INTRODUCTION. xi 



a Proboscidean closely allied to, if not identical with, Tetrahelodon angustidens, remains 

 of which occur in beds of the same age in Europe. Mr. Beadnell also has lately made 

 a collection from the same place, but this has not yet been fully examined, and quite 

 recently Dr. Stromer (45) has described some vertebrate remains from the same horizon 

 in the Wadi Faregh, which lies to the north of the Fayum. To the north of this, again, 

 in the Wadi Natrun, a considerable number of vertebrate remains of Middle Pliocene 

 age have been collected by Captain Lyons, Mr. Beadnell, and, still more recently, 

 by Drs. Stromer and Blanckenhorn. These have been described by Studer (46), 

 Stromer (37, 45), and the present writer (7), and include such forms as Hipparion 

 aff. gracile. Hippopotamus hipponensis, Sus sp., Hippotragus cordieri, Lihytherium or 

 Samotherium sp., Mastodon sp., as well as remains of Carnivora belonging to the 

 Canidse, Lutrinse, Phocidae, and MachserodontiuEe. There are also traces of a Sirenian 

 and of a E-odent, probably a species of Oryctolagus. It is thus clear that in a north- 

 and-south line from the Payum we already know such a succession of faunas as might 

 be expected to occur in such a series of deposits, and it is at least probable that 

 further careful search of this region may lead to the discovery of others of intermediate 

 age which will throw further light on the history of several groups. For instance, it 

 seems very likely that remains of annectant forms between the Zeuglodonts and 

 Odontoceti and between the Anthracotheriidse and the Hippopotamidse are entombed 

 in these beds. 



The first vertebrate fossils discovered in the Fayum were collected by Schweinfurth 

 (35) in 1879 on the island Geziret-el-Qorn (see Map), where, in beds of the Birket- 

 el-Qurun series, he obtained remains of Zeuglodons and fishes belonging to the genera 

 Myliohatis, Propristis, Hemipristis, Corax, Galeocerdo, Carcharias, Carcharodon, Otodus, 

 Lamna [Odontaspis], Saurocephalus, {VjEnchodus, and Progymnodon : this collection 

 was afterwards described by Dames (25). In the winter of 1885-6 the same traveller 

 visited the escarpments to the north of the lake, and from the cliffs over Qasr-el-Sagha 

 (Schweinfurth's Temple) collected other remains of Zeuglodon, including the 

 mandibular ramus afterwards described by Dames (27) under the name Zeuglodon 

 osiris. Nothing further was done until, in 1898, Mr. Beadnell commenced a survey 

 of the depression and collected numerous remains of Fishes and Crocodiles, and 

 noticed that fragments of bone were common on' certain horizons, but nothing of 

 particular interest was obtained. In April, 1901, the present writer had an opportunity 

 of visiting the district with Mr. Beadnell, on which occasion a considerable number of 

 vertebrate remains, including portions of the skeletons of Mceritherium, JEosiren, 



