536 Thomas Shepxxird — Cryptodeidus in Kelkucays Rock. 



important remains had already been excavated and were not 

 preserved. However, the find in the quarry face enables the exact 

 horizon of the animal to be fixed, and there can be little doubt that 

 the almost complete skeleton of a huge saurian had been buried, 

 where it had rested undisturbed from the day it was deposited in 

 Jurassic times. The disposition of the remains suggests quiet 

 waters, and subsequent undisturbed conditions. 



Below the remains the sand is much whiter and finer, and more 

 resembles the pure white sand exposed in a section near Sancton 

 church, a few miles away. 



Having been informed that some time previously, when the bones 

 were first excavated, a few of the larger specimens had been sent to 

 Mr. W. Eichardson, of South Cave, I called upon that gentleman 

 and found that he possessed three very large paddle-bones, obviously 

 from the same skeleton as my specimens ; these he has been good 

 to hand over to me. 



A selection from the collection of bones has been sent to Mr. E. T, 

 Newton, F.E.S., of H.M. Geological Survey, and he has kindly 

 examined the specimens for me. Mr. Newton reports that they 

 " belong to some animal allied to the Plesiosaurus, and probably 

 to the one which has been named Cryptodeidus, but the broken 

 condition of the specimens prevents a certain determination." 

 Mr. Newton adds, " such reptiles are known from the Oxford 

 Clay, but not from the Kellaways Rock," and in this opinion 

 Mr. C. Fox-Strangways, who has recently completed a volume on 

 the Jurassic Rocks of Yorkshire, concurs. 



Twenty-five specimens were sent to Mr. Newton, and he has 

 determined them as under : — 



Nos. 1 & 2. Parts of one paddle-bone, femur or humerus. 



,, 3. Part of another. 



,, 4-10. Pieces of above. 



,, 11. Piece of a jaw. 



,, 12. Paddle ossicles. 



„ 13-21. Portions of vertebrae. 



„ 22-25. Ribs. 



No. 11 is very interesting, but unfortunatelj'- it is only the 

 anterior half of the lower jaw, and does not contain any teeth. 



In addition to the above there are some dozens of pieces of bone, 

 principally vertebrae and ribs. 



The condition of the remains is interesting. Being found in a soft 

 sandy deposit they were easily extracted, a chisel not being required. 

 There has been little labour, therefore, in freeing the bones from 

 the matrix, an operation that would have been exceedingly difficult 

 had they been in hard rock. It is no doubt due to the fact that the 

 specimens are very ferruginous (some being almost like cast iron) 

 that they are in such a good state of preservation. 



Seeing that remains of Cryptodeidus have not previously been 

 recorded from the Kellaways Rock, it would perhaps be as well 

 if a word or two were said on the stratigraphical position of these 



