216 W. D. Matthew — Fossil Vertebrates and 



Summary of New Evidence. 



1. Mr. Gilmore's description of the fossil vertebrates 

 from the Kirtland and Ojo Alamo beds, underlying the 

 Paleocene of New Mexico, confirms their correlation with 

 the Judith or Belly River, upper Senonian, and my 

 conclusion that while the Puerco or Lower Paleocene 

 mammal fauna was later than the Judith Eiver, there 

 was no direct proof that it was not contemporary with 

 or even slightly older than the Lance and equivalents. 



2. The fossil mammals of the Fort Union described 

 by Mr. Gidley confirm the view that they are Upper 

 Paleocene. They may be equivalent to the Torrejon of 

 New Mexico, possibly later, approaching the Cernaysian 

 and Tiffany. This statement represents my own judg- 

 ment. I do not know what Mr. Gidley 's opinion may be. 



3. M. Teilhard has shown that the Cernaysian and 

 with it probably the entire Thanetian of "Western Europe 

 is the equivalent of the uppermost Paleocene of America, 

 the Tiffany horizon. It is not, as had been previously 

 supposed, as old or older than the Torrejon. He also 

 emphasizes the sharp distinction between the Paleocene 

 and the true Lower Eocene of the European succession, 

 and the correspondence and close affinities of the new 

 fauna that appears with the true Eocene in both Europe 

 and America. Dr. Schlosser, while his conclusions accord 

 "with those of M. Teilhard on most points, is disposed to 

 regard the Cernaysian as somewhat older than the 

 Torrejon; but for obvious reasons he had not the full 

 data at hand for a decision on this point. 



4. Mr. Granger and I have continued our work on the 

 Paleocene mammals, confirming the position assigned 

 to the Tiffany fauna, the distinctness of the Puerco and 

 Torrejon faunas as lower and upper Paleocene, and the 

 very marked break between the Paleocene and Eocene 

 faunas. The Tiffany is not much older than the lowest 

 true Eocene in time, but it is wholly Paleocene in type, 

 lacking all of the Tertiary orders so abundant in the 

 Eocene, with the exception of one family of Primates. 



5. Additional specimens of the rare manunals of the 

 Belly River described by Dr. Smith Woodward and 

 myself^^ confirm my conclusion that the Lance and Belly 



"A. Smith Woodward, 1916, Geol. Mag., vol. 3, p. 333; Matthew, 1916, 

 Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 35, pp. 477-500. 



