1896.] Geology and Paleontology. 399 



now verifiable. Parts of the skeletons of a new form of Cotylosauria 

 from the Permian bed has come into my hands, which represents a 

 new family of the order, and one which may well have been ancestral 

 to the Testudinata. (See Naturalist, 1896, April for a description 

 of the order). The family may be defined as follows : 



Otoccelid^e fam. nov. Cranial roof excavated laterally behind, 

 forming a large meatus auditorius. Teeth present, in a single row, not 

 transversely expanded. Ribs immediately overlaid by parallel trans- 

 verse dermoossifications, which form a carapace. 



To this family I refer two new genera, viz., Otocoelus and Conodec- 

 tes, which differ as follows : 



Suspensorium directed anteriorly, except at free extremity ; nostrils 

 lateral ; Otoco?.lus. 



Suspensorium directed posteriorly ; nostrils vertical ; Conodectes. 



Otoccelus, has the following characters: Intercentra present. 

 Teeth subconical. Mandible not projecting beyond quadrate. Clavi- 

 cle expanded at both extremities, overlapping the episternum. Scapula 

 with a proscapular lamina. Ribs transversely expanded, not united 

 by suture with each other, alternating with the dermal bands. Limbs 

 well developed. 



The type species of the genus Otocoelus is the 



Otoccelus testudineus sp. nov. The skull is short wide and 

 flat, and the orbits are large and are situated near the auricular exca- 

 vations. Surface roughly sculptured with small pits and ridges. 

 Malar and mandibular bones shallow. Teeth small, com pressed conic 

 smooth, and without serrations. Scapular arch without sculpture of 

 the inferior surface. Humerus with widely expanded head and narrow 

 shaft. Bands of carapace of moderate transverse extent, and roughly 

 sculptured with pits and tubercles, Width between auditory meatuses 

 74 mm. ; do. between orbits 32 mm. ; do. between auditory sinus and 

 orbit 16 mm. ; transverse diameter of orbit 30 mm. ; depth of mandi- 

 bular ramus below middle of orbit, 28 mm. ; width of carapace 80 

 mm. ; length of clavicle 80 mm. ; transverse width of head of humer- 

 us 35 mm. ; length of femur 67 mm. ; length of vertebral centrum 10 

 mm. ; width of do. 19 mm. ; width anterior rib distally 11 mm. 



A second species is the 0. mimeticus Cope. But one species of Con- 

 odectes is known, the C. favosm Cope. 



This form is of especial interest since it constitutes, with the genus 

 Dissorhophus which I described in the Naturalist for 1895, p. 998, 

 a remarkable example of homoplassy. It is doubtful whether the cara- 

 paces of the two forms could be distinguished externally, but Dissor- 

 hophus is a Stegocephalian Batrachian with rhachitomous vertebrae, 



