On the Remains of Amia from Oligocene Strata in the Isle of Wight

Open Access

Abstract

T he remains of fishes closely related to the living Amia calva were recorded by Prof. O. C. Marsh in the year 1871 from Tertiary strata in Wyoming (U.S.A.). These remains were thought to belong to two species, both about the size of their living representative. In 1873 Leidy described and figured several vertebræ from the Bridger Beds of Wyoming which seemed to him to be allied to, but generically distinct from, Amia calva ; for these he proposed the two generic names of Protamia and Hypamia , the former including three species and the latter one. In the same year Cope described from the same locality, but without figures, a number of vertebræ with associated jaws and cranial bones; these he referred to five species, and included them in one genus, which he named Pappichthys . Two species of Amia were described by the same author from Eocene shales of Florissant, Southern Colorado, and two from Miocene beds, Cypress Hills, N.W. Territory (Canada). Subsequently Cope redescribed and figured his species of Pappichthys , discarding Leidy's names on the ground that no diagnosis had been given, and retaining his own name of Pappichthys , concerning which he says:—‘This genus differs from the existing Amia in the presence of only one series of teeth instead of several, on the bones about the mouth. The vertebral centra possess a smaller antero-posterior diameter, and relatively greater transverse diameter, in the anterior part of the column; but the value of these characters is not yet certainly understood.’ In so far

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: