F. STOLICZKA^ ON OXYGLOSSUS PUSILLUS, &C. 1 



Osteological notes on Oxyglossus pusilluSj (Rana pnsilla, Ovven)j from 

 the tertiary frog-beds in the Island of Bombay ; by Ferd. Stoliczka, 

 Ph. D., f. g. s.j Paleontologist of the Geological Survey of India. 



In the preceding note, Mr. A. B. Wynne has described the 

 stratigraphical position of some recently discovered frog-beds which 

 were not exposed, when two years since he described these deposits 

 in greater detail (Mem. Geol. Survey of India, Vol. V, p. 173, 

 1866). The small Batrachia occurring in these beds have been 

 known for more than twenty years ; they were first characterized by 

 Prof. B. Owen under the name of Rana pusilla (Quar. Jour. Geol. 

 Soe., Lond., Vol. Ill, p. 224, 1847). The Geological Survey of India 

 has obtained a large number of well preserved specimens during 

 Mr. Wynne^'s recent researches, and the examination of these has led me 

 to alter the generic determination of these fossils, the reasons for which 

 change will become more evident as I proceed. 



I shall give a brief sketch of the osteology of the species, com- 

 paring some of the most important points in the structure of these 

 fossils, and of some of the living representatives of the same genus, and 

 will also refer shortly to the other organic remains associated with these 



Batrachians. 



Oxyglossus pusillus, Owen, sp. (PI. IX). 



1. Head large, subtriangular, posteriorly about one-fourth broader 

 than long, anteriorly obtusely rounded (see fig. 3). The intermaxillaries 

 CimJ 9,re comparatively large, posteriorly at their junction, with short 

 pointed processes; both the intermaxillaries and the maxillaries (m ) 

 are armed with long subequal teeth. The nasals, frontals, parietals, and 

 occipitals are united to a single long and broad bone, without being dis- 

 tinguishable in any of the specimens examined. A small space between 

 the processes of the intermaxillaries and the nasals must have remained 

 imperfectly ossified, and consequently the intermaxillaries became very 

 often dislodged. The anterior prolongations of the frontals (frj appear to 

 be perfectly ossified, and united to the corresponding processes of the 

 Memo. Geological Survey of India, Vol, VI, Art. 8. 



El ( 387 ) 



