


1891.] Geology and Paleontology. 1123 
A Stegocephalian Skull from the Kilkenny Coal Measures. 
—Dr. Lydekker has described and figured a Labyrinthodont to which 
he gives the name Jchthyerpetum hibernicum. The interest of the 
specimen lies in the relationships of the genus to which it belongs. 
Mr. Lydekker believes it to be a member of the group containing 
Brachyops, Bothriceps, and Micropholis, all of which are characterized 
by their more or less parabolic skulls and forwardly placed orbits. 
Also, certain lines of evidence point to the conclusion that Ichthyer- 
petum and Pholidogaster are identical. In that case, the type of 
Stegocephali common throughout the European Carboniferous was 
represented in the Lower Gondwanas by the genus Brachyops, 
while we find it surviving in the Hawkesbury beds of Australia, where 
it is represented by Bothriceps ; a member of the latter genus, together 
with Micropholis, also occurring in the great Karoo system of South 
Africa. This seems to be another instance of the persistence of types 
in the Indian, Australian, and Ethiopian regions during long ages 
after their total disappearance from the paleearctic area. (Quart. Journ. 
Geol, Soc., Vol. XLVII., Pt. 3, 1391.) 
A New Ichthyosaurus.—Dr. Albert Gaudry calls attention to a 
gigantic Ichthyosaurus, which, after having figured in the exposition of 
1889, has been generously donated to the Natural History Museum of 
Paris by MM. Millot, the owners of the quarries where it was discov- 
ered. This fossil was found in the chalk of the Upper Lias of Sainte- 
Colombe, near 1’Isle-sur-Serein, about 12 kilometers from Vassy 
(Yonne). It is the largest Icthyosaurus ever found in France, measur- 
ing 8 metres in length. The head is rm, 57 long; the anterior 
extremity is broken, but its length is judged to be about rm, 80,—that 
is to say, 24 centimeters more than /chthyosaurus platyodon of Eng- 
land ; the eye, ornamented with sclerotic plates, has a diameter of 
cm. 24; the snout is very much prolonged, and there are about 24 teeth 
on one side, counting those of both upper and lower jaws ; twenty-four 
vertebrze, altogether 4m, .40 in length, are preserved. The anterior 
and posterior limbs are joined to the skeleton, but many of their 
bones are lost, and the remaining ones are scattered. 
After having compared this magnificent reptile of Burgogne with 
other known Ichthyosaurs, M.Gaudry considers it intermediate between 
the two principal groups, those of Longipinnes and Latipinnes, and pro- 
poses to name it, provisionally, Ichthyosaurus burgundia, (Revue 

Scientifique, Aug., 1891.) : 



