68 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



« 



has them ' ' proportionally longer," these names were deservedly rejected 

 by Cope as nomina nuda. 



A number of species have since been described by Leidy and Cope, all 

 founded on more or less fragmentary remains such as detached vertebrse, 

 scales, and cranial fragments. The only one represented by a tolerably 

 complete individual is L. cuneatus (Cope) from the Miocene of Central 

 Utah, the type of which is about 30 cm. in length. The remainder are 

 characterized by A. S. Woodward in his Catalogue of Fossil Fishes as 

 "all too imperfect for specific, and the majority even for generic deter- 

 mination." For instance, Leidy's L. notabilis is foimded on a single 

 vertebral centrum, which may or may not be identical with those 

 described by him as L. atrox. The type species of " Clastes," L. ct/di- 

 ferus (Cope), is founded on a few cranial bones and scales. There is 

 still less reason for regarding " Pneumatosteus " as a distinct genus, the 

 type of P. nahunticns Cope being an opisthoccelous vertebral centrum 

 from the Miocene of Xorth Carolina. 



It is obvious from the foregoing that all the specific titles applied to 

 fossil gars from this country, with the single exception of L. cuneatus, 

 have had up to the present time only a provisional significance. They 

 have stood at best for imperfectly definable fragments, which were in 

 some cases with difficulty distinguished from one another. Thanks to 

 the newly discovered material, however, we know what the complete 

 fish in at least two species besides L. cuneatus was like, and the cranial 

 osteology of the larger one is as readily decipherable as that of a recent 

 gar. In fUl, four species are recognized from the American Eocene, and 

 two from the Miocene, as follows : — 



L. atrox Leidy {= L. anax Cope). Middle Eocene; Wyoming. 



L. simplex IjQiAy Middle Eocene ; Wyoming. 



L. notabths Leidy. Eocene ; Wyoming. 



L. (Clastes) cycliferus (Cope). Eocene; Wyoming. 



L. (Clastes) cuneatus (Cope). Miocene; Central Utah. 



L. (Pneumatosteus) nahunticus (Cope). Miocene; North Carolina. 



Turning to the European representatives of this family, we find only 

 seven or eight species, likewise founded on fragmentary remains such as 

 Bcales, vertebrte, cranial fragments, etc., but nowhere a complete skeleton. 

 The range is from Lower Eocene to Lower Miocene, and the distribution 

 sparse in various localities of England, France, and Germany. "With 

 pardonable pride, therefore, we may point out that the specimen im- 

 mediately to be described is at once the largest and most perfect fossil 



