On the Occurrence of the Remains of a Cetacean in the Lower Oligocene Strata of the Hampshire Basin

Abstract

Remains of the marine mammalia have been so seldom recorded from the Lower Tertiaries of Britain, that the discovery of a new form is of considerable interest to the geologist. Up to the present time the only species noticed was the Zeuglodon Wanklyni , described by Prof. Seeley in 1876. The remains of this species, which were found in the Barton Clay, would appear to have been unfortunately lost. The form which I have now the honour of laying before the Society is represented by a caudal vertebra only; but this appears to present some very interesting peculiarities. The locality from which this specimen was obtained is Roydon, about a mile and a half south of Brockenhurst, in the New Forest. The brickyard at this place is almost the only locality in the New Forest at which the very interesting marine fauna of the Brockenhurst Series can now be collected. The beds exposed at this brickyard consist of sandy clays crowded with marine fossils; they have been exposed to the depth of 25 feet; but as no overlying freshwater beds have been seen in conjunction with them, the total thickness of the Brockenhurst Series cannot be determined. Judging, however, from the wide area over which the beds of this age have been found to be exposed, that thickness must be considerable. These thick marine strata are seen at Roydon to rest directly upon freshwater clays of a bright green colour and crowded with specimens of Unio Solandri , Sow., which doubtless belong.