[LAMBE] PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS 7 
age in Canada. The Triassic of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia 
gives us no information in this direction. In the Cordilleran region, 
in that immense mountainous area of the extreme west, although both 
Triassic and Jurassic deposits occur, yet no vertebrate fossils have been 
obtained from them, with the exception of some rather fragmentary 
material of uncertain affinity found within the last two or three years 
in rocks which are regarded as of Jurassic age. It is probable, however, 
that when these early Mesozoic beds have been more thoroughly ex- 
amined they will be found to contain vertebrate fossils sufficiently well 
preserved to be of use as definite horizon markers. 
The Cretaceous period, at which we may now glance, was replete 
with life and brings to our notice besides fishes and amphibians the 
many advanced types of reptiles which were the descendants of the 
earlier and abundant reptilian forms of Triassic and Jurassic times 
found elsewhere, but as yet undiscovered in this country. The highest 
class of the Animal Kingdom, the Mammalia, so far as is known, had its 
origin in the Trias, and remains of primitive mammals have been found 
in rocks of Jurassic age in the country to the south of us, but in Canada 
we must content ourselves for the present with limited remains of two 
genera from the Cretaceous as our earliest record. 
Taking the formations of the Cretaceous in ascending order, as 
developed in the west, we may pass over the Kootenay formation and 
the Dakota beds, as not having yielded vertebrate fossils, to mention 
the rather scant fauna of the Niobrara-Benton which consists of Selachian 
and Actinopterygian fishes, such genera as Lamna, Ptychodus, Encho- 
dus and Cladocyclus being represented by fragmentary remains, prin- 
cipally from Manitoba. 
Coming to the Judith River series of beds (the Belly River series 
of Dawson) we reach a faunal list of very considerable length, far greater 
than that of any other horizon of the Cretaceous in our west. This is 
no doubt partially due to the fact that particular attention has been 
paid to these beds; systematic collecting has been done in them and 
the collections have been specially studied and described. Also the 
conditions under which the deposits were made were evidently favour- 
able to the preservation of the vertebrate life of the time. Our recently 
acquired information concerning the Judith River fauna greatly reduces 
the gap which had previously existed in our knowledge of Mesozoic land 
animals between Upper Jurassic and latest Cretaceous times. 
The known forms from the Judith River series include fishes, 
amphibians, reptiles and mammals, the reptiles greatly predominating. 
The fishes are of marine, and brackish- and fresh-water types. A 
selachian, which has been doubtfully referred to the rays, is represented 
