Description of certain Fossil Crania, discovered by A. G. Bain, Esq., in Sandstone Rocks at the South-eastern Extremity of Africa, referable to different Species of an extinct Genus of Reptilia (Dicynodon), and indicative of a new Tribe or Sub-order of Sauria

Abstract

The most remarkable character in these fossils is the presence of two long curved and sharp-pointed tusks, which, like those of the Walrus, descend one from each superior maxillary bone, and pass on the outside of the fore part of the lower jaw, a character rare even in Mammals, and hitherto only met with in that class; but in these specimens combined with a structure of the cranium, proving that the animals belonged to the class Reptilia, but were members neither of the Crocodilian nor Chelonian orders. The Lacertine Sauria offer characters for comparison, but the minor deviations from the ordinary Lacertian structure are so numerous, the mode in which Crocodilian and Chelonian characters are interwoven upon an essentially Lacertian base is so interesting, and the individual and distinctive characters of the Dicynodons so striking and peculiar as to require a detailed osteological description for their complete illustration. In these animals, the Crocodilian structure is chiefly manifested in the occipital region of the skull, and gives place to the Lacertian characters in the upper and fore part; but in regard to these deviations it must be remembered, that the distinctive features of the Crocodilian type are most broadly manifested in the existing representatives of the order, and are modified and rendered less salient in the more numerous and varied extinct members.