li 



HISTORICAL PALEONTOLOGY. 



and South America; whilst P. lofigispina (fig. 127, ^) has a 

 distribution Httle if at all less wide. 



The higher Mollusca are abundantly represented in the 

 Carboniferous rocks by Bivalves {La7?iellib7'anchs), Univalves 

 {Gasteropoda), Winged - snails {Pteropoda), and Cephalopods. 

 Amongst the Bivalves we may note the great abundance of 

 Scallops (Aviciilopecten and other allied forms), together with 

 numerous other types — some of ancient origin, others repre- 

 sented here for the first time. Amongst the Gasteropods, we 

 find the characteristically Palaeozoic genera Macrocheilus and 

 Loxonema, the almost exclusively Palaeozoic Eiwinphalus, and 

 the persistent genus Pkarotojuaria ; whilst the free-swimming 

 Univalves {Heteropodd)dxe represented hy Bellerophon -axidiPorcel- 

 lia, and the Pteropoda by the old genus Conularia. With regard 

 to the Carboniferous Univalves, it is also of interest to note here 

 the first appearance of true air-breathing or terrestrial Molluscs, 

 as discovered by Dawson and Bradley in the Coal-measures of 

 Nova Scotia and Illinois. Some of these {Conuhis prisciis) are 

 true Land-snails, resembling the existing Zonites ; whilst others 

 {Pupa vetusta, fig. 128) appear to be generically inseparable 



from the *' Chrysalis-shells " 

 {Pupa) of the present day. 

 All the known forms — three 

 in number — are of small size, 

 and appear to have been local 

 in their distribution or in their 

 preservation. More import- 

 ant, however, than any of the 

 preceding, are the Cephalo- 

 poda, represented, as before, 

 exclusively by the chambered 

 shells of the Tetrabranchiates. 

 The older and simpler type of 

 these, with simple plain septa, 

 and mostly a central siphuncle, 

 is represented by the straight 

 conical shells of the ancient 

 genus Orthoceras, and the bow- 

 shaped shells of the equally 

 ancient Cyrtoceras — some of 

 the former attaining a great size. 

 The spirally-curved discoidal 

 shells of the persistent genus Nautilus are also not unknown, 

 and some of these likewise exhibit very considerable dimen- 

 sions. Lastly, the more complex family of the A7nmonitidcSy 



Fig. iT-^.—PuJia {DendroJ>Hj>d)veiusta, 

 a Carboniferous Land-snail from the Coal- 

 measures of Nova Scotia, a, The shell, of 

 the natural size ; b. The same, magnified ; 

 c. Apex of the shell, enlarged ; d. Portion 

 of the surface, enlarged. (After Dawson.) 



