Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 35.djvu/623

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MIOCENE BEDS OF THE MALTESE ISLANDS.
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not the case, and that all Sirenian remains which have come under my notice may be referred to Halitherium.

From the data here furnished the Halitherium has left its remains in all the Maltese formations excepting the Upper Limestone.

Reptilia.

Ichthyosaurus gaudensis, Hulke[1].

The above was discovered in the Calcareous Sandstone, it was said, of Gozo. I was long familiar with the specimen, and urged the late Captain Strickland to send it to England for comparison. There can be no question of its being from the Miocene of the Maltese Islands.

Melitosaurus champsoides, Owen.

Besides the original specimen described by Owen and now in the British Museum from the Calcareous Sandstone of Gozo, there is a tooth undistinguishable from that of this species in Mr. Wright's collection, seemingly from the nodule-bed of the same formation.

Crocodilus gaudensis, Hulke[2].

This specimen was obtained from the Calcareous Sandstone of either Malta or Gozo. Of its origin there cannot be any doubt, as I had frequently examined it in Captain Strickland's museum, and it was sent at my instigation to England for comparison. Indeed there are indications in the public and private collections in Valetta of more than one species of Crocodilus from the Calcareous Sandstone and its "nodule seams."

Pisces.

Sterodus Melitensis, Owen.

The only example known to me of this "Cycloid with Sauroid dentition" is that described by Professor Owen in the Geological Magazine, vol. ii. p. 145. It was obtained from the upper portion of the Calcareous Sandstone in the quarry of Lucca, Malta.

Myliobates toliapicus?

Teeth of more than one species are found in the Sand, Marl, Sandstone, Calcareous, and Lower Limestone beds.

Specimens from the first and last named beds did not appear to differ in any particulars from M. toliapicus of Agassiz, whilst spines of large size are not rare in the Marl.

Otobates subconvexus, Agassiz.

Several teeth from the Sand bed, and less entire specimens from the Marl, in which they are plentiful, cannot be distinguished from the above.