PALAEONTOLOGY 



takes the form of a slab of Keuper Sandstone obtained by Mr. J. N. B. 

 Masefield from the Hollington quarries, displaying in great perfection the 

 impression of the peculiar system of abdominal ribs characteristic of 

 these reptiles. The specimen has been described and figured by Dr. 

 Smith Woodward, 10 and referred to the genus Hyperodapedon, an ally of 

 Rhynchosaurus, of which other remains are known from the Keuper of 

 Warwick and Devonshire. 



Passing on to the vertebrate fauna of the Coal Measures of the 

 county, we have first to refer to the occurrence in this formation of 

 remains of primeval salamanders, some of which belong to true laby- 

 rinthodonts, while others are referable to allied sections of the group 

 now collectively known as Stegocephalia. These are recorded by Mr. 

 John Ward in two papers, the first of which was contributed to the 

 Transactions of the N. Staffordshire Institute of Mining Engineers for 1890," 

 and the second to the Transactions of the N. Staffordshire Field Club for i goo. 12 



First in the list comes the fully-armoured species described by 

 Professor Huxley on the evidence of a Yorkshire specimen under the 

 name of Pholiderpeton scutiferum, of which genus it is the type. The 

 species was recorded from the Coal Measures of Fenton by Mr. Ward in 

 i875- 13 Many years ago (1844) Mr. Garner in his Natural History of 

 the County of Stafford figured, as that of some kind of unknown fish, a 

 tooth from Skelton Colliery, which now turns out to belong to the 

 labyrinthodont known as Loxomma allmanni. This large species, of 

 which a practically entire and uncrushed skull is known, is characterized 

 by the large size and diamond-shape of the sockets of the eyes and by 

 the lancet-like teeth ; and a fine series of its remains has been discovered 

 in the county. They occur, for instance, in the shale overlying the 

 Cockshead Ironstone at Adderley Green ; in shale above the Knowles 

 and Chalky Mine Ironstones at Fenton and Longton ; in the Brown 

 Mine Ironstone at Silverdale ; and in the Gubbin Ironstone at Skelton. 

 Of the still larger Coal Measure labyrinthodont described by Huxley as 

 Anthracosaurus russelli^ a number of well-preserved, although fragmentary, 

 remains have been obtained from the Rag Mine Ironstone at Fenton and 

 the Ash Ironstone at Longton. 



By far the most interesting of the Staffordshire stegocephalians is, 

 however, Ceraterpeton gafaani, a member of the group Microsauria, 

 measuring about ten inches in total length, and typically from Jarrow 

 Colliery, Kilkenny. A single skeleton has been obtained from the shale 

 overlying the Ash Ironstone at Longton Hall Colliery, Longton, which 

 has been described by Dr. C. W. Andrews. 1 * At one time it was 

 incorrectly identified with the allied genus Urocordylus. The genus 

 Ceraterpeton takes its name from the long horn-like projections arising 

 from the hind border of the skull. 



In addition to the forms above-mentioned, remains of other stego- 

 cephalians are known from the Coal Measures of the county, some of 



10 Tram. N. Staff. Field Club, xxxix, 115, pi. iii (1905). " Vol. x. " Vol. xxxiv, 101. 



" Trans. N. Staff. FieU Club (1875), p. ^\^. " Geol. Mag. (4), ii, 83 (1895). 



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