242 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 127 
Brachial interior: Umbonal and external muscles along the median line usu- 
ally clearly visible but additional musculature not yet identified. Margins 
flattened. 
Genotype.—Leptobolus ? ovalis Bassler = Elliptoglossa ovalis (Bassler), Cam- 
brian and Ordovician: Geol. Surv. Maryland, p. 230, pl. 49, figs. 14-16, 1919. 
Discussion.—The members of this interesting little genus can be identified by 
their longitudinally elliptical or narrowly oval outline, the broad and flat outer 
rim, and the absence of a clearly defined pedicle groove. 
Elliptoglossa most closely resembles the peculiar genus Lingulops which is 
regarded by some brachiopod students as one of the earlier members of the Tri- 
merellidae. Like Lingulops the genus under consideration has the same exter- 
nal form and the same type of flattened contact surface bounding the visceral 
region. Another striking analogy is in the faint groove marking the median por- 
tion of the posterior border, which is regarded as a pedicle groove. The interior 
of Lingulops is, however, unlike that of Elliptoglossa. The muscles of the latter 
are not so clearly impressed, and no tendency to the development of a platform 
at the anterior end of the muscle field has been detected. Inasmuch as the ex- 
ternal form and ornamentation of Elliptoglossa and Lingulops are alike and their 
musculature is similar, it is possible that the latter was derived from the former. 
In its possession of a flattened brim surrounding the valves, Elliptoglossa is 
suggestive of Paterula, but the two should not be confused because the pedicle 
valve of the latter genus has a distinct notch and the valves are usually unequal 
in depth. The brachial valve of Paterula is usually deeper and more convex than 
that of the pedicle valve. Another feature distinguishing the two genera is that 
of external shape: Elliptoglossa in all its known species is elongate whereas the 
valves of Paterula are generally subcircular to suboval, the little tapering present 
taking place in an anterior direction. 
Elliptoglossa appears first in the Shumardia zone of the Lévis formation high 
in the Canadian where it is represented by Paterula westom Clarke. This is a 
large species, but it has all the characters of the new genus. A similar species 
occurs in the Quebec City formation at Quebec. It also occurs in abundance in 
the Pratt Ferry formation at Pratt Ferry, Ala., where it can be etched from the 
limestone by acetic acid. The genotype species occurs in the Sinuwites beds at the 
base of the Martinsburg shale in Pennsylvania. Elliptoglossa is again en- 
countered in the Botetourt formation of Virginia and Tennessee and ranges into 
the Oranda formation where it is common. One fine species occurs in the high 
Ordovician (Maquoketa) of Missouri and the Sylvan shale of Oklahoma. 
ELLIPTOGLOSSA OVALIS (Bassler) 
Plate 23, E, figures 14-26 
Leptobolus ? ovalis Basster, Cambrian and Ordovician: Geol. Surv. Maryland, p. 230, 
pl. 49, figs. 14-16, 1910. 
Shell small, longitudinally oval in outline with the posterior margin slightly 
narrower than the anterior margin. Anterior and posterior margins narrowly 
