266 Messrs. Hancock & Atthey on Reptile- and Fish-Remains 
of moderate length. Brownish black, each scale with the 
margin lighter; back with two or three yellowish blotches: 
the first, at the origin of the spinous dorsal, is sometimes ab- 
sent; the second at the origin of the soft dorsal, and the third 
on the back of the caudal peduncle. Dorsal fins coloured as 
the body underneath ; caudal nearly uniform white. Pectoral 
rays variegated with black. 
Three examples, the largest 24 inches long, are in the col- 
ection. 
XXXV.—Notes on the Remains of some Reptiles and Fishes 
from the Shales of the Northumberland Coal-field. By 
ALBANY Hancock, F.L.S., and THomas Arrury*. 
THE coal-shales of the Low-Main seam at Newsham and 
Cramlington, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, so prolific in fish- 
remains, have also yielded some very interesting reptilian fos- 
sils, the largest and most important of which are the posterior 
and upper portions of two crania that are undoubtedly Laby- 
rinthodont. ‘These are apparently closely related to Loxomma 
Allmanni described by Prof. Huxley in the Proc. Geol. Soe. 
vol. xviii. p. 291 (1862), though apparently generically distinct 
from that form. -T'wo sets of sternal plates have also been 
found in the same locality, as well as several ribs, a few ver- 
tebree, two of which have the neural arch complete and most 
of the processes attached. Several premaxillaries and three or 
four portions of mandibular bones, with the teeth attached, 
have also occurred. All these most probably belong to the 
same large Labyrinthodont Amphibian. 
Besides the above interesting remains, an almost entire indi- 
vidual of a new species of Ophiderpeton, Huxley, has occurred, as 
well as several other fragmentary reptilian fossils. And what 
we now propose is to give in the following pages more or less 
detailed descriptions of all these, and likewise of some fish- 
remains that have been.found in the same locality. . 
Pteroplax cornuta, nobis. 
- The two cranial fragments of the reptile designated as above 
are each composed of the two quadrate supra-occipitals, the 
two parietals, portions of the elongated frontals, the post- 
frontals, and the epiotic bones, all of which are firmly united 
into one great pyriform shield by well-knit serrated sutures, 
which can be traced with sufficient accuracy. This shield 
* Read at a Meeting of the Nat. Hist. Soc. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 
and Tyneside Nat, Field Club, March 12, 1868. 
