I.—Note on the Skeleton of Pareiasaurus Baini

Extract

The skeleton of Pareiasaurus Baini, which I brought from the Bath near Tamboer 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. bombideus, 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 examined was clearly defined as lying approximately between the Prince Albert Road Station and Fraserberg; for Dr. W. G. 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.