teeth do not 

 have the involved foldings of the enamel which Labyrinthodonts pos- 

 sessed. Other MTiters consider the Microsauria as a section of this 

 order. In any case the footprints of Hylopus conform more to those 

 of Amphibia than to those of Eeptiles. 



Since writing the above, I have received a letter from Prof. Greo. 

 T. Kennedy, of King's College, Windsor, N.S., who has examined the 

 original of Hylopus Hardingi in the museum of that college; and he 

 states positively that there is no basis for a fifth toe in the print of the 

 fore foot. The slight protuberance in the cast oif that foot in o^ne of 

 the figureg, he says merely represents one of numerous little projections 

 scattered over the stone, and is not actually related to the footprint 

 alongside of which it occurs. This finally disposes of a possible fifth 

 toe in the impression of the fore foot of Hylopus, as in neither II. Logani 

 nor H. Hardingi can it be safd to exist. 



It is true that there is a fifth toe to the footprint of Hylopus minor, 

 Dawson, but the heavy print of the sole in this marking does not con- 

 form to the ideal of Dawson's genua On the whole, we conclude that 

 five toemarks of the hind foot and four of the fore is the typical number 

 for Hylopus. 



Hylopus Logani, Dawson. 

 PI. VI., fig. 1. 



Stride, 7 inches (18 cm.) ; Straddle, 3 inches (75 cm.) ? 



Fore foot in front of the hind foot, 3 inches (75 mm.) from it. 



Hind foot with five toes. The two inner progressively shorter in- 

 ward. The four inner digits Ijcar claws of which the three central are 

 longer, the outer digit is weak and without claw. 



Fore foot with four (?) toes, third more advanced; all three (or 

 four?) had claws, the middle longer. 



No sole is shown for either fo"ot. 



This animal appears to have been walking rapidly through soft 

 mud, and to have been partly water-borne as the toes did not in all cases 

 touch the mud, and this was especially the case with the fore foot. 



