472 MR. G. A. BOULENGER ON THE [Apr. 19, 



by Cope of Diadectes and Empedias, h'oin the Upper Permian of 

 Texas, It will be shown hereafter that a detailed study has sub- 

 stantiated this first impression, and that Telerpeton, far from 

 being i-elated to either the Rhynchocephalia or Lacei'tilia, is to 

 be assigned to the Order Cotylosaui'ia, established by Cope for 

 Diadectes, and which would include also ProcolopUon. The repre- 

 sentative of another order is thus added to the varied reptile 

 fauna of the Elgin sandstones*. 



The Skull, 



Huxley regarded Telerpeton as a ti-vie Lacertilian t, and this 

 opinion evidently influenced him in the restoi'ation of the lateral 

 aspect of the skull, given in outline on p. 78 of his paper. 



In the light of the specimens now available and of our present 

 knowledge of fossil Reptiles, the faults of this restoi-ation are seen 

 to lie in the omission of the temporal I'oof, the part identified as 

 a free quadi'ate being mei-ely an impi-ession of the inner side of 

 the quadrato-jugal, a break in the stone having been taken for a 



* Until 1844, no remains of animals other than bones and teetli of fishes, which 

 proved to be of Old Red Sandstone [Devonian] age, v\'ere known from the Elgin 

 sandstones. In that year Patrick Duff discovered scutes near Lossiemouth which, 

 after having been described as of a Devonian fish, were shown by Huxley to have per- 

 tained to a Triassic Parasuchian Reptile — Stagonulepis rohertsoni. Shortly after, 

 Patrick Dutt' discovered in Spynie Quarry the little reptile which was described as 

 Telerpeton elginense. Other types were successively brought to light, establishing 

 beyond question the Triassic age of the beds, however great the difficulty of distin- 

 guishing them from the underlying Old Red. Mr. Taylor has kindlj' furnished me 

 with a list of the localities which have yielded the principal Reptilian remains : — 



1, Stagonolepis beds, — Fine-grained sandstones without pebbles ; bones nearly 

 always preserved. 



T,- J . ^ C Staaonolepis rohertsoni Agassiz. 



1 nidrassie Quarry | Basygnatlms longidens Huxley. 



r Stagouolepis rohertsoni Agass. 

 a • (\ J Ornithosuchus woodwardi E. T, Newton, 



tspy me t^uarry ■< jiypg^odapedon gordoni Huxley. 



V. Telerpeton elginense Mantell. 



fStagonolepis rohertsoni Agass. 

 j Ornithosuchus woodwardi E. T. Newt, 

 1 . .1 ,» • \ Srpetosuchus i/ranti El. T.^ewt. 



Lossiemouth Quarries <! stfnometopontaylori Boulenger. 



Si/perodapedon gordoni Huxlej', 

 Telerpeton elginense Mantell. 



H. GoKDONiA BEDS. — Rough- grained sandstones with pebbles; bones never 

 preserved, only casts being found. 



' Gordonia traquairi E, T. Newt, 

 „ huxleyana E. T. Newt. 

 r< ii- Ti-11 I /-\ J I! diifjiana E. T. Newt. 



Cutties Hillock Quarry <( ';^ j.fddiana Y.. T. Newt, 



Geihia elginensis E. T. Newt, 

 JElginia mirabilis E. T. Newt, 

 For the position of these quarries, cf. a map given by Dr. G. Gordon in Trans, 

 Geol. Soc. Edinb. vi. 1893, pi. x. 



t " It is Saurian in all its characters ; and if we enquire to which division of the 

 Sauria Telerpeton belongs there appears to be no doubt that it must be referred to 

 the true Lacertilia, and among them to the suborder Kionocrania of Stannius, 

 which contains all the modern Lizards — though I cannot make sure, from the 

 present specimen, that it possessed a columella." — Huxley, I. c. p. 83, 





