WHITE, C.A.

...The Texan Permian and its 

Mesozoic types of fossils.. .1891.

I*-

b37(245 

¥58 jj

DEPARTMENT OP THE INTERIOR

OF THK

UNITED STATES

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

No. 77

THE TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1891

LIBRARY CATALOGUE SLIPS.

United States, Department of the interior. (U. S. geological survey).

Department of the interior |- | Bulletin | of the | United 

States | geological survey | mo. 77 | [Seal of the department] | 

Washington \ government printing office | 1891

Second title: United States geological survey | J. W. Powell, 

director | | The Texau Permian | and its | Mesozoio types of 

fossils | by | Charles A. White | [Vignette] |

Washington | government printing office | 1891

8°. 5lpp. 4 pi.

White (Charles A.).

United States geological survey | J.W. Powell, director | 

The Texau Permian | audits | Mesozoic types of fossils | by | 

Charles A. White | [Vignette] |

Washington | government printing office | 1891.

8«. 5t pp. 4 pi.

[UNITED STATES. Department of the interior. (U. S. geological survey). 

Bulletin 77.]

United States geological survey J. W. Powell, director | | 

The Texan Permian | and its | Mesozoic types of fossils | by | 

Charles A. White | [Vignette] |

Washingto:a | government printing office | 1891

8". 5lpp. 4 pi.

[UNITED STATES. Department <tf the interior. (U. S. geological survey). 

Bnlletin 77.]

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[Bulletin No. 77.]

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To THB DIRECTOR OF THE

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

"WASHINGTON, D. 0., December, 1890.

DEPARTMENT OP THE INTERIOR

BULLETIN

29971

OF THE

UNITED STATES

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

3STo. 77

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

I891

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUKVEZ

,T. W. POWELL, DIRECTOR

THE TEXAN PERMIAN

AND ITS 9 o a 7 i

(W t/ t/ IX

MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS

CHARLES A. WHITE

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PKINTING OFFICE 

° 1891

CONTENTS.

Page.

Letter of transmittal........................................................ 7

Synopsis of results.......................................................... 8

Introduction................................................................ 9

Description of species....................................................... 19

General discussion .......^.................................................. 30

Index...................................................................... 51

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page. 

PLATTC I. Waflgenoceras cumraiusi, Popanoceras \valcotti, Medlicottia copei 44

PLATE II. Goniatites bay'loreusia, Nautilus occidentalis, Nautilus (Eudolobus) 

 ?, Nautilus ?, Nautilus ?, Orthoceras rushensis........................................................ 46

PLATE III. Nautilus winslowi, Nautilus T, Euomphalus subquadratus, 

Naticopsis reraex, Naticopsissliumardi, Belleropbon montfortianus, Patella ?, Mnrcbisouia I, Spirorbis T... 48

PLATE IV. Aviculopecten occidontalis, Gervillia longa, Clidophorua occidentalis, Yoldii? subscitula, Pleurophorus ?, Sedgwickia topekaensis, Myalina aviculoides, M.perattenuata, M.penuiana, 

Cythere nebrascensia .... .................................... 50

FIG. 1. Horizontal section from tbe eastern part of Navarro County to

Swisher County, Texas........................_.._...... 14

6

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 

DIVISION OF MESOZOIO INVERTEBRATES,

Washington, D. C., November 21,1890.

SIR : I herewith transmit manuscript and drawings for a bulletin of 

the Survey. A noteworthy feature of this brief memoir is the announcement of the commingling in one and the same stratum of fossil 

forms such as usually have been regarded as characteristic of Mesozoic strata with those which have been regarded as equally characteristic of Paleozoic strata.

The facts herein recorded indicate that extreme caution ought to be 

used in assigning certain formations to a predetermined geological horizon, especially those which lie upon the confines of recognized systems. 

They also suggest that some re\Tision of former conclusions as to the 

true geological age of certain North American formations may be necessary.

Very respectfully,

0. A. WHITE,

Geologist in charge. 

Hon. J. W. POWELL,

.Director.

7
SYNOPSIS OF RESULTS.

In this bulletin is presented a summary of the various kinds of evidence that properly may be accepted as indicating the Permian age of 

a certain series of strata in western Texas, which have been by some 

geologists referred to the Trias, and by others to the Permian.

It also contains an announcement of the discovery in those strata of 

certain types of invertebrate fossils which usually are regarded as indicative of their Mesozoic age, commingled with a considerable number of Carboniferous types. A large proportion of the latter forms are 

well known Coal-Measure species.

All these species are illustrated on accompanying plates, and some 

of them are described as new. This discovery is the first of the kind 

that has been published concerning North American strata, but it is 

similar in character to those made by Waagen in India, Geminellaro in 

Sicily, and Karpinsky in Russia.

The paleontological balance which is indicated by this commingling 

of earlier and later types in the Texan strata is treated as an item of 

evidence in favor of their Permian age.

The closing portion of the bulletin is devoted to a general discussion 

of the subject of the existence of the Permian in North America.

8
THE TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF

FOSSILS.

BY CHARLES A. WHITE.

INTRODUCTION.

In the autumn of 1887, Mr. W. F. Cummins, Assistant State Geologist of Texas, placed in my hands a small suite of fossil shells which he 

had collected in Baylor and Archer Counties, in northern Texas, from 

the strata which furnished the large Permian vertebrate fauna that has 

been published by Prof. E. D. Cope.1 A part of these shells I recognized as belonging to well known Coal Measure 2 species; but among 

them were some unpublished forms which belong to types that strongly 

suggest their Mesozoic age. Mr. Cummins .nevertheless assured me 

that they all came from the strata just mentioned, and that all the 

Mesozoic forms were found commingled in one and the same stratum 

w i th the greater part of the Coal- Measure species referred to. Although 

I had no reason to doubt either Mr. Cuminins's statement or the accuracy of his observation, I was gratified upon beginning their study to 

find among the fossils themselves satisfactory evidence that they were 

really commingled in one and the same stratum. That is, upon examining the specimens under a lens I found the stony matrix of all of 

them to be of the same character, and I also discovered in the material 

adhering to them and filling their cavities numerous shells of a small 

ostracoid crustacean, which in this bulletin is referred to the Cythere 

nebrascensis of Geinitz, and which evidently formed a part of the same 

fauna as the mollusca with whose shells they were found associated.

The world has become familiar with Prof. W. Waagen's great discovery in the strata of the Salt Eange in India of numerous inolluscan 

forms of Mesozoic type commingled with a characteristic Carboniferous 

fauna; 3 and about two years ago Prof. G. G. Gemmellaro published

1 See Systematic Catalogue of the Permian Vertebrate Fauna of North America. Trans. Am. Plrilos. 

Soo. 1888, voL 16, pp. 285-5!88.

* The term Coal Measures is now often applied to the Mesozoio coal-bearing strata of western North 

America, but it is the mi Idle division of the Carboniferous system that is here referred to.

 See Mem. Geol. Surv., India; Paleont. Indioa, ser. XIII, Salt Range Fossils.

9
10 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL. 77.

results of a similar discovery in Sicily, which evidently rivals that of 

India.1

The small collection of fossils which was obtained by Mr. Cummins 

seemed to indicate that we have in the upper part of the Carboniferous 

system in North America a commingling of Mesozoic and Paleozoic 

forms similar to that which has been discovered in India and in Sicily. 

The importance of such a discovery on this continent was so obvious 

that I decided to visit jthe locality from which the fossils were obtained 

and to make observations in person before publishing the discovery. 

Therefore, in the autumn of 1888, in company with Mr. Cummins, I examined a considerable part of the region in which the formation occurs 

and made important additions to the fossil collections which were before obtained. The principal results of that examination, together 

with other relevant matter, are recorded in this bulletin.2

The formation from which these Texan fossils were collected is the 

one which, upon the geological map compiled from previously published works by Mr. W. J. McGee,3 as well as the one by Prof. 0. H. 

