290 Dr. F. L. Kitchin—The Invertebrate Fauna of 
believed the fauna to be of Jurassic age, and their view has until 
recently continued to find adherents. A few authors have suggested 
that the series may be in part Upper Jurassic and in part Lower 
Cretaceous. 
The great majority of the invertebrate fossils collected from the 
Uitenhage Beds consist of Mollusca, and have been obtained from 
localities in the valleys of the Sunday’s, Zwartkop’s, and Coega Rivers. 
A more detailed examination of the fauna than that undertaken by 
previous writers fully corroborates Neumayr’s conclusion that a large 
percentage of the Mollusca show affinity to Cretaceous rather than to 
Jurassic forms. There is, moreover, abundant evidence in support 
of the opinion of those who have ascribed to the Uitenhage Series 
a Lower Cretaceous age, although, as might be expected, there are 
a few bivalve forms which bear a somewhat close resemblance to 
familiar Jurassic types. It will suffice, however, to mention the 
presence of Holcostephanus (sensu stricto), the restricted group to which 
V. Uhlig and F. Suess have applied Pavlow’s name Astierza, typified 
by #. astierranus (d’Orb.) ; Hamites; Crioceras; Bochianites; Hoplites 
(sensu lato), here represented only by Acanthodiscus, Uhlig, and 
perhaps also Solgeria, Uhlig; Zrigonie of the divisions Scabre and 
Pseudo-quadrate ; Ptychomya; Thetis, and Solecurtus. All these, so 
far as we know, are confined elsewhere to the Cretaceous rocks, and 
taken together, they give most decisive evidence of a Lower Cretaceous 
age. In Europe, Holcostephanus (sensu stricto) is almost wholly, if 
not entirely, confined to strata of Upper Valanginian and Lower 
Hauterivian age, and this genus is so richly represented in the 
Uitenhage Beds as to suggest strongly the soundness of a correlation 
with this part of the Neocomian stage. It has been frequently stated 
that Holcostephanus atherstont (Sharpe), a Uitenhage species, actually 
occurs in the Lower Hauterivian of Kurope; and although a careful 
examination of the evidence fails to bear this out, there can be no 
doubt that several Holcostephani in Cape Colony are intimately related 
to certain European forms. The remains of plants found in the 
Uitenhage Beds do not give such definite indications of geological age 
as the Mollusca, but it will be remembered that Professor A. C. Seward 
has expressed the belief that the balance of evidence furnished by the 
plants is in favour of a Wealden age. 
It becomes a matter for some astonishment that Tate should have 
expressed so positively the opinion that the Uitenhage fauna is of 
Jurassic character, and should have arrived at the curious conclusion 
that these supposed ‘ Oolites’ of South Africa represent the whole of 
the Jurassic rocks of Europe with the exception of the Upper Oolites, 
and illustrate an intermingling of paleontological types which are 
analogous to, or identical with, those distributed in successive zones in 
Europe. <A study of the actual specimens upon which Tate based 
these conclusions shows clearly that he failed to see the true significance 
of the Cephalopoda, and that while making use of some bivalve types 
little adapted to serve the purposes of a critical correlation, he was 
further misled by several quite erroneous identifications. 
Restricting our attention to the marine development of the Uitenhage 
Beds, it may be stated confidently that there is no paleontological 
