THE PERMIAN PERIOD 



Fig. 407. REPRESENTATIVE TYPES OF THE GLOSSOPTERIS FLORA, a, Glossop- 

 teris communis, Fstm.; b, G. angustlfolia, Bgt.; c, Gangamopteris cydopteroidcs , 

 Fstm.; d, Noeggcrathiopsis hislop, Bunb.; e, Ncuroptcris valida, Fstm.;/, Schizoneura, 

 gondwanensis, Fstm.; g, Phyllotheca indica, Bunb.; h, Voltzia heteropkylla, Bgt. 



had branched off before the close of the Pennsylvanian period 

 (Fig. 408); another (Cotylosauria) included crawling reptiles with 

 large heads, short tails, powerful and short limbs,' whose nearest 

 and yet rather remote relatives (Pareiasaurus) are found in South 

 Africa; the third (Therapsida) included the anomodonts and 

 theriodonts, reptiles allied to the pelycosaurs, but more highly spe- 

 cialized. The American forms were probably derived from the same 

 stock as their African allies, but the types in the two continents 

 had, as a result of long isolation, become somewhat distinct. Some 

 of the African reptiles are of peculiar interest because of the mamma- 

 lian aspect of their skulls, teeth, and other parts of their skeletons. 