Hitchcock,4 is represented as Triassic; but, so far as I am aware, it has 

never been claimed by those who have so referred it that any Triassic 

fossils have been found in it. It is also the same formation that has 

for a number of years been referred to the Permian by Prof. Cope, who 

claims that its vertebrate "fauna fully warrants such a reference. 

Although composed of ordinary sedimentary strata it is a copper-bearing formation, certain layers of it having long been known to contain 

considerable quantities o°t copper ore in the form of nodules and small 

xyloid masses. The former are composed of chalcocite, coated with a 

film of malachite, and the latter of melaconite, combined with which is 

some chloride of copper.5

A large part of the vertebrate fossils which Prof. Cope has published

'See Giornale di Sci. Nat. ed Econom., vol. 19, 1888. La Fauna dei Calcari con Fusulina della Valle 

del Fiume Sosio nella Provincia di Palermo: per Gaetano Giorgio Gemmellaro; pp. 2-100, Tav. A 

and I-X. After the manuscript of this bulletin had gone to the printer I received two important publications of a character similar to that of those which have just been referred to, The first is by Mr. 

A. Karpinsky, concerning certain Carboniferous strata in Russia. See Ueber die Ammoneeu der 

Artinskstufe, etc., Mem. 1'Acad. Imp. Soi. de St. P6tersbourg, VII0 serie, tome 37, No. 2. The other 

is the second publication of Prof. G. G. Gemmellaro concerning the fauna of.the Fusulina limestone 

of Sicily. See I Crostacei dei calcari con Fusulina della valle del flume Sosio, vol. 8, series 3, No. 1, 

Mem. Soc. Italiana delle Scienze.

2 Soon after this Texan discovery was made I published an article concerning it, with descriptions of 

some of its fossils, in the American Naturalist, vol. 23, pp. 109-128. Professor Gemmellaro's work 

had not then reached me, which accounts for the fact that it was not noticed in that article.

3 See Fifth Annual Keport Director U. S. Geological Survey.

1 See Geol. Map U. S. and part of Canada; compiled by 0. H. Hitchcock for the Amer. Inst. Mining 

Engineers, 1886.

8 These qualitative determinations were made by Mr. W. S. Yeates, of the TT. S. National Museum. 

The ores are found in Archer, and several other contiguous counties of Texas, and occur in friable 

sandy and clayey layers among strata which, unlike the Kupferschiefer of Germany, contain very 

little carbonaceous matter. They are not found in either true or gash veins, but the small masses of 

nearly pure ore are sporadically distributed in the soft, unaltered sedimentary layers of that part of 

the Texan Permian which is represented by No. 4 of the descriptive section, on page 15. Some years 

ago two companies were formed to mine these ores, but both of them soon suspended operations because they were unprofitable.
WHITE.] AREA OCCUPIED BY TEXAN PERMIAN. 11

from this formation wore collected by Mr. Cummins who, in making 

those collections and in other ways, has gained much information as to 

its character and extent in Texas and the Indian Territory. As my 

own observations have extended over only a part of the area which the 

formation is known to occupy in Texas, the following statements concerning its boundaries and extent are based mainly upon information 

derived from him.

In Texas this formation occupies an area many hundred square miles 

in extent, which constitutes the western part of the southern extension 

of the great central Paleozoic region of the continent. The southern 

boundary of this area is not now definitely known, but it lies at least 

as far south as the Ooucho Eiver. Its eastern boundary may be approximately designated as extending from Eed River to the Colorado 

through Clay, Young, Shackelford, Callahan and Runnels Counties; 

and its western border as extending from the Canadian River to the 

Concho through Hemphill, Wheeler, Donley, Briscoe, Motley, Dickens, 

Garza, Bordeu and Howard Counties. The formation is known to extend far within the Indian Territory, but in this bulletin special reference is made only to that portion of it which is found in Texas; and 

the description which is herein given is mainly drawn from observations made in Baylor, Archer, and other contiguous counties.

The strata in- question rest directly and conformably upon another 

series in which a characteristic fauna of the Coal-Measure |>eriod prevails, but this Coal-Measure fauna is now not known to include any fossils of Mesozoic types, if we except the Ammonites parlceri of Heilprin, 

which he states was obtained from the Carboniferous rocks in Wise 

County.1

Notwithstanding the Mesozoic character of a part of the mollnscan 

fauna of the upper strata the preponderance of evidence makes it necessary to regard it as belonging to the great Carboniferous system and 

as constituting an upper member of it. For these and other reasons 

yet to be stated I think this Texan formation may properly receive 

the designation of Permian which Prof. Cope has already applied 

to it, but.I shall briefly discuss in thefollowing paragraphs the propriety 

of using that name for at least the greater part of the North American 

strata to which it has been applied.

The Texan Permian, while not contrasting strongly with the CoalMeasure formation which underlies it, is readily distinguishable from 

it by general aspect and lithological character; and yet the Permian 

strata blend so gradually with those of the underlying Coal Measures 

and with the overlying gypsum-bearing beds, which are presently to 

be noticed, that it is difficult to designate a plane of demarkation in 

either case.

The Permian strata consist of materials which are somewhat difficult 

to characterize, but in a general way they may be described as consist-

>See Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1884, vol. 30, pp. 53-55.
12 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL. 77.

ing mainly of sandstones and sandy and clayey shales, which are sometimes calcareous, with here and there a few layers of impure limestone 

besides one somewhat persistent limestone horizon which has been observed in Baylor and Archer Counties. A common characteristic of 

many of the layers is the presence of an abundance of small, hard, 

rough concretions which usually become separated and accumulate 

upon weathered surfaces as the imbedding clayey material is removed 

by erosion, when they often present the appearance of a disintegrated 

coarse conglomerate. The observer is impressed with the prevailing 

reddish color of the whole formation, and during the rainy season the 

waters of the streams which traverse it are reddened by the abundant 

ferruginous clayey sediment which they receive as a product of erosion. 

This circumstance has given origin to the names of Eed and Colorado 

Rivers, both of which traverse the Texan Permian.

The stratification is generally more or less regular, but in the district 

here specially referred to the formation contains comparatively few 

compact, evenly bedded strata. Because of this, and also because the 

strata have in this district been only slightly disturbed since their 

deposition, few striking features in the landscape occur. That is, the 

district is comparatively a plain country, the surface of which, in the 

general absence of forests, is diversified only by shallow valleys of 

erosion and low hills of circumdenudation, with here and there a hill 

or bluff of like origin which reaches a height of one or two hundred feet 

above the general level. From the top of these higher elevations extended landscape views may be obtained, which are of much advantage 

in the study of geological structure in that region.

Because of the slight disturbance which the Permian strata have 

suffered in the district referred to, and the general absence of bold 

escarpments, it is difficult to arrive at an accurate measurement of the 

thickness of the formation, but it is estimated at 1,000 feet. By distant view from the hills before mentioned, a general dip of the whole 

formation toward the west is plainly discernible. It is from a succession of such observations of the dip, together with measurements of the 

thickness of exposed strata and estimates of that of the unexposed, 

that the foregoing estimate of the thickness of the formation has been 

made.

A list of all the species of invertebrate fossils that have been discovered in the Texan Permian is given on a following page. A full 

list of the vertebrate species from the same formation has been published by Prof. Cope,1 but no determinations of its fossil plants have yet 

been made known. Prof. Cope's list comprises 10 species of fishes, 11 

of batrachiaus, and 33 of reptiles; making 54= species in all.

