EXTINCT BATRACHIA. 



The first information we possess on this subject was furnished by Prof. 

 Jeffries Wyman, who in March, 1857,* described two species of extinct 

 animals which had been discovered in the Coal Measures, near Linton, 

 by Chas. M. Wheatley, A.M. These he regarded as Batrachians, and 

 observed that one, which he named Raniceps lyellii, appeared to possess 

 characters of the Anura in the proportions of its cranium, while the ver- 

 tebrae and fore limbs resembled those of the tailed division (Urodela). 

 Another form was represented by very few portions of the skeleton, and 

 differed from the last in its strong ribs. This he did not name, and it 

 resembles the species called, in the present essay, Molgophis macrurus. 



Prof. J. S. Newberry also made collections at the same locality, but it 

 was not until 1867 that he announced before the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science that he had found forms allied to the 

 genera Uroconylus and Ophiderpeton, of the Irish Coal Measures. The 

 materials then collected were placed in the writer's hands in the follow- 

 ing year, and furnished the basis for an investigation into the structure 

 of our extinct Batrachia,f including, as they did, twelve species, many of 

 them represented by numerous individual specimens. One of these had 

 been already described by Prof. Jeffries Wyman as Felion lyellii, both 'genus 

 and species being peculiar to the locality. The remaining species were 

 referred by the writer to four genera previously unknown, and to the 

 genus Dendrerpeton, Owen, previously discovered by Dr. Dawson, in Nova 

 Scotia. 



Collections subsequently made under direction of Prof. Newberry have 

 added very much to our knowledge of these most interesting forms. The 

 present synopsis raises the number of species to thirty-four, which are 

 referred to seventeen genera. 



I. OSTEOLOGY OF THE EXTINCT BATRACHIA. 



These genera, present us with a variety of external forms similar to 

 those known among the Reptilia; thus Sauropleura resembles a long- 

 limbed lizard, and Tuditanus a short-limbed one. Amphibamus, found in 



* See American Journal of Science and Arts. 



t See Transactions American Philosoph. Soc, 1869, p. 12; Proceedings Academy 

 Natural Sciences, 1868, p. 211 ; Trans. Amer. Philosoph. Society, April, 1874. 



