Un some Fossil Reptilian Bones from the State of Rio Grande do Sul 
BY 
A. Smith-Woodward, L.L D , F. 8. S., of the British Museum (*) 
: ; 
— — gs: 
A few fossil reptilian bones discovered by Dr. 
Jango Fischer in 1902 at Santa Maria da Bocca do 
Monte (Serrito) in the Rio Grande do Sul, which have 
been given to me for their respective examination by Dr. 
H. von Ihering (Museu Paulista), are of much interest. 
They not only appear to determine the geological age 
of the formation from which they are obtained, but also 
foreshadow the discovery of an early Mesozoic American 
land-fauna, which has long been expected. 
They comprise the nearly complete vertebral centra 
and a fragment of a fourth centrum, with one digit of 
four phalanges and a separat ungual phalange. The bones 
were found together under such circumstances that they 
probably all belong to one individual. 
The vertabral centra are remarkable for (I) their 
very short antero-posterior extent, (II) the deeply ovoid 
shape of their articular ends, and (III) the conside- 
rable constriction of their sides. 
The bestpreserved specimen (fig. I, T A) is evidently 
not much crushed and show that both the articular 
“ends are slightly concave. It also exhibits the charac- 
teristic constriction of the sides, with the prominent 
anterior rim, which bears a deeply-ovoid, rounded boss 

(*) An abstract notice of this paper was published in Rep. Brit. 
Assoc. Southport, 1903. 