The fall thickness of the Coal-Measure series in Texas is not yet 

known, its base not having been observed; but the portion that has 

been examined reaches an estimated thickness of 1,800 feet. The strata

>See Trails. Am. Philos. Soo. 1888, vol. 16, pp. 285-288.
WHITE.] DESCRIPTION OF TEXAN PERMIAN. 13

are generally somewhat evenly bedded and consist of bluish and gray 

limestones, gray and ferruginous sandstones, bluish and dark carbonaceous shales and clays; and several coal horizons are now known to 

exist there.1 These strata have furnished at numerous localities and 

in greater or less abundance such characteristic Coal-Measure invertebrates as the following: Terebratula bovidens Morton, Spirifer cameratus 

Morton, Athyris subtilita Hall, Producius cora d'Orb., P. nebrascensis 

Owen, P. costatus Sowerby, P. semireticulatus Martin, Hemipronites 

crassus Meek & Hayden, Myalina subquadrata Shumard, Allorisma subcuneata M. & H., .Nuculana bellistriata Stevens, Pleurotomaria tabulata 

Conrad, Bellerophon carbonarius Cox, B. percarinatus Conrad, and Macrocheilus ponderosus Swallow. Many other species have also been 

found associated with those which have just been named, but the latter 

are quite sufficient to characterize the strata containing them as belonging to the Coal-Measure series.

Along the western boundary of the Texan Permian, as it has been 

characterized in preceding paragraphs, a series of strata, about 250 

feet in maximum thickness, now generally known as the gypsum-bearing beds and thought by some geologists to be of Triassic age, rests 

conformably upon the Permian. In general aspect, in a prevailing 

reddish color, and iin general lithological character, except in the prevalence of gypsum in many of the layers, and the somewhat greater 

prevalence of clayey material, these overlying beds resemble the Permian strata upon which they rest. With only one known exception, 

these gypsum -beariag beds have furnished no fossils. The exception 

referred to is the discovery by Mr. Cummins in Hardeman County, in 

an upper stratum of those beds, of a thin magnesian layer containing 

numerous casts of a species of Pleurophorus. This being generally regarded as a characteristic genus among Permian molluscan faunas, 

and also being a prevailing form in the Permian strata beneath these 

gypsum-bearing beds, the question is suggested whether the latter 

ought not to be regaprded as constituting an upper part of the Texan 

Permian. These beds have yet furnished no fossils which can with 

propriety be referred to the Trias, and it is questionable whether any 

Triassic strata exist in Texas.

It will be seen from the foregoing remarks that there is in the part of 

northern Texas to which special reference has been made a great conformable series of strata which has a gentle general dip toward the 

west, and which includes the strata that in this bulletin are referred to 

the Permian. * It is overlain only by the d6bris resulting from its own 

disintegration except along the eastern and western bordersof the region which it occupies, where Cretaceous formations lap upon it. This 

overlapping conceals Its base, but the estimated thickness of the whole 

series, so far as it is exposed to view, is 3,050 feet. The lower 1,800 

feet, together with an unknown thickness beneath, is referred to the 

Coal Measures. The next overlying 1,000 feet of strata are referred to

1 Mr. Cummins informs me in a letter that he has distinguished no leas than nine coal horizons.
14 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS [BULL. 77.

the Permian; and the upper 250 feet of the whole series, commonly 

known as the gypsum-bearing beds, probably constitute the upper part 

of the Permian.

The Cretaceous strata referred to rest unconformably 

and with a contrary dip upon the earlier, eastern portion 

of the whole series, while upon the later, western portion 

of it they rest with apparent conformity, although their 

real conformity may well be questioned because the J ura 

seems to be entirely wanting there.

The relation of the parts of this great series to one another and their relation to later formations is illustrated 

toy the accompanying section, Fig. 1. The dips are, of 

co'urse, exaggerated in the figure by the difference between its horizontal and vertical scales.

FIG. 1. Horizontal section from the eastern part of Navarro County 

to Swisher County, Texas.

1. Lignitic Beds........ ................. ..........................Tertiary.

2. Ripley Formation ............................................... Cretaceous.

3. Austin Formation............. ..................................Cretaceous.

4. Eagle Ford Formation .......................................... Cretaceous.

5. Timber Creek Formation ............................. ..........Cretaceous.

6. Comanche Series ................................................ Cretaceous.

7. Trinity Formation I ... ......................................... Cretaceous 1

8. Coal Measures ................................................... .Paleozoic.

9. Permian................................ _ .......................Paleozoic.

10. Gypsum- bearing Beds. ........................................... Paleozoic ?

As already stated and illustrated by the accompanying figure, the Cretaceous strata appear to rest conformably upon the gypsum-bearing beds at the western end 

of the section, and the latter beds lie quite conformably with the Permian and Coal Measures beneath, all 

bavin g a westward dip. On the contrary, in the district embracing the eastern end of the section, all the 

overlying formations from the Trinity to the Eocene, 

inclusive, have an easterly dip and seem to lie unconformably with the Coal Measures and Permian. For 

want of positive evidence upon this point, however, 

it is not certain that the Coal-Measure and Permian 

strata do not finally dip toward the east beneath the 

Cretaceous formations, forming there an anticlinal axis.

Having shown the stratigraphical relation of the 

Texan Permian with other formations in the same region, the former only need be further considered. The 

following descriptive section of those strata is taken 

from Mr. Cummins's field notes, but it has been in large 

part verified by my own personal observations. The 

different members of the section, which are indicated

mm

» The name Dinosaur Sands was formerly used for this formation. See Proc. 

Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1887, pp. 39-47.
WHITB.] DESCRIPTION OF TEXAN PERMIAN. 15

by consecutive Eiumbers, are not distinctly definable from one another, 

but the section is presented in this form for convenience in referring 

to the respective horizons at which collections of fossils have been 

made.

Descriptive section of the Texan Permian.

1. Reddish and mottled sandy clays with layers of sandstone.

2. Variously colored clayey and sandy concretionary strata with a few irregular 

layers of impure concretionary limestone, a stratum of grayish blue limestone being 

usually observable near the middle of the member in Uaylor and Archer Counties.

3. Sandstones, alternating with clayey and sandy concretionary layers, and with a 

few fine-grained, siliceous layers.

4. Reddish and bu ff colored clayey and sandy shales with occasional layers of sandstone.

5. Sandstones and. sandy shales with beds of reddish sandy clays, passing gradually 

into the Coal Measures beneath.

The vertebrate) remains, which by their faunal characteristics Prof. 

Cope confidently refers to the Permian, occur at numerous localities 

and at many horizons from the base to the top of the section ; but 

invertebrate remains have hitherto been discovered only in strata 

which are included in numbers 2 and 3 of that section. The lowermost known horizon at which invertebrates occur is about 400 feet 

above the base of the series, and the uppermost is about as much 

below the top of the same; that is, the invertebrate fossils described 

and figured in this bulletin come from the middle 200 feet in thickness 

of the Permian series as it has just been defined.

The localities at which these fossils were obtained, only three in 

number, are in Baylor and Archer Counties, and as the greater part 

of the district is Htill unsettled, they can be designated only in an indefinite way. The first of these localities, which is in the northwestern corner of Archer County, will be designated as "Camp Creek." The second 

one is in Baylor County, near the middle of its eastern boundary line, 

and will be designated as " Godwin Creek." The third is in the northeastern part of Baylor County, near where the now unused military 

road, constructed by General Earl Yan Dora, crossed the Big Wichita 

Eiver. This locality is by the settlers of that region called the " Old 

Military Crossing," but it will in this bulletin be designated as the 

Military Crossing of the Big Wichita, or simply as the Military Crossing. The strata of the two first mentioned localities occur in No. 3 of 

the foregoing descriptive section of the Permian, and those of the last 

named one in No. 2 of the same.

The following is a list of all the invertebrate species which are now 

known to have been found in the Texan Permian, all of which are discussed on succeeding pages and illustrated on the accompanying plates. 

The list is presented in tabular form for the purpose of giving a synoptical view of the invertebrate fauna so far as it is at present known, and 

also to indicate the localities at which the respective species have been 

discovered, as well as their interassociation there.
16 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL. 77.

As to the latter condition, it is proper to state that specimens of all 

the species found at the locality which is indicated at the head of the 

following list as the "military crossing" were collected by myself from 

a single stratum, where they were so commingled as to leave no room 

for doubt that they were all members of one and the same fauna, nor 

any that they all lived contemporaneously. Specimens of the greater 

part of the other species were also collected by me at the localities indicated. When not collected by myself the fact will be mentioned in 

connection with remarks upon the respective species.

