﻿238 
  

  

  THE 
  EXTINCT 
  VERTEBRATE 
  ANIMALS 
  

  

  remains 
  can 
  reasonably 
  be 
  expected, 
  and 
  with 
  two 
  exceptions 
  it 
  is 
  

   only 
  towards 
  the 
  sea 
  that 
  these 
  are 
  overlaid 
  by 
  fossiliferous 
  strata 
  of 
  

   later 
  date. 
  

  

  Of 
  these 
  later 
  formations 
  the 
  most 
  extensive 
  is 
  the 
  Old 
  Eed 
  Sand- 
  

   stone 
  (Devonian) 
  which 
  stretches 
  round 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  

   Firth 
  from 
  Buckie 
  to 
  near 
  Helmsdale, 
  but 
  is 
  most 
  extensively 
  

   developed 
  in 
  the 
  south-west 
  corner 
  in 
  the 
  districts 
  of 
  Inverness, 
  the 
  

   Black 
  Isle, 
  and 
  Dingwall, 
  and 
  running 
  into 
  the 
  Great 
  Valley 
  fur 
  

   some 
  distance. 
  East 
  of 
  Buckie 
  there 
  are 
  two 
  outlying 
  or 
  detached 
  

   masses, 
  one 
  at 
  Cullen, 
  another 
  and 
  larger 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  between 
  

   Aberdour 
  and 
  Gamrie, 
  and 
  extending 
  also 
  for 
  a 
  considerable 
  distance 
  

   southwards. 
  Two 
  other 
  detached 
  masses 
  occur, 
  however, 
  far 
  inland, 
  

   — 
  one 
  at 
  Strathbogie, 
  another 
  at 
  Tomintoul. 
  

  

  The 
  Old 
  Eed 
  Sandstone 
  of 
  this 
  region 
  lies, 
  of 
  course, 
  unconform- 
  

   ably 
  on 
  the 
  crystalline 
  schists, 
  and 
  is 
  divided 
  into 
  two 
  stages, 
  upper 
  

   and 
  lower, 
  which 
  are 
  also 
  unconformable 
  to 
  each 
  other. 
  

  

  The 
  lower 
  beds 
  form 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  Orcadian 
  Series 
  so 
  exten- 
  

   sively 
  developed 
  in 
  Caithness, 
  Orkney, 
  and 
  Shetland, 
  and 
  which 
  was 
  

   classed 
  by 
  Murchison 
  as 
  the 
  'Middle' 
  Old 
  Eed 
  Sandstone. 
  More 
  

   recently 
  (23) 
  Sir 
  A. 
  Geikie 
  has 
  maintained 
  their 
  contemporaneity 
  with 
  

   the 
  Lower 
  Old 
  Eed 
  of 
  Forfarshire, 
  Central 
  Scotland, 
  and 
  Western 
  

   England, 
  but 
  that 
  is 
  a 
  question 
  which 
  need 
  not 
  be 
  here 
  discussed. 
  

   Suffice 
  it 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  fossil 
  fish-fauna 
  of 
  the 
  Orcadian 
  Series 
  is, 
  as 
  

   we 
  shall 
  presently 
  see, 
  very 
  different 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Lower 
  Old 
  Eed 
  

   of 
  Great 
  Britain 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Grampians. 
  

  

  The 
  Upper 
  Old 
  Eed 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  area 
  has, 
  however, 
  a 
  

   paheontological 
  facies 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  corresponding 
  strata 
  of 
  

   other 
  parts 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  which 
  pass 
  up 
  conformably 
  into 
  the 
  Lower 
  

   Carboniferous. 
  Here 
  it 
  is 
  seen 
  principally 
  in 
  the 
  districts 
  of 
  

   Elgin 
  and 
  Nairn, 
  reappearing 
  farther 
  north 
  about 
  Tarbet, 
  Tain, 
  and 
  

   Dornoch. 
  

  

  Overlying 
  the 
  Upper 
  Old 
  Eed 
  there 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  Elgin 
  district 
  a 
  large 
  

   patch 
  of 
  yellowish 
  and 
  greyish 
  sandstones, 
  extending 
  northward 
  

   to 
  the 
  sea 
  and 
  forming 
  the 
  cliffs 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  between 
  Burghead 
  and 
  

   Lossiemouth. 
  These 
  beds, 
  the 
  well-known 
  Eeptiliferous 
  Sandstones 
  of 
  

   Moray, 
  were 
  formerly 
  considered 
  to 
  be 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Old 
  Eed, 
  but 
  

   nowadays 
  the 
  affinities 
  of 
  their 
  enclosed 
  reptilian 
  remains 
  have 
  con- 
  

  

  