John R. Cool-e—A Fossil Seal from Malta. 215 



IV.— On the Occurkence of Pboca rugosidei^s, Owen, in 



Maltese Strata. 



By John H. Cooke, F.G.S., F.L.S. 



IN a memoir which was read before the Geological Society of 

 London in 1870, and which was published in the Proceedings 

 of that Society and in the Malta papers, Dr. A. A. Caruana' makes 

 mention of a portion of a rib and of a lower jaw of a mammal 

 which were obtained from the Globigerina Limestone at El Kbajer, 

 near Kolla el Baida, in the island of Gozo ; and after referring to 

 the fact that no Carnivora had, up to that date, been found in the 

 Maltese Islands, he described the El Kbajer fossils as being 

 "a portion of the lower jaw of a Hy^na with several teeth in sitii.' 



The fossils were presented by Dr. Caruana to the University 

 Museum, Valetta, and for nearly twenty-three years they remained 

 there, labelled "Remains of Hy^na." 



In the year 1890. I drew the attention of Dr. John Murray to the 

 remarkable description which was attached to these specimens ; and 

 in 1891 I entered into correspondence with, and forwarded sketches 

 and photographs of the remains to, the late Prof, van Beneden, of 

 Louvain. Both of these eminent geologists confirmed my suspicions 

 as to the mistake into which Caruana had fallen. 



Ei"-lit raandibular ramus of lower jaw of Phoca rucjosidens (Owen) ; Globi,?erina 

 ° LimestoEe, Gozo, Malta. The original is preserved in the University Museiin-', 



Valetta. The tooth drawn in outline shows the form of the cusps of a single 



detached molar. 

 The principal specimen, which is firmly embedded in a compact 

 block of Globigerina Limestone, consists of the right ramus of the 

 lower jaw of a Phoca. It contains three entire molars, and 

 a portion of a fourth. All of them are in situ ; and they are in a 

 capital state of preservation. The enamel of the teeth is very 

 rough ; and the maigiiis are boldly though unequally serrated on 

 both sides. One of the molars, situated towards the posterior 

 extremity of the jaw, clearly exhibits the bifurcation of its roots. 

 This is the finest specimen of the remains of a fossil Seal that has 

 yet been recorded from the Maltese Islands. 



1 Caruana, A. A., Quart. Jouru. Geol. Soc, vol. xxvi, p. 434 ; " Malta Observer," 

 March, 1870. 