IAat of invertebrate species from the Texan Permian.

3. Medlicottia copei W ....... ....................

5. Orthoceras rushensis MeChesney ? ..............

6. Nautilus winslowi Meek & Worthen.. ..........

7. N. occidentals Swallow....... .... ............

8. N. ?.....................................

0 "NT .,__. _ .»

10 N - f

11. N. (Endolobus) ? ...... ............ ......

15. E f. ..................... ................

17. Patella ? .................... ..*. ........

18. Bellerophon crassns M. & W ...................

19. B. montforti anus Norwood & Pratten ..........

20. B. ?.....................................

21. Sedgwickia topekaensis Shumard sp.. ..........

22. Pleurophorus ?...... .....................

26. M. aviculoides M. & H...... ..................

27. M. perattenuata M & H.... ............... _ .

29. Aviculopecten occidentals SLurnard. ...........

31. Spirorbis T.. .............................

Camp 

Creek.

Godwin 

Creek.

Military 

'Crossing.

SUMMARY.

Cephalopoda. 

Molluscs.. ...... . < Gasteropoda.

Conchifera...

Radiata.. ..........Polypi.

Total.

Species. 

11

y

9

i i i

By reference to the foregoing list of species, and especially to the 

summary at the end of the list, it will be seen that the invertebrate
WHITE.] THE FAUNA OF THE TEXAN PERMIAN. 17

collections wlTch have hitherto been made from the Texan Permian do 

not represent a fauna in its usual proportions, either as regards the 

classes and families to which the species of the list respectively belong, 

or as regards the classes and families which are usually expected to be 

represented in a Permian fauna. This is especially true when we compare these collections with Permian faunas already known in other 

regions. For example, it will be seen that the Cephalopoda are in unusually large proportion, that the Brachiopoda and Polyzoa are absent, 

and that the Polypi are represented by only a single species. In short, 

it is plain that the invertebrate fauna which existed during the period 

in which the Texan Permian was deposited, and in the same or in contiguous waters, is imperfectly and disproportionately represented by 

these collections.

Some of the causes of the imperfection and disproportion referred to 

are too plainly apparent to need comment, and others are suggested by 

the lithological and stratigraphical character of the formation in which 

the remains are found. Besides the inevitable causes of imperfect repress ntation of extinct faunas by their remains, a conspicuous reason for 

the imperfection of these collections is that the formation has yet been 

carefully examined in only a small part of the large region which it is 

known to occupy, and exhaustive search for invertebrate fossils has yet 

been made at only a few of the localities which have been visited by 

competent collectors.

Again, there are few strata entering into the composition of the 

Texan PenniaD, where it has been examined, the character of which 

indicates that they successively formed the bottom of waters where a 

large proportion of then existing invertebrates could have found a congenial habitat. That is, sandy and other siliceous strata, as has already 

been shown, prevail in this formation, while calcareous strata are comparatively rare. It is true that certain families, especially of the inollusca, find a siliceous, sandy bottom, such as most of those strata doubtless formed, more congenial than a muddy or a calcareous one; but to 

far the greater part of such invertebrate faunas the latter kind of bottom, other conditions being favorable, is much the more congenial. In 

short, the lithological character of a formation often presents an obvious 

reason, not only for the comparative paucity of all invertebrate fossils 

in its strata, but even for the absence of representatives of certain families which we have every reason to suppose existed contemporaneously 

in other, not far distant, places and in more congenial waters.

But these collections, imperfect as they are, present subjects for consideration which are of far greater interest than that which attaches 

to a mere addition to our knowledge of a few of the forms which constituted the fauna of any given epoch or period, such, for example, as 

the relation which the fauna of one period in a given region bore to 

faunas which were presumably contemporaneous with it, and to those 

of the periods which immediately preceded and followed it, and the 

Bull. 77 2
18 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL. 77.

indication which these fossils give as to the geological age of the strata 

containing them.

For the purpose of presenting the latter subject as conspicuously as 

possible all the invertebrate forms which have hitherto been discovered 

in the Texau Permian, whether new or already published, will be discussed on the immediately following pages and figured on the accompanying plates.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES.

MOLLUSCA. 

CEPHALOPODA.

Genus GONIATITES do Hahn. 

GONIATITES BAYLORENSIS Sp. 110V.

PI. II, Figs. 1-3.

Shell apparently reaching a moderately large size; its transverse 

diameter less than that of the plane of its coil ; volutions moderately 

embracing; the peripheral and lateral portions regularly rounded from 

the border of one umbilicus to that of the other; umbilici deep and 

somewhat narrow, but showing a portion of each of the inner volutions, 

their borders abruptly rounded inward from the sides; the transverse 

diameter of the volutions nearly three times as great as the dorso-ventral diameter, a transverse section of them showing a lunate outline. 

Living chamber and aperture unknown. Septa moderately distant from 

one another; dorsal lobe longer than wide, deeply divided into two 

narrow, lanceolate, slightly diverging branches; dorsal and superior 

lateral saddles lingniform and nearly equal in size; the two saddles 

separated by the superior lateral lobe, which is simple, slightly constricted at the middle, and acutely pointed; the inferior lateral lobe 

similar in gihape to the superior, but a little shorter, and less distinctly 

constricted; inferior lateral saddle a little shorter than the others, 

somewhat irregular in shape, and occupying the margin of the umbilicus. Surface apparently unornamented.

The only specimen in the collection, when perfect, probably reached 

a diameter of coil of about 55 milliuletres.

This species bears considerable resemblance to the G. globulosus of 

Meek &Worthen,but the septa of the Texau form have each one more 

lobe and saddle between the periphery and the margin of the umbilicus 

than have those of the other form.

Locality: Military Crossing of the Big Wichita, Baylor County, 

Texas,
20 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOTC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL. 77.

Genus WAAGENOCEEAS Gemmellaro. 

WAAGENOOERAS CUMMINSI White. 

PI. I, Pigs. 4-8.

PiycMtes cumminai Wliite, Ain. Naturalist, 1889, vol. 23, p. 117, PI. i, Figs. 4-8. 

Compare wifch Waayenoceras stachei, Gernm. Gior. Sci. Nat. ed. Econ., vol. 19, 1888, 

p. 11, PI. i, Figs. 4-6, aud PI. n, Figs. 3-4.

Shell compressed subglobose, transversely rounded on the periphery, 

and more broadly rounded on the sides; transverse constrictions appearing at irregular intervals upon casts of the interior of the shell; volutions so deeply embracing as to form small, narrow umbilici, the borders 

of which are narrowly rounded inward from the sides, and which show 

a small portion of each of the inner volutions; transverse section of 

the outer volution deeply crescentic. Surface apparently plain, but 

upon the border of the umbilicus in a couple of specimens fine revolving lines appear. Septa numerous and complex. The siphonal lobe 

large, deeply divided into "two strongly digitate branches. The first 

lateral lobe is a little larger than a single branch of the siphonal lobe, 

but it is similarly digitate. The second and third lateral lobes are visible 

before the suture reaches the umbilicus, toward which the three lobes 

gradually decrease in size and complexity. Living chamber and aperture unknown.

The largest example in the collection indicates that it reached a 

diameter in the plane of the coil not less than 50 millimetres, but the 

living chamber is not shown in any of them. The figures on PI. I of 

this bulletin are all of natural size. Those given in the American 

Naturalist are (loc. cit.) a little less.

Specimens representing about 40 individuals were found at the Military Crossing locality, all of which are imperfect, but the species has 

not yet been elsewhere discovered. The greater part of these specimens 

were collected by myself, and they were found in such association with 

the other species there as to leave no doubt that they were all members 

of one and the same fauna.

When I published this species in the American Naturalist (loc. cit.) 

I referred it to Ptycliites Mojsisovics, Prof. Gemmellaro's work (op. cit.) 

not having then reached me. Upon comparing it with his description 

and figures it was plain that the Texan and Sicilian forms are congeneric. It is also plain that WaayenoGeras Qumminsi and TF, stachei are 

closely related species,
WHITE.] DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 21

Genus MEDLICOTTIA Waagen. 

