Further observations on Pareiasaurus / by H.G. Seeley.

  • Harry Govier Seeley
Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Further observations on Pareiasaurus / by H.G. Seeley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Karroo rocks especially about Colesberg. Wherever I saw them the prostrate trunks were parallel to each other. The Localities of Pareiasaurus. The original fragment of skull of Pareiasaurus homhidens, described by Sir R. Owen, came from Mr. Luttig’s farm, situate at about the junction of the Lower Karroo rocks with the Upper Karroo group, as drawn upon Mr, Dunn’s map. The specimen subsequently described by myself (‘Phil. Trans.,’ 1888) is from Palmiet Fontein,'“ north-west of Tamboer, at the foot of the Nieuwveldt range, near the junction of the Pareiasaurus beds with the overlying Dicynodont beds. I accordingly selected this region of the Karroo as one in which Pareiasaurus might be searched for. At Tamboer Fontein, north of Fraserburg Road Station, Mr. J. S. Marais gave me a skeleton of Pareiasaurus which showed the structure of the palate, nineteen jiresacral vertebrm, sacral vertebrae, a few caudal vertebrae, parts of the pelvis, shoulder-girdle, and limb-bones, among which the ulna, tibia, and fragments of the humerus were instructive in guiding subsequent search. This fossil is afterwards referred to as the Tamboer specimen, and identified as P. homhidens (Owen). Eventually, under the guidance of Mr. Serel Marais, I saw a large skeleton in the rock on the side of a hill at Bad, and made a sketch of the aspect and Fig. 2. As]iecfc of the skeleton of P. Baini as it appeared in tlie rock at Bad after the outline had been cleared, and the superficial bones removed from the head. position of the exposed indication of the remains, which is here given, because it j enabled me subsequently to reconstruct the fossil. An expedition was organised ; j and Mr. Thomas Bain, the specimen was quarried from the hillside under my direc- tion on the 12th August, 1889. I marked every block of stone and fragment with colour as it was removed, so that the pieces of stone might be eventually fitted together again. In the process of excavation it was manifest that the specimen included all essential parts of the skeleton, and indicated a massive animal with short, solid, heavy, and exjianded limb-bones, with long ribs devoid of the lateral ridges seen in P. homhidens, and with a little dermal armour in the median dorsal region. * Formerly transcribed in error as Palinut Fontein, from the Brit. Mns. Register.