Note on the skeleton of Paraeisaurus baini / by H.G. Seeley.

  • Seeley, H. G. (Harry Govier), 1839-1909.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Note on the skeleton of Paraeisaurus baini / 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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    [Reprinted by permission from the Geological Magazine, Decade IV. Vol. II. No. 367, p. 1, January, 1895.] NOTE ON THE SKELETON OF PAREIASAURUS BAIN1. By Prof. H. G. Seeley, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S. (PLATE I.) THE skeleton of Pareiasaurus Raini, which I brought from the Bath near Tainboer Fontein, in Cape Colony, is shown in the accompanying photograph of the right side of the specimen, as it is now mounted in the British Museum. It is the only known example of the group of animals to which it belongs, in which almost every part of the skeleton is shown. The Dicynodonts were familiar to us from the discovery of many skulls; the Theriodonts were mostly known from snouts; and the Pareiasaurus, although originally described from skull remains, had become known from the fine axial skeleton of P. bombidens, which Mr. Thomas Bain sent to the British Museum many years ago. I therefore entertained hope that the limbs and other missing parts of the skeleton might reward personal exploration in the country. The area to be ex- amined was clearly defined as lying approximately between the Prince Albert Road Station and Fraserberg ; for Dr. W. Gr. Atherstone had found the type of the species near the former locality, and Mr. Bain had found the specimen described by myself in 1887-8 at Palmiet Fontein, at the foot of the Nieuwveldt Range, towards the latter place. The southern position, within easier access of the railway, offered the best hope of success, since a few farmers are scattered over the country, and there was hope that their Hottentot shepherds might have observed bones lying upon the surface of the gi'ound; though such remains only occur in small oases among immense unpro- ductive or desert areas. Between the Zwarteberg, on the south, and the Nieuwveldt Range on the north, the country is generally level, or but slightly undulating. At Bad the rocks become folded and more elevated; and there, by the kindly offices of Mr. J. S. Marais, and accompanied by the late Mr. Thomas Bain, I first saw the fossil dimly outlined in the hard concretionary and slaty rock, some distance up on the hill, on the 11th August, 1889, and at once determined it as the Pareiasaurus for which I was systemati- cally searching. The specimen had obvious defects, due to partial exposure, the compression of some of the limb bones, and the friable condition of parts which had long been under the expanding