MEDLICOTTIA COPEI White. 

Plate I, Figs. 1-3. -

Mcdlicoltia copei While, Am. Naturalist, 1889, vol. 23, p. 117, PL I, Figs, 1-3.

Shell thinly discoid, the sides gently convex; periphery narrow, having a moderately deep median groove; volutions so deeply embracing 

that only a small part of each of the inner ones is seen in the very 

narrow umbilici. Slphonal lobe long and slender, occupying the 

bottom of the peripheral groove, each side bearing four or five small 

indentations. External saddle very long and irregular in shape, in part 

occupying the ridge which borders each side of the peripheral groove, 

and in part overlain by the corresponding part of the next preceding 

external saddle. Five or six small denticles of nearly equal size are 

observable upon the side of the saddle within the peripheral groove, 

and seven or eight denticles of unequal length are seen upon the outer 

side. The other saddles are plain, linguiform or sublanceolate. The 

external lobe is stronger than any of the others, having two bifid 

branches, one directed backward in the curved line of the shell coil, and 

the other extending toward the periphery into the external saddle. The 

other lobes gradually diminish in size toward the umbilicus, most of 

which are bifid at the extremity; but the latter character does not 

appear upon small lobes of the inner portion of the volutions.

The largest example in the collection indicates a diameter of CO 

millimetres; but as :no trace of the living chamber is present, its full 

size is not known. The figures on PI. I of this bulletin are of natural 

size. Those in the American Naturalist (loc. cit.) are a little less.

Three or four imperfect examples of this species were found at the 

Military Crossing locality, and one other near San Augelo, Tom Greene 

County, Texas. The latter locality is fully 150 miles from the former, 

which shows that the species had a considerable geographical distribution. This appears to be the only species of Medlicottia that has yet 

been found in North America, if we except an unpublished form from 

the Meekoceras bed« of Idaho, which will doubtless fall cither into this 

genus or Sageceras.

Genus POPANOCERAS Hyatt.

POPANOCERAS WALCOTTI White.

PI. I, Figs. 9-11.

Popaiwceras loalcotti White, Am. Naturalist, 1889, vol. 23, p. 117, PL i, Figs. 9-11. 

Compare with Popanoceras multistriatum Gemmellaro; Gior. Sci. Nat. ed. Econ. 1888, 

vol. xix, p. 19, PL in, Figs. 1-5.

Shell discoid, periphery rounded; sides gently convex, the inner volutions almost wholly embraced by the next preceding one, and the
22 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL.77.

umbilici are consequently minute. Surface marked with numerous 

slightly raised and slightly sinuous radiating ridges, apparently indicating stages of growth, which extend continuously from one umbilicus 

to the other across the periphery. Septa, showing numerous short 

lobes and saddles, the former being simple and regularly rounded at 

the end, and the latter more or less notched or pointed at the extremity. 

Those near the periphery have sometimes three digitations, and those 

near the umbilicus are simple and more or less pointed. In full-grown 

examples the saddles are probably still more digitate.

Only one example of this species is known, which was found at the 

Military Crossing locality. The diameter of its coil is about 26 millimetres, all being occupied by the septa. The living chamber and 

aperture are therefore unknown. The figures given on PI. I of this 

bulletin are of natural size; those given in the American Naturalist 

(loc. cit.) are a little less.

The close specific relationship of Waagenoceras cumminsi with W. 

stachei has been mentioned, and by comparing Popanoceras walcotti 

with P. multistriatum it will be seen that these two species are also 

closely related in all their observable characteristics, both suggesting 

a close relationship of the Texan and Sicilian faunas.

Genus ORTHOCERAS Breynius.

ORTHOCERAS KUSHENSIS McChesney 1?

PI. II, Figs. 14-16.

Orthoceras rusliensis McChesney, 1859, New Paleozoic Fossils, p. 68. 

Compare with Orthoceras sp. imdet. Meek & Worthen, Geol. Survey Illinois, 1873, 

vol. 5, PI. xxx, Fig. 5.

The collection from the Military Crossing of the Big Wichita contains numerous fragments of shells belonging to the genus Orthoceras, 

which possibly represent more than one species, but much the greater 

part of them evidently belong to one and the same. Shells of this 

genus usually present too few salient characters for satisfactory specific 

discrimination, and this is especially the case with the fragmentary 

specimens of the collection now in hand. The external shell is present 

upon some of the specimens, but the surface shows none of the markings which characterize the Q. cribrosum of Geinitz from Nebraska City. 

I have therefore referred the Texan form to McChesney's species, the 

type specimens of which were obtained from the Coal Measures of Indiana and Illinois.
WHITB.I DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 23

Genus NAUTILUS Breynius.

NAUTILUS (TEMNOOHEILUS) WINSLOWI Meek & Worthen. 

PI. Ill, Figs. 1-5.

Nautilus (TemnocTieilu.^ winslowi M. & W. Geol. Survey, Illinois, 1873, vol. 5, p. 609,

PI. xxxn, Fig. 2. 

Compare with N. (T.} lalus M. & W., ib., p. 608, PI. xx, Fig. 2.

A considerable number of imperfect specimens and fragments of a 

species of Nautilus occur among the fossils obtained at the Military 

Crossing of the Big Wichita, which are referred to the N. winslowi of 

Meek & Worthen. Although these specimens vary in certain respects 

from the type specimens as figured and described by the authors, they 

vary quite as greatly among themselves. These as well as other specimens indicate that the species is a very variable one, and its variability is believed to tie so great as to include the N. latus of the-same 

authors. The variability is observable in the different degree of acuteness of the lateral revolving angles, the prominence and shape of the 

nodes upon them, the difference of the convexity of the peripheral 

side, etc. The Texan specimens are also all smaller than the type 

specimens of N. latus and of N. winsloivi respectively. Both the latter 

are from the Coal Measures of Illinois.

NAUTILUS OCCIDENTALIS Swallow. 

PI. II, Figs. 11,12.

'Nautihis occidentalis Swallow, Trails. St. Louis Acad. Sci., 1860, vol. 1, jl. 196. 

Nautilus Mserialis Hall, Geology of Iowa, Supp., p. 92.

Some fragments, evidently belonging to this species, occur among the 

collections made at the Military Crossing of the Big Wichita. This 

species was originally described as coming from Permian rocks in 

Kansas, but it was afterward recognized as a common fossil in the Coal 

Measures of Illinois and Iowa.

NAUTILUS f

PI. Ill, Figs. 6-8.

Compare with N. eccentncus Meek & Hayden, Palaeout. Upper Missouri, Smithson.

Cont., 172 (1865), p. 65, PI. n, Figs. 14a, 146. 

Also with N. chesterensis Meek & Worthen, Geol. Survey Illinois, 1866, vol. 2, p. 306,

PL xxiv, Figs. 4a, 4Z>.

Associated with all the foregoing species are many examples of a 

small, plain Nautilus, which are too imperfect to be either satisfactorily 

described or identified with any published species. They may be compared with the two forms above cited, the first of which is from reputed 

Permian strata in Kansas, and the other from the Chester limestone, 

the uppermost member of the Lower Carboniferous group of Illinois.
24 TEXAN PEKMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS, [nuit. '7.

NAUTILUS ?

PI. II, Figs. 7-10.

A couple of fragments of a plain subglobose Nautilus were found at 

the Godwin Creek locality, which are too imperfect for specific characterization, but they evidently belong to a different species from any of 

the foregoing, and it is also larger than the one last noticed.

NAUTILUS f 

PI. II, Figs. 4-6.

A few fragments of a discoid Nautilus were found at the Military 

Crossing locality which I am not able to refer to any published species, 

but which is similar in form and structure to N. gravesianus d'Orb., 

Pal. Franyaise, Ter. Jur., 1S50-'GO, vol. 1, Atlas, PI. xxxvm.

NAUTILUS (ENDOLOBUS) I 

PI. II, Fig. 13.

