CHAPTEK VIII. 



THE REPTILES OF THE KARROO FORMATION. 



By E. BROOM. 



DURING the whole of the Permian and Triassic periods 

 continental conditions prevailed over at least the greater 

 part of what is now South Africa, and in the lacustrine 

 deposits then formed the remains of reptiles, amphibi- 

 ans and fishes are by no means uncommon. In prob- 

 ably no part of the world is there a formation of greater 

 interest to the palaeontologist, for here in the 14,000 

 feet or so of strata we have beds which when fully 

 studied will yield us a continuous history of the land 

 animals of one part of the world during a period of pos- 

 sibly over 2,000,000 years, and there could be no period 

 in the world's history more interesting to us than that 

 which saw the dawn of all the reptilian orders, and of 

 the birds and mammals, if we except that in which man 

 himself appeared. 



As the Karroo formation occupies about 200,000 square 

 miles, great tracts of which are covered by superficial 

 deposits or by dolerite, and as it is only here and there 

 on slopes and in water-courses that the fossiliferous 

 beds are exposed, it will readily be understood that it 

 will take very many years before more than a preliminary 



account can be given of the Karroo faunas. At present 



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