8 WATSON & Day, Notes on some Palceozoic Fishes. 



importance because it is the only fragment of a Palaeozoic 

 fish showing a vertebral column of this type, and it is certain 

 that the Amphibia arose from fish with a temnospondylous 

 vertebral column of some form. 



Glyptopomus kinnairdi, Huxley. 



The structure of this fish has been described by 

 Huxley in a classical paper and Goodrich has published 

 a new restoration of the head and of the fish. 



The heads of four specimens on a single slab obtained 

 in the recent excavations carried on by a committee of 

 the British Association at Dura Den, allow us to produce 

 a new and, as we hope, accurate restoration of this fish. 

 They are excellently preserved and well exposed.* 



Glyptopomus is a remarkably elongated fish, and in 

 consequence its whole head and the bones composing it 

 are long and slender when compared with the corres- 

 ponding parts of Holoptychius. The orbit is far forward 

 and somewhat small, whilst the gape is of great length. 

 The post-parietal and tabulars resemble those of Holopty- 

 chius, especially in the very small exposure of the median 

 element. The parietals, and the " supratemporals " and 

 " intertemporals " are closely articulated so as to form 

 one nearly flat plate. Loosely articulated with this plate 

 by a joint which was apparently flexible during life, are 

 the very large frontals. These appear to meet one 

 another in the middle line throughout their length, there 

 being no pineal foramen, although this opening has been 

 reported by Huxley and Goodrich. The nasals are 



3 Only one of these heads is attached to a well-preserved body, the 

 scales of which are badly shewn. It is conceivable that they really belong 

 to " Gyroptychius heddlei" Traq. and not to Glyptopo/mis, although the 

 complete individual agrees well enough with one of Huxley's figures of that 

 fish. 



