664 . MK. R. BROOM ON AXOMODONT REPTILES 



devoid of fossils till we come to the little rich patch at Victoi^ia 

 West. Soon this locality will be for ever drowned in a large 

 dam which is being made above the township. 



A small Dicynodont skull was some years ago discovered in 

 the deposit, which I referred to Pristerodon mackayi Huxley, 

 and took this as confirmatory evidence of the deposit being in 

 the Pareiasaurus-zone ; but we now know that very similar 

 forms belonging to the genus I am calling Emydopsisoccnv in the 

 Cistecephcdits zone. 



The new Dicynodont skull which I have discovered is nearly 

 perfect, but being in a hard matrix cannot be very satisfactorily 

 developed: It is about 5 inches long and 4 broad, and is 

 chiefly remarkable from having the preorbital region very short 

 and deflected and the parietal region very broacl. 



The premaxilla is extremely small and short. The nostrils are 

 large and directed forwards. The nasals,, like the prema,xilla, 

 are also unusually small. The septomaxilla does not show on 

 the facial surface. The maxilla though faii'ly well developed is 

 very short. It has a rather small slightly flattened tusk. 



The prefrontal and lacrimal are both small. The f rentals are 

 long and narrow, and form only a small pa it of the orbital 

 margin. Between them lies an exceptionally large and long 

 preparietal. The postfrontals are also very large. The post- 

 orbitals, on the other hand, have veiy short posterior processes 

 which do not meet the squamosals. The parietals are well 

 developed and broad. 



The pineal foramen is unusually small. 



The squamosal does not seem to present any unusual features. 

 The occiput has not been cleaned of matrix. 

 The species in the folding down of the snout recalls Lystro- 

 saurus, though the narrow interorbital region gives the upper 

 surface quite a different appearance. In Dicynodon moschops 

 Broom we have a very similar folding down of the snout, and at 

 first sight one might be led to think that this skull was the male 

 of B. moschops. When, however, we look at the structure Ave 

 find very great differences. In D. moschojjs we find the septo- 

 maxillary large and forming part of the face. Here it does not 

 appear on the face. Further, in D. moschops., though the parietals 

 are also broad the preparietal is small, and there are no post- 

 fi'ontals showing on the upper surface. The species of Bcdnia 

 also show some affinities with the present type, but they all differ 

 in having the frontal region broader than the parietal. Still we 

 may conclude that this Victoria West type has affinities with 

 D. moschops on the one hand and with the species of Bainia, on 

 the other. As all the known species of Bainia occur in -the 

 Cistecephcdus zone, as does also D. moschops, we may, I think, 

 conclude that the "Victoria West animal is either from the 

 Cistecephalus zone or from the zone immediately below — viz., the 

 Endothiodon zone. In any case it is pretty certain that the 

 Victoria West deposit cannot belong to the Pareiasaurus zone. 



