Miscellaneous, 233 



On the Discovery of true liatrachians in Paheozoic Rocks. 

 By M. A. Gaudry. 



Hitherto Batrachians of existing t5pes seemt'd to be of recent 

 geological date ; most palaeontologists bflievcd that these animals 

 did not occur in any formations more ancient than the Tertiaries. 

 There was some ground for astonishment that Vertebrata of such 

 low organization should have come upon the earth so late ; and this 

 fact seemed to be in opposition to most of those which palaeontology 

 has registered. 



I have the honour to bring before the Academy some remains of 

 Batrachians which have just been discovered in Paleozoic rocks. 

 One of them was communicated to me some months since by M. 

 Loustau, engineer on the Northern Kailway ; it was collected by 

 M. Roche in the bituminous schists of Permian age at Igornay 

 (Saone-et-Loire). A few days ago M. Francois Delille brought me 

 a slab upon which may be seen seven little Batrachians, which 

 closely resemble those of Igornay. He obtained it at Millery (.Saone- 

 et-Loire) ; and, like the specimen from Igornay, this slab was pro- 

 cured from bituminous schists of Permian age. 



I propose to give the Batrachians of Igornay and Millery the 

 name of SalumandreUa petrohi, to indicate that they have affinities 

 ■with the salamanders, and to note that they have been buried in 

 deposits from which petroleum is extracted. They are verj' small : 

 the individual communicated to me by M. Loustau is 30 millims. in 

 length from the outer edge of the muzzle to the extremity of the 

 tail ; and the largest of the individuals found by M. Delille is only 

 35 millims. Notwithstanding their small size, it is probable that 

 they were adult ; for the heads, tails, and limbs of the different ex- 

 amples are clearly of the same proportions. The heads are broader 

 than long, triangular, and much flattened : as not one of them is 

 placed on its side, I think that this flattening is natural and not 

 merely the result of the compression of the beds. The orbits are 

 very large and elongated ; we see no place for the postorbitals and 

 suprasquamosals, which are so much developed in the Ganocephali. 

 The vertebrae have the centrum ossified : I count 29 of them, viz. 

 3 cervical, 10 dorsal, b lumbar, and 8 caudal, the last very much 

 reduced. The cervical and dorsal vertebrae have arched ribs, much 

 shorter than those of the Ganocephali. I have not been able to 

 perceive any indications of the entosternum and episterna, so re- 

 markable in the Ganocephali and Labyrinthodonts. The fore and 

 hind limbs are nearly of the same size ; both are furnished with 

 four digits. I see no traces of scales which could be attributed to 

 the Salamandrella ; and, indeed, I cannot distinguish around the 

 skeleton any deposit or coloration indicating a hardened skin, which 

 would have persisted longer than the other soft organs. 



One cannot help being struck by the resemblance of the little 

 Batrachians of Igornay and Millery to the terrestrial salamanders. 

 Nevertheless their head is a little broader ; the bones of their limbs 

 seem to have had the extremities less well-defined ; the hind limbs 



