THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES. DECADE II. VOL. IX. 



No. VIII.— AUGUST, 1882. 



OS,I<3-XISr.A.Xj -i^ZESTIOXjiBS. 



I. — On some Eeptilian Teeth from the Uppeb Permian Cupri- 

 ferous Sandstones of Kargalinsk, near Orenburg, Russia.^ 

 By W. H. TwELVETEEES, F.L.S., F.G.S., 

 Member of the Imperial Society of Naturalists of Moscow, etc. 

 (PLATE VIII.) 



niHE teeth under consideration in this paper were derived from 

 i the Kargalinsk copper mines in the government of Orenburg, 

 Russia. These mines are in the marls and sandstones overlying 

 conformably the Zeehstein or Magnesian Limestone, and were re- 

 ferred by Murchison to the upper division of the Permian. Other 

 writers have regarded them as belonging to the Lower Trias, so that 

 the question of their horizon is still sub judice. 1 have elsewhere 

 explained my reasons for believing them to form part of the Permian 

 formation, and wishing to avail myself of the latest Russian opinions, 

 I have recently asked Dr. Ti-autschold, the esteemed palasontologist 

 of Moscow, what is the state of opinion now, and he informs me 

 that there are as yet no positive data on which to base a Triassic 

 hj'pothesis. Dr. Trautschold has visited and examined the locality, 

 an advantage not possessed by many of those who consider the 

 series must be Triassic, because reptilian remains of a high grade 

 are found in them. 



The teeth represented in the Plate were found in different mines 

 not far apart. Those of Figures 2 and 3 are from the Eoshdestvensky 

 mine belonging to the Voskresensky works, and situate 30 miles 

 north of the town of Orenburg. That of Figure 1 is from an adjacent 

 mine. It is difficult to make much of isolated teeth ; but as these 

 are singular forms, it may be useful to rescue them from oblivion by 

 a passing description. 



Fig. 1 is a fine canine with a trenchant, minutely crenated poste- 

 rior border. The crown is invested with the usual coating of enamel, 

 wrinkled in parts. The pulp cavity, as demonstrated by sections, is 

 conical and long, extending to within a short distance of the apex. 



The apex shows traces of wear on one side and in front, and from 

 this I should think that a lower canine rose in front of it. In its 

 general aspect the tooth is theriodont and recalls the canine of Cyno- 

 draco major, Ow. But its creniilation is finer and its central cavity 

 is larger, and at one time I thought its dentinal structure might turn 



1 Eead before the Hackney Microscopical and Natural History Society, June 7, 1882. 



DECADE II. — VOL. IX. — NO. YIII. 22 



