ro4 



llEPORT — 1884. 



■, 



■pfvLaps because tins relations of the bctls willi remains of aniniak to (lie plant- 

 liearin^r ."^tratii are less clearly known. Jt will bo .sullieient to notice some of tin- 

 •most prominent peculiarities of these formations here, as I lii)])e that a Ailltt 

 account will be piven to the section by I'rofessor llupert Jones, who has made nn 

 •especial study of South African peoloi.'y. 



In thi' inferior of South Africa, occupying an inimen.-..' tract in the norlhern 

 parts of ('ape Colony, the Oraufre Tree State, Transvaal, and the deserts to tln) 

 westward of the last two, there is a Rreat system of sandsloivs and shales with 

 some coal-beds, p'nerally known as the 'Karoo formation.' The .suiiuence of sub- 

 divisions is the following,'' : — ' 



Stormberg beds, about 1 ,*^00 feet thick 

 l^eaufort „ „ l,7t)0 

 Ivoonap „ „ ],n00 





ft 



The l)ed9 are but little disturbed in general, and form great ])hi(e:ni\. Tliev ro.«t 

 partly on Paltrozoic rocks (Carboniferous or Devonian'), partly on jriieis^if innna- 

 lions. As in Australia, the underlyinir Palieozoie rocks contain a flora allied totlu' 

 Carljoniferous Qora of iMirope. 



At the base of the Karoo formation are certain sliales with coal, known asllu' 

 Ecca beds, and remarkable for contniniuir a jrreat boulder-bed, the ]<;cca or Dwvlia 

 conglomerate,'- like those in the Tahdiir beds in India and the Ilawkesbury saVid- 

 stone in Australia, the boulders, precisely as in tiie 'i'lilchir beds, beinaf embedded in 

 line compact silt or sandstone, which in both countries has been mistaken for a 

 volcanic rock. The Kcca bi-ds are said to contain (rloxxapterix and some otlu'r 

 plants, but the accounts are as yet somewhat imperfect. The whole Karoo syr^teni, 

 ticcordinir to the latest accounts, rests unconformably on the Iv'ca beds, whilst the 

 I'^cca beds are conformable to tlie underlying Palieozoie strata. 



Unfortunately, althoujjh a considerable number of animals and a few plants 

 Lave beeu described from the ' Karoo formation,' it is but rarely that the precise 

 subdivision from which tlio remains were brouf^ht has been clearly known. 



The known species of plants are very few in number ; (f/os^ojiferis hnnvniam, 

 and two other species of (ihnsopteris^ iiiibidf/ca, a fern nearly akin to Ciiiiu/am' 

 opferi-1 and G/'iMopfrria, and a rhyllothprn-\\\n\ stem are recorded, without any cer- 

 tain horizon, but probably from the Beaufort beds. There is no doubt as to the clnse 

 .similarity of these plants to those from the Damudas of India and the Newcastla 

 Jjeds of Australia. 



From the Stormberj? beds there are reported Prcopforin or Thinnfi'hlia oiionfo' 

 jtfeivideii, (Uichipffrin nincfifo, and TiT7iio])te''is (hiinfrep.i,^ three of the most 

 characteristic fossils of the uppermost plant-beds in Australia, and all found in the 

 Upjier Jurassic (Queensland beds. 



The animals found in tlie Karoo beds * are more numerous by far than the 

 plants. The greater portion have been procured from the IJeaufort Ijeds. Tliey 

 comprise numerous genera of dicynodont, theriodont, and dinosaurian reptiles, 

 two or three genera of labyrinthodont amphibians, some fish allied to PalceiDimu-i 

 and Ambli/plcrun, and one mammal, Tritylodon. Of tlie above the Trifi/loclon ani 

 «ome re])tilian and iish remains are said to be from the Stormberg beds. 



Tntijliidon is most nearly related to a Rhretic European mammal. The relations 

 of the reptiles called Theriodont la by Sir P.. Owen are not clearly defined, but 

 representatives of them and of tlie Dici/vodoyitin, as already noticed, are said to 1>! 

 found in the Permian of Pussia. The Glosfiopteris and its associates may of course 

 be classed as Carboniferous or Jurassic, according to taste. Neither the f\iuua nor 

 flora show sufficiently close relations to those of any European beds for any safe 

 'conclusions as to age, even if homotaxis and synchronism be considered identical. 



' Q.J. ^. .<?. xxiii. 1807. p. 142. 



' Sutherland, Q. J. G, S. xxvi. p. 51 1. 



^ One classed by Tate as Dirtijoptcri.-!, Q. J. G. S. xxili. p. 141. 



• Dunn, 'Report on Stormberg Coal-Field,' Gind. Mag. ISTl*, p. ou2. 



* Owen, ' Cat. Foss. Rept. S. Africa Rrit. Mas. 187G,'' &c. 



