698 eepoet— 1884. 



the beds. So far as European fossil plants are concerned, the Damuda flora re- 

 sembles that of the middle or lower Jurassics more than any other. 



One form, it is true, the Schizonetira, is closely allied to S. parado.ra from theBunter 

 or lower Trias of Europe. Other plants have Rhaetic affinities. But the connections 

 with the Triassic flora do not seem nearly equal to those shown with Jurassic 

 plants, and the reason that the Damuda flora has been classed as probably Triassic 

 must be sought in the impossibility of considering' it newer, 1 if the next overlying 

 stage is classed as Upper Trias or Rhcetic, and in the close affinity with the 

 underlying Karharbari beds, which contain several Lower Triassic tvpes. 



Panchet. — The uppermost series of the lower Gondwanas consists chiefly of 

 sandstone, and fossils are rare. The most interesting are remains of Reptilia 

 and Amphibia. The following is a list of the fossil animals and plants corrected 

 to the present time : — ■ 



ANIMALS. 

 REPTILIA. 



DisrosATJRi.v. — Ancistrodon, 1 sp. 

 Dictnodontia. — Dicynodon (Ptychognathus) , 2. 



AMPHIBIA. 



Labtehjthodontia. — Gonioghjptus, 2 ; Glyptognathus, 1; Packggonia,l. 



CRUSTACEA. 

 JEstheria, 1, 



PLANTS. 



Conifer .e. — Samafopsis, 1 . 



FlLlCES. — Pecopteris, 1 ; Cyclopteris, 1 ; Thinnfeldia, 1 ; Oleandridium, 1 ; 



Glossopteris, 3. 

 Equisetace-E. — Schizoneura, 1. 



The Schizoneura and the three species of Glossopteris are considered the same 

 as Damuda forms. But with them are found two European Rhsetic species, 

 Pecopteris eoncinna and Cyclopteris pachyrachis. The Oleandridium is also closely 

 allied to a European Rhsetic form, and may be identical. The flora may thus be 

 classed as typically Rhsetic. 



All the genera of Labyrinthodmts named are peculiar ; their nearest European 

 allies are chiefly Triassic. Dicynodontia are only loiown with certainty from India 

 and South Africa, but some forms believed to be nearly allied have been described 

 from the Ural mountains. 2 The Ural fossils were obtained from rocks now referred 

 to the Permian. 3 



Upper Gondtcdnas. — The different series of the lower Gondwanas are found in 

 the same area, resting one upon the other, so that the sequence is determined 

 geologically. This is not the case with the upper Gondwana groups; their 

 most fossiliferous representatives are found in different parts of the country, and 

 the relations to each other are mainly inferred from palseobotanical data. 

 Although, therefore, it is probable that the Rajmahals are older than the Cutch and 

 Jabalpur beds, and that the Kota-Maleri strata are of intermediate age, it is quite 

 possible that two or more of these series may have been contemporaneously formed 

 in regions with a different flora. 



Rdjmahdl. — The comparatively rich flora of the lowest upper Gondwana series 

 is contained in beds interstratified with basaltic lava-flows of the fissure-eruption 

 type. The following are the genera 4 of plants found : — 



1 Feistmantel, Pal. Ind. ser. xii. vol. iii. pp. 57, 129, &c. 



1 Huxley, Q. J. G. S. xxvi. p. 48. 



1 Twelvetrees, Q. J. G. S. xxxviii. p. 500. 



• Pal. Ind. ser. ii ; Feistmantel, Pec. G. S. I. ix. p. 39. 