The collections made at the Military Crossing locality contain a 

single fragment of a Nautiloid species, which is too imperfect for characterization further than to say that the septa show a small lobe, such 

as forms the leading feature of jEndolobus, Meek & Worthen.

GASTEROPODA.

Genus NATICOPSIS McCoy. 

NATICOFSIS REMEX White.

PI. Ill, Fig. 10.

Naiicopsis remex White 12th Ann. Kept, for 1878, U. S. Geol. Survey Terr., 18S3,

Part i, p. 139,-PI. xxxiv, Fig. 6.

Some internal casts of this species were found at both the Military 

Crossing and Godwin Creek localities. The type specimens of the 

species were obtained from the junction of the Grand and Green Rivers in Utah, from Carboniferous strata that are probably equivalent 

to the Coal Measures.

NATICOPSIS SHUMARDI McChesney. 

PI. Ill, Fig. 11.

Naticopsis shumardi McChesney, 1868, Traus. Chicago Acad. Sci., vol. 1, p. 49, PI. n, 

Fig. 15.

Several specimens of Naticopsis were found at the Godwin Creek 

locality which seem to answer McChesney's description and figures of 

JV. shumardi too nearly to warrant their reference to any other species. 

The type specimens of the species were obtained frprn Coal-Measure 

strata at La Salle, Illinois.
wnimj . DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 25

Genus EUOMPHALUS Sowerby.

EUOMPB:ALUS SUBQUADRATUS Meek & Worthen.

PI. Ill, Fig. 9.

Eiiomplialussulquadraliis M. & W., 1873, Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. 5, p. 605, PI. xxix, 

Figs. 12, 13.

Several specimens of this species were found at the Military Crossing locality. The type specimens of the species were found in the Coal 

Measures of Illinois.

EUOMPHALUS ¥

Associated with the foregoing species some fragments of a shell were 

found which evidently belong to a species of Euomplialus different from 

the preceding; but they are too imperfect to admit of specific characterization.

Genus MUPvCHISONIA d'Archiac.

MURCHISONIA ?

PI. Ill, Figs. 12, 13.

Compare with MitrcUisonia terebra White, 12th Aim. Eept. for 1878 U. S. Geol. Surv. 

Terr., 18d3, Part i, p. 139, PI. xxxiv, Fig. 4.

The collection from the Military Crossing locality contains numerous 

examples of a MurcMsonia all of which are in a bad state of preservation, and most of which are in the condition of casts of the interior of 

the shell. Enough of the shell substance, however, remains upon a 

part of them to show the form and ornamentation, the latter being 

quite variable. In the form of the shell and its volutions these specimens closely agree with M. terebra (loc. cit.), and some of the specimens vary but littles from it in ornamentation. Others, however, show 

subordinate cr.enul-.ited revolving ridges between the prominent peripheral ridge and the suture. The Texan shell is probably only a 

variety of M. terebra, the type specimens of which were obtained from 

Carboniferous strata in northern Arizona.

Genus PATELLA Linnaeus.

PATELLA? I

PI. Ill, Fig. 14.

Compare with Patella Itvcttei White, Geol. Indiana for 1881, p. 359, PI. xxxix, Figs.-

4,5. 

Compare with Leplopsii levettei (White) Whitfleld, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 1881-

1886, vol. 1, p. 68, PI. vni, Figs. 8-12.

A single example of a Pattelloid shell was found at the Godwin 

Creek locality. In Hhape, size, and general character, it resembles the
26 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL. 77.

shell from the Lower Carboniferous of Indiana which I described under 

thename of Patella levettei; but to which Prof. E. P. Whitfield afterward 

gave the generic name of Leptopsis. The Texan specimen, however, 

shows no indication of having had a coiled apex, and I therefore refer 

it provisionally to the genus Patella.

Genus BELLEROPHON Montfort. 

BELLEEOPHON CEASSUS, Meek & Worthen.

Bellerophon crassm, M. & W., Geol. Survey Illinois, 1886, vol. 2, p. 385, PI. xxxi, 

Figs. 16a, 16&.

A couple of specimens of this species were found at the Military 

Crossing locality. They are too imperfect to be satisfactorily figured, 

but the specific characteristics are very well shown. The type specimens of the species are from the Coal Measures of Illinois.

BELLEEOPHON MONTFOETIANUS, Norwood & Pratten. 

PI. Ill, Figs. 15,16.

Belleroplwn montfortianus, N. & P., Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1855-1858, 2d ser., 

vol. 3, p. 74, PL ix, Fig. 5.

A single small example was found at the Godwin Creek locality, 

which is referred to the Belleroplion montfortianus of Norwood & Pratten with little or no hesitation. The type specimens were from the 

Coal Measures of Illinois, and it is not uncommon in strata of that 

age in adjacent States. It was also recognized by Prof. Geiuitz among 

the Nebraska fossils, which he referred to the Dyas (Permian).

BELLEEOPHON I

Many specimens of a moderately large Bellerophon were found among 

the fossils collected at the Military Crossing locality, all of which being 

in the condition of natural casts of the interior of the shell can not be 

satisfactorily figured and described. They seem to represent a different species from any of the others noticed in this bulletin.

CONCHIFERA.

Genus SEDGWICKIA McCoy.

SEDGWICKIA TOPEKAENSIS Shumard sp.

PL IY, Fig. 11.

Leptodomus topekaemis Shumard, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., 1860, vol. 1, p. 208. 

Sedgwickia topekaensis Meek & Hayden, Paleont. Upper Missouri (Smithsonian Cont., 

172), 1865, p. 40.

At the Godwin Creek locality Mr. Cummins found a natural cast of 

the left valve of a shell which seems to be specifically identical with 

the form above indicated. The type specimens of the species which 

was used by both authors above cited were obtained from Coal-Measure strata in eastern Kansas.
WHITB.] DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 27

Genus PLEUROPHORUS King. 

PLEUROPHORUS t 

PI. IY, Figs. 5-10.

Natural casts of shells of Pleurophorus occur abundantly at the 

Godwin Creek locality. The extremes of difference in the form of these 

examples is so great that one can hardly forbear referring them at least 

to two species, but it i» probable that the difference referred to is mainly 

that of sex, and in pa.ct that of age. Figures showing the principle 

varieties of form are given on PI. IY. These specimens very likely 

represent one or more published species, but because of their imperfection no specific identification is attempted.

Genus CLIDOPHORUS McCoy.

CLIDOPHORUS OCCIDENTALIS Geinitz.

PI. IY, Fig. 3.

Pleuroplwms? occidentalis Meek & Hayrten, Paleonfc. Upper Missouri (Smitbsonian

Cout., 172), 1865, p. 35, PL i, Fig. 2. 

Clidophorus occidentalis Geinitz, Carbont'ormation u. Dyas in Nebraska, p. 23, PI. n,

Fig. 6.

Mr. Cummins obtained a single specimen at the Godwin Creek locality which seems to be identical with the form figured and described 

by Prof. Geiuitz (loc. cit.).

Genus YOLDIA Holler.

YOLDIA ! SUBSCITULA M%ek & Hayden.

PI. IY, Fig. 4.

Yoldia f subscitulo. Meek & Hayden, Paleont. Upper Missouri (SmithBonian Cont., 

172), 1865, p. 60, PL II, Fig. 4.

Several specimens were obtained by Mr. Cummins at the Godwin 

Creek locality which closely answer the description and figure given by 

Meek & Hayden (loc. cit.). Their type specimen was obtained from 

reputed Permian strata in northeastern Kansas. There seems to be 

room for doubt whether this form ought not to be referred to the Nucula [Nuculana] bellistriata of Stevens, which is a common Coal-Measure 

species.
28 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BUM,.77.

Genus MYALIKA de Koninck.

MYALINA PERMIANA Swallow sp.

PL IV, Figs. 16-19.

Mytilus permianus Swallow, Trans. Sfc. Louis Acad. Sci., 1860, vol. 1, p. 1«7. 

