78 
DIENER : TRIAS OF THE HIMALAYAS, 
in brachiopods. The topmost bed contains ammonites of the zone of 
Ceratites binodosus. This is the fossiliferous horizon which in Alpine 
geological literature has often been designated as " Lower Muschelkalk," 
but lies proportionately high in the mass of the Alpine Muschelkalk. 
It is overlain conformably by the limestones of the Upper Muschelkalk 
containing the Cephalopod fauna of the zone of Ceratites trinodosus. 
Each of those three divisions of the Alpine Muschelkalk might be 
compared to a corresponding division of the Muschelkalk group in the 
Central Himalayas, the Niti ^ limestone, including the horizon of Rhyn- 
chonella Griesbaclii at its base, to the limestone with Dadocrinus gracilis, 
the brachiopod-bearing beds with Spiriferina Stracheyi Salt, and the 
underlying horizon of Keyserlingites {Durgaites) Dieneri to the brachio- 
pod-bearing zone of Rhynchonella decurtata and to the binodosus bed, 
the upper division with Ceratites Thuillieri and Ptychites rugifer to the 
cephalopod-bearing horizon of Ceratites trinodosus. 
But as far as palaeontological evidence goes, the correctness of this 
correlation, which is based on stratigraphical grounds, can only be proved 
for the upper division. In this division both the association of genera 
and the affinity or even identity of species indicate very close faunistic 
relations with the zone of Ceratites trinodosus. 
Four species of Brachiopoda are identical, all of them representing 
very common and widespread types of the Alpine . Muschelkalk, 
namely : — 
Mentzelia Mentzelii Dunk. 
Spiriferina Koeveskalliensis Suess. 
Coenothyris vulgaris Schloth. 
Rhynchonella trinodosi Bittn. 
It must, however, be remarked that the exact layer of the last- 
mentioned species, which was collected from Kalapani in Byans by F. H. 
Smith, is not known exactly. 
Among the class of Cephalopoda the following species are either 
directly or most probably identical with Alpine forms : — 
Orthoceras campanile Mojs. 
Germanonautilus cf. salinarius Mojs. 
Ceratites trinodosus Mojs. 
1 See footnote to p. 59. — Ed. 
( 279 ) 
