INTJiODUCTION. 
XI 
a Proboscidean closely allied to, if not identical with, Tetrahelodon angustidens, remains 
of which occur in beds of the same age in Europe. Mr. Beadnell also has lately made 
a collection from the same place, but this has not yet been fully examined, and quite 
recently Dr. Stromer ( 45 ) has described some vertebrate remains from the same horizon 
in the Wadi Faregh, which lies to the north of the Fayum. To the north of this, again, 
in the Wadi Natrun, a considerable number of vertebrate remains of Middle Pliocene 
age have been collected by Captain Lyons, Mr. Beadnell, and, still more recently, 
by Drs. Stromer and Blanckenhorn. These have been described by Studer ( 46 ), 
Stromer ( 37 , 45 ), and the present writer ( 7 ), and include such forms as Ilig^parion 
aff. gracile, Hippopotamus hipponensis, Sus sp., Hippotragus cordieri, Lihytlierium or 
Samotherium sp.. Mastodon sp., as well as remains of Carnivora belonging to the 
Canidae, Lutrinee, Phocidae, and Machaerodontinae. There are also traces of a Sirenian 
and of a Ilodent, probably a species of Oryctolagus. It is thus clear that in a north- 
and-south line from the Fayum we already know such a succession of faunas as might 
be expected to occur in such a series of deposits, and it is at least probable that 
further careful search of this region may lead to the discovery of others of intermediate 
age which will throw further light on the history of several groups. For instance, it 
seems very likely that remains of annectant forms between the Zeuglodonts and 
Odontoceti and between the Antbracotheriidse and the Hippopotamidse are entombed 
in these beds. 
The first vertebrate fossils discovered in the Fayum were collected by Schweinfurth 
{ 35 ) in 1879 on the island Geziret-el-Qorn (see Map), where, in beds of the Birket- 
el-Qurun series, he obtained remains of Zeuglodons and fishes belonging to the genera 
Myliohatis, Propristis, Hemipristis, Corax, Galeocerdo, Carcharias, Carcharodon, Otodiis, 
Lamna {Odontaspis), Saurocephalus, {\) Enchodus, and Progymnodon \ this collection 
was afterwards described by Dames ( 25 ). In the winter of 1885-6 the same traveller 
visited the escarpments to the north of the lake, and from the cliffs over Qasr-el-Sagha 
(Schweinfurth’s Temple) collected other remains of Zeuglodon, including the 
mandibular ramus afterwards described by Dames ( 27 ) under the name Zeuglodon 
osiris. Nothing further was done until, in 1898, Mr. Beadnell commenced a survey 
of the depression and collected numerous remains of Fishes and Crocodiles, and 
noticed that fragments of bone were common on certain horizons, but nothing of 
particular interest Avas obtained. In April, 1901, the present writer had an opportunity 
of visiting the district Avith Mr. Beadnell, on Avhich occasion a considerable number of 
vertebrate remains, including portions of the skeletons of Moeritherium, Eosiren, 