Myalina permiana Meek & Hayden, Paleont. Upper Missouri (Smiths miau Cont., 

172), 1865, p. 52, PI. u, Fig. 7.

At the Camp Creek, Godwin Creek, and Military Crossing localities 

numerous specimens of Myalina were obtained which show a great variety of form, especially as regards marginal outline, but I think it not 

improbable that they nevertheless belong to one and the same species. 

Still the varieties that different authors have published under the respective names of M. permiana, M. perattenuata, and M. aviculoides are 

distinguishable among these Texan collections, and they will therefore 

be grouped under those three names respectively.

The form M. permiana was found at all three of the localities above 

named. The type specimens of both Swallow and Meek & Hayden were 

obtained from reputed Permian strata in Kansas.

MYALINA AVICULOIDES Meek & Hayden. 

PI. II, Fig. 12.

Myalina aviculoides M. & H., Paleont. Upper Missouri (Smithsonian Cont., 172), 1865,'

p. 51, PI. n, Fig. 8.

A few specimens were found at the Godwin Creek locality, which 

have the outline and general features of the form to which Meek & 

Hayden gave the specific name of amculoldes. Their type specimens 

were obtained from the reputed Permian strata in Kansas.

MYALINA PERATTENUATA Meek & Hayden. 

PI. IV, Figs. 13-15.

Myalina perattenuata M. & H., Paleout. Upper Missouri (Smithsonian Cont., 172), 

1865, p. 32, PI. I, Fig. 12.

Specimens answering the original description of M.perattenuata were 

found associated with M. permiana at all three of the localities named 

in the foregoing notice of that form. Meek & Hayden's type specimens 

came from the Coal Measures of Missouri. It is not uncommon in the 

Coal Measures elsewhere.
WHITE.] DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 29

Genus GERVILLIA Defrance.

GERVILLIA LONGA Geinitz.

PI. IV, Fig. 2.

Gervillia longa Geinitz, Carbonformation u. Dyas in Nebraska, p. 32, PI. n, Fig. 15. 

Compare with Avicula shawiteensia Shumardf Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., I860, vol. 1, 

p. 211.

Two specimens of an Aviculoid shell were obtained by Mr. Cummins 

at the Godwin Creek locality which are identified with the Gervillia 

longa of Geinitz, and they are perhaps identical with the Avicula shaioneensis of Shumard. From an examination of the hinge of the Texan 

specimens the hinge area, although well developed and much like that 

of Gervillia, is found to bear no transverse cartilage pits, nor has the 

hinge proper any longitudinal teeth such as characterize Gervillia. The 

species is also known to occur in the Upper Coal Measures of different 

parts of the Mississippi Valley.

Genus AVICULOPECTEN McCoy.

AVICULOPECTEN OCCIDENTALIS Shumard sp.

PI. IV, Fig. 1.

Pecten occidentalis, Shumard, First and Second Kept. Geol. Survey Missouri, 1865,

part 2, p. 207, PI. c, Fig. 18. 

Pecton, oleauclandicus Swallow, Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., vol. 1, p. 184. Compare

with A. coreyanus White, U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys West of 100th Merid.,

vol. 4, Part I, p. 147, PL u. Figs. 1«, 1&.

A single example of the left valve of this well known species was 

found at the Military Crossing locality. It is frequently found in 

characteristic Coal-Measure strata, find it has also been published as 

occurring iu the reputed Permian strata of Kansas and Nebraska.

RADIATA. 

POLYPI.

GenusSYKLSGOPOBA Goldfuss. 

fc SYEINGOPORA l

A considerable number of specimens of a species of Syringopora were 

found at both the Camp Creek and Godwin Creek localities. They 

resemble the S. mtiltattwiuatus of McChesney, from the Coal Measures 

pf Illinois^ but the tiibeis are usuallv smaller,
30 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL. 77.

ARTICULATA. 

VEBMBS.

Genus SPIRORBIS LainarcK. 

PI. Ill, Fig. 17.

Numerous specimens of Spirorbis were found attached to the surface 

of the other fossils which were collected at the Military Crossing 

locality. It is not thought necessary to give a specific diagnosis of 

it, but it is figured for the purpose of presenting as complete an illustration of the fauna as is practicable.

CRTJSTACJEA.

Genus CYTHERE Mtillcr.

CYTHERE NEBRASCENSIS Geiuitz,

PI. IV, Fig. 20,

Cylliere nebrascensis Geinitz, Carbonformation u. Dyas in Nebraska, p. 2, PI. i, Fig. 2. 

The t'ossiliferous stratum at the Military Crossing locality contains 

multitudes of a small Cythere which I cannot separate specifically from 

the G. nebrascensis of Geinitz.

GENERAL DISCUSSION.

It will be seen from the foregoing descriptions and notes that of the 

thirty-two species of invertebrates which are represented in the collections from the Texan Permian only four are recognized as new, all of 

these being cephalopoda, and all belonging to the family Ammonoidea. 

The other species have been previously described and published, or 

their specific identity with published forms is in doubt because of the 

imperfection, either of the specimens in hand or of the manner of describing the species <which they probably represent. Fifteen of the species are satisfactorily recognized as baving been previously published. 

A part of them have been by some authors referred to the Permian, but 

the Coal-Measure age of the remainder has never been questioned. 

Some authors are of the opinion that not only all of the fifteen species 

just mentioned, but all North American invertebrates which have ever 11 

been referred to the Permian are really members of the fauna which 

characterizes the Coal-Measure period. Indeed, so generally has this 

view prevailed during the last twenty years that it is probable if the 

new cephalopods before mentioned were not present in the Texan collections no American paleontologist who is familiar with the CoalMeasure invertebrate fauna would hesitate to refer them all to that 

period.
WHITE.] GENERAL DISCUSSION OF THE PERMIAN. 31

So large a proportion of the invertebrate species which have been obtained from the reputed Permian strata in North America occur also ill 

characteristic Coal-Measure strata that no satisfactory separation of 

them into two groups has hitherto been practicable upon the evidence 

of invertebrate fossils, and stratigraphical evidence also has hitherto 

been unsatisfactory. The collections, however, which are represented 

by the foregoing list and descriptions, although consisting mainly of 

Coal-Measure forms, contain at least-two types which are so generally 

regarded as indicating the Mesozoic age of the strata containing them 

that if they alone and without any statement of correlated facts had 

been submitted to any paleontologist he would not have been warranted in referring them to an earlier period than the Trias if he had 

followed the usually accepted standard of reference. These two forms 

have been described on preceding pages under the names of Waagenoceras cumminsi and Popanoceras walcotti respectively. With the exception of Ammonites parlceri Heilprin, 1 also from Texas, similar types 

have not before been found associated with recognized Carboniferous 

species in Nori;h America.

This, however, is by no means the first nor the most important discovery of Mesozoic and Paleozoic types so commingled as to indicate 

that they all lived contemporaneously, and that they were all members 

of one and the same fauna. The remarkable discovery by Prof. Waageu 

in India (op. cit.) of many molluscan species belonging to Mesozoic 

types and associated with a characteristic Carboniferous fauna is well 

known. It is also known that Mesozoic characters are recognizable among some of "the Carboniferous and Permian cephalopods of 

Armenia, as well as of Kussia and certain other parts of Europe; and 

the later discovery in Sicily by Prof. Gemmellaro (op. cit.) is, next to 

that by Prof. Waagen in India, the most important of its kind.2 These 

discoveries will be presently further referred to, but I wish first to consider briefly the bearing of the Texau discovery upon the question of 

the existence of the Permian in North America.

The special interest which these Texan collections possess lies, first, in 

the presence of the two cephalopods of Mesozoic types as members of 

an invertebrate fauna composed otherwise of Paleozoic types; second, 

in the association of these invertebrates with a vertebrate fauna composed mainly of Permian types, as determined by Prof. Cope; third, in 

the known superposition of the formation containing these faunas upon 

characteristic Coal-Measure strata; and fourth, in the probable absence 

of the Trias in the region where the Texan Permian occurs. The first 

point of interest relates to the paleoutological interdelimitation of the 

Mesozoic and Paleozoic, and the second and third to the assumed Permian age of the Texan formation from which the collections discussed 

in this bulletin were made. The fourth point of interest relates to the 

upper delimitation of the Texan Permian.

