440 G. C. Crick— On Coccoteuthts, Solenhofen. 



fossil for a fish. Under the name Sepia prism, Konig ' figured 

 an example in 1825, but gave no description of the specimen. 

 Riippell, 2 howevei", in 1829 figured and described as Septa hastiformit) 

 an example from the Lithographic Stone (Lower Kimeridgian) of 

 Miihlheim, near Solenhofen, Bavaria. Figures of these shells were 

 subsequently given by Minister, 3 Ferussac and D'Orbigny, 4 and 

 Quenstedt, 5 all of whom referred them to the genus Sepia. 



H. von Meyer, in a letter in the Neues Jahrbucb. for 1846 

 (p. 598), suggested the name Trachyteuthis for some Septa-like 

 internal shells from the Lithographic Stone of Solenhofen, but did 

 not fully describe the specimens which he referred to this genus 

 until October, 1855. In the meantime (May, 1855), however, 

 Professor Owen 6 figured and described from the Kimeridge Clay of 

 Dorset a similar shell, to which he gave the name Coccoteuthts 

 latipinnis. Since there is no doubt as to the generic identity of 

 these fossils, it appears that the name Coccotenthis should bo. 

 preserved, for it was the first to be adequately described ; we have 

 accordingly used it in the present paper, following Dr. A. Wagner, 7 

 who after full consideration of this question adopts Owen's name for 

 the genus. Dr. K. A. von Zittel, however, uses the name Trachy- 

 teuthis both in his " Handbuch der Palaeontologie " (vol. ii, p. 516) 

 and also in his more recent " Grundziige der Palaaontologie " 

 (p. 446). 



So far as we have been able to ascertain, there have been but few 

 references to the soft parts of the animal associated with the shell of 

 this genus. Ferussac and D'Orbigny figure 8 an example of the 

 genus under the name Sepia hastiformis, and indicate anterior to the 

 shell what may possibly be some remains of the animal. F. A. 

 Quenstedt, in his " Cephalopoden " (pi. xxxii, fig. 1), figures an 

 example of Saepia hastiformis with the impression of the lateral 

 expansion of the mantle, which he says shows distinctly the 

 transverse muscular striation. The shell associated with this 

 impression is 170 mm. long. The same author, in the third edition 

 of his " Handbuch der Petrefactenkunde," p. 508, pi. xxxix, fig. 8, 

 describes and figures from the Lithographic Stone of Solenhofen the 

 head of a Cephalopod (showing eight arms and the " beaks "), which 

 he refers to Loliginites priscus (=:Plesioteuthis prisca) ; but there 

 does not appear to be any reason why the head should be associated 

 with this species. It agrees very well with the head of the specimen 

 described below, which undoubtedly belongs to the genus Cocco- 

 ieuthis. 



1 " Icones Fossiliuni Sectiles," 182-5, pi. xvii, fig. 201. 



2 "Abbildung und Beschreibung einiger neuen oder wenig gekannten Yersteine- 

 rungen aus der Kalkscbieferformation von Solenhofen." 



3 G. Minister, " Beitrage zur Petrefactenkunde," Heft vii, 1846, pi. ix. 



4 "Hist. nat. des Cephalopodes acetabuliferes," 1835-48, Sepia, pis. xiv-xvi. 



5 "Petrefactenkunde Deutschlands," vol. i (Cephalopoden), 1846-9, pis. xxxi, 

 xxxii. 



6 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xi (1855), pp. 124-5, pi. vii. 



7 Abhandl. d. k. Akad. d. Wissensch., Berlin, math.-pbys. CI., vol. viii, p. 754 

 et seq. 



8 "Hist. nat. des Cephalopodes acetabuliferes," 1835-48, Sepia, pi. xvi, fig. 1. 





