442 Prof. O. C. Marsh on some new Reptilian Remains 



LIV. — Notice of some New Reptilian Remains from the Creta- 

 ceous Beds of Brazil. By Prof. 0. C. Marsh, of Yale College *. 



The only account of vertebrate fossils from the freshwater 

 cretaceous deposit near Bahia, Brazil, which appears to have 

 been published hitherto, is a short notice in a paper by Mr. S. 

 Allport, in the ' Journal of the Geological Society of London ' 

 for 1860. In this article the author gives a description of the 

 locality, and figures several specimens of reptilian and fish re- 

 mains, but with no explanation of them except a reference to 

 the opinions of Prof. Owen and Sir Philip Egerton as to their 

 general affinities. 



While engaged in a geological exploration of the coast of 

 Brazil, in 1867, Prof. C. F. Hartt, of Cornell University, 

 visited the same locality ; and among the fossils obtained was 

 a small collection of vertebrate remains, supposed to be mainly 

 reptilian, which he has recently submitted to the writer for 

 examination and description. Most of the specimens are too 

 imperfect to admit of accurate determination ; some, how- 

 ever, are sufficiently well preserved to show clearly their main 

 characters, and a number of them prove to be identical with 

 those obtained by Mr. Allport. Several of the specimens were 

 found on examination to be portions of large fishes, in part 

 referable to the genus Lepidotus, and some of them indicating 

 apparently a new type. These will be described, with other 

 fossils from Brazil, in a work on the geology of that region, 

 soon to be published by Prof. Hartt. 



The most interesting of the reptilian remains collected by 

 Prof. Hartt in the Bahia deposit is the tooth of a large croco- 

 dilian, from the arenaceous shale near Plantaforma station, on 

 the Bahia railroad. This specimen is in an excellent state of 

 preservation, and indicates a species new to science. It is 

 larger, more slender, and more pointed than the teeth of ex- 

 isting crocodiles, resembling most nearly those of some extinct 

 American species. It is conical in form, round at the base, and 

 slightly compressed at the apex. The crown is two inches and 

 three lines in length along the outer side, and ten lines in di- 

 ameter at the base. One edge is somewhat more convex than 

 the other, and this is also true of one of the sides ; and hence 

 the tooth appears slightly curved in two directions. On either 

 edge of the crown there is a sharp ridge, most prominent near 

 the apex, over which it passes, but gradually disappearing be- 

 fore reaching the base, the specimen resembling in this respect 

 the teeth of Thoracosaurus, from which, however, it differs in 

 being longer, and less curved, than the teeth of that genus 



* From ' Silliman's American Journal ' for Mav 1869. 