1 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Pliilad., 1884, vol. 34, p. 53, 

* See first foot-note on p. 10,
32 TEXAN PEEMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL.77.

The paleoutological interdelimitation of tbe Mesozozic and Paleozoic 

ages in geological history has long beeii regarded as clearly recognizable 

in all parts of the world. While it was well known that a considerable 

number of generic forms, especially of the invertebrates, occur in strata 

of both ages respectively, paleontologists have generally regarded it as 

a fundamental fact that certain orders, families, and even genera, which 

possess certain characteristics of structure and form, were rigidly confined to each age respectively. That is, they believed that the types 

which fall Into the one category all ceased to exist at the close of the 

Paleozoic age, and that no member of the other category began its 

existence before the opening of the Mesozoic age. The presence of 

remains belonging to either the one or the other of these categories was 

therefore regarded as affording unquestionable proof of the geological 

age of the strata containing them. Attempts were made to explain the 

first discoveries of the commingling of earlier and later types in one and 

the same stratum, by assuming that the specimens showing earlier types 

of structure were derived in an already fossil condition from preexisting 

strata in the process of their destruction by which the materials for new 

strata were produced.

However unphilosophical those views concerning the chronological 

restriction of certain types may appear in the light of modern biology, 

it is not to be denied that until within comparatively few years paleontological observations in the field seemed, as a rule, to favor them, but 

such discoveries as those which have been made in India, Sicily, Eussia 

and Texas show conclusively that animals belonging to both categories 

which have just been indicated lived contemporaneously. They show 

that some of those forms which have been regarded as exclusively 

Mesozoic in character began their existence while yet Paleozoic forms 

were far m the ascendant, and also that many Paleozoic forms survived their earlier associates, and lived in association with Mesozoic 

faunas. In the following general remarks upon the reputed North 

American Permian reference will be made to the bearing which the 

presence of Mesozoic types in the Texan Permian has upon the question of its true geological age.

From time to time during the last 30 years there have been discussions among geologists as to whether there is in North America any 

true equivalent of the Permian formation of Europe. Some writers 

have been uncompromising in their advocacy of the affirmative side of 

this question, and others have been equally positive in asserting the 

negative. Much of this difference of opinion has arisen from imperfect 

knowledge of essential facts, and much from want of a clear definition 

by the respective writers as to what they have regarded as constituting 

equivalency in this case. Within the last few years much addition has 

been made to our knowledge of facts bearing upon this question, and 

it is evident that clearer views upon it are now generally held than 

formerly prevailed, but it is too much to expect that the views of all
WHITE.] THE NORTH AMERICAN PERMIAN. 33

geologists should even now fully agree. The following statement presents the condition of this question, as the writer understands it. It 

is given to enable the reader to understand more clearly his views, 

and the reasons for the conclusions and opinions which are expressed 

in this bulletin.

In Europe the Carboniferous system is understood to be divided into 

three great groups, namely, the Lower Carboniferous, the Coal Measures, and the Permian, which are definable from one another, not only 

by paleontological, but by stratigraphical, characteristics. In North 

America the great Carboniferous system is quite as largely developed 

as in Europe. The Lower Carboniferous and Coal-Measure groups, 

upon both stratigraphical and paleontological grounds are as clearly 

recognizable and distinguishable from each other in some parts of this 

continent as they are in Europe, but the Permian has hitherto had no 

such undisputed recognition. Therefore, the question now to be considered is, whether the Permian of Europe has really an equivalent anywhere in North America, and if so, how that equivalency is recognizable.

In North America seven regions may be designated within which 

strata occur that have been, by different authors, referred to the Permian. These are: (1) southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West 

Virginia, (2) Prince Edward Island, (3) eastern Illinois, (4) northeastern Kansas and southeastern Nebraska, (5) South Park, Colorado, (G) 

isolated portions of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and western Colorado, 

and (7) northern Texas, together with the adjacent part of Indian Territory.

In all these cases thero seems to be no room for doubt that the strata 

in question are not older than the Upper Coal Measures, as that formation is distinguishable in North America j but aside from their evidently 

high position in the Carboniferous system their recognition as Permian 

lias been based upon different kinds of evidence, respectively. In the 

first and second mentioned cases it was based wholly upon plant remains; in the third upon vertebrate remains j in the fourth upon invertebrate remains; in the fifth upon plants and insects,1 and in the 

sixth mainly upon stratigraphical position. The evidence in favor of 

the recognition of the strata as constituting a separate formation in the 

seventh case is presented in this article.

Two diverse ideas seem to have prevailed in the minds of those 

who have considered the question of the recognition of the Permian 

in North America. On the one hand the discovery on this continent 

of remains belonging to generic or other types of vertebrate, inverter 

brate, or plant life, which are respectively similar to forms found in. 

the European Permian, lias been regarded by some authors as surely 

indicating in each separate case the Permian age of the strata contain? 

ing them, even if they wore without any knowledge of correlated facts,

1 These insects have, however, been referred to the Trias by S. H. Scudder, although they are associated with, perhaps, the most characteristic Permian flora ttyat has been discovered on this continent,

l. 77 3
34 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL.77.

whether paleontological or stratigraphical, or they formed that opinion 

without regard to them if known. On the other hand, it has been contended that no definite recognition of the Permian, even in the firstmentioned cases, ought to be made until after due consideration of all 

obtainable correlated paleontological and stratigraphical facts; and 

not then unless the preponderance of all that evidence should plainly 

favor such recognition.

The untenableness of the position indicated in the case first stated 

is shown by the facts mentioned in preceding paragraphs of the occurrence in one and the same stratum of forms which have been held to 

be characteristic of separate geological p'eriods, and even of separate 

ages. It is conspicuously shown in the case of the Texan formation, 

which is specially discussed in this bulletin, because both its CoalMeasure age and its Triassic age can be even more readily proved, in 

an ex parte way, by special selections from its fossils, than its Permian 

age. And yet the sum of all the evidence is in favor of the latter.

The following paragraph from the work of Profs. William M. Fontaiue and I. C. White1 tersely states the principle which ought to govern 

the investigator in these cases, although it was written only with reference to the Permian age of the flora which they were then investigating:

It is good evidence that we have to deal with a more recent formation when we 

find it to show a decadence of old forms and an introduction of new ones destined to 

reach their culmination at a later period. Thus if we find in a series of rocks plants 

characteristic of the Carboniferous formation, and. perceive that these die out and 

disappear, we should not conclude from their mere presence that the age of the strata 

is Carboniferous, but rather that it is Permian. So also the finding of genera and 

species, even identical with those of the Trias or Jurassic would not necessarily imply 

a Triassic or Jurassic age. If we find them to be exceedingly rare, their presence is 

rather indicative of a formation older than the Trias or the Jurassic.

It is only by taking into consideration all the above-named characters, and other 

points which may be presented by the entire body of specimens, that we can determine the nature of the evidence offered by the life of a formation. It will not suffice 

to say arbitrarily that this or that feature is without value as evidence. Circumstances might reverse the normal relative weight of evidence from the several sources 

and give preponderating weight to what would, if unatt'ected by them, have slight 

value.

Besides the observance of the principle enunciated by those authors, 

the investigator should remember the entire improbability that forms 

representing any distinguishing faunal or floral type have ever been 

simultaneously introduced in all parts of the world, and the now no 

less evident fact that forms representing certain types in some parts of 

the world long survived their extinction in other parts. He should 

also bear in mind the now evident fact that the rate of progressive development of vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant life respectively has 

not been uniform in all parts of the world. It therefore ought not to

1 Permian or Upper Garb. Elora of West Virginia and S. W. Pennsylvania. Second Geol. Survey 

Pa., Kept. Prog. PP. 1