﻿248 
  

  

  THE 
  EXTINCT 
  VERTEBRATE 
  ANIMALS 
  

  

  the 
  want 
  of 
  description 
  or 
  figure, 
  left 
  in 
  considerable 
  doubt. 
  

   Agassiz's 
  0. 
  macrolepidota 
  is 
  the 
  common 
  Orkney 
  species, 
  from 
  which 
  

   his 
  arenatus 
  and 
  major 
  from 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  nodules 
  are 
  only 
  

   distinguishable 
  by 
  mode 
  of 
  preservation. 
  M'Coy's 
  Triplopterus 
  

   Pollexfeni 
  and 
  Osteolepis 
  brevis 
  from 
  Orkney 
  are 
  certainly 
  also 
  syn- 
  

   onyms 
  of 
  0. 
  macrolepidota, 
  Ag. 
  

  

  Agassiz's 
  restored 
  figure 
  of 
  Osteolepis 
  (29, 
  tab. 
  E, 
  fig. 
  2) 
  was, 
  

   like 
  so 
  many 
  of 
  his 
  other 
  reproductions, 
  totally 
  inaccurate, 
  although 
  

   very 
  good 
  ones 
  had 
  been 
  previously 
  published 
  both 
  by 
  Hugh 
  Miller 
  

   (6, 
  PI. 
  iv. 
  fig. 
  1) 
  and 
  by 
  Duff 
  (7, 
  PI. 
  ix. 
  fig. 
  1). 
  Miller's 
  and 
  Duff's 
  

   restorations 
  give 
  in 
  fact 
  a 
  better 
  idea 
  of 
  the 
  fish 
  even 
  than 
  Pander's 
  

   (35, 
  PI. 
  ii. 
  fig. 
  7), 
  which 
  to 
  this 
  day 
  holds 
  its 
  own 
  in 
  the 
  text-books, 
  

   a 
  figure 
  of 
  0. 
  microlepidota 
  which 
  I 
  gave 
  in 
  1882, 
  1 
  having 
  been 
  

   passed 
  over 
  by 
  the 
  copiers 
  unnoticed. 
  The 
  one 
  which 
  I 
  now 
  give 
  

   of 
  0. 
  macrolepidota 
  is 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  much 
  careful 
  comparison 
  of 
  

   specimens 
  from 
  many 
  localities. 
  

  

  Common 
  in 
  the 
  nodules 
  at 
  Edderton, 
  Cromarty, 
  Lethen 
  Bar, 
  

   Clune, 
  Tynet 
  Burn, 
  and 
  Gamrie, 
  0. 
  macrolepidota 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   most 
  abundant 
  fishes 
  of 
  the 
  Orcadian 
  rocks 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  

   area. 
  

  

  Genus 
  DIPLOPTERUS, 
  Agassiz, 
  1835. 
  

   (Diplopterax, 
  M'Coy.) 
  

  

  Diplopterus 
  Agassizii, 
  Traill, 
  1841. 
  

  

  Syn. 
  D. 
  macrocephalus, 
  Ag. 
  ; 
  D. 
  affinis, 
  Ag. 
  ; 
  D. 
  borealis, 
  Ag. 
  ; 
  D. 
  gracilis, 
  

   M'Coy 
  ; 
  Gyroptychius 
  diplopteroides, 
  M'Coy. 
  

  

  (Restored 
  figure, 
  PI. 
  iii. 
  fig. 
  3.) 
  

  

  Orkney 
  specimens 
  of 
  this 
  fish 
  were 
  first 
  named 
  D. 
  Agassizii 
  by 
  Traill, 
  2 
  

   afterwards 
  borealis 
  by 
  Agassiz, 
  while 
  gracilis, 
  M'Coy, 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  

   beds, 
  is 
  also 
  obviously 
  synonymous. 
  The 
  same 
  species 
  occurring 
  at 
  

   Lethen 
  Bar 
  was 
  named 
  D. 
  macrocephalus 
  by 
  Agassiz, 
  while 
  he 
  also 
  

   distinguished 
  those 
  from 
  Gamrie 
  as 
  D. 
  affinis. 
  

  

  Cromarty 
  (rare) 
  ; 
  Lethen 
  Bar 
  ; 
  Tynet 
  Burn; 
  Gamrie. 
  Not 
  a 
  

   very 
  common 
  fish. 
  

  

  1 
  In 
  Sir 
  A. 
  Geikie's 
  Text-Booh 
  of 
  Geology, 
  London, 
  1882, 
  p. 
  709, 
  fig. 
  6. 
  

  

  2 
  Trans. 
  Roy. 
  Soc. 
  Edin., 
  vol. 
  xv. 
  p. 
  89. 
  

  

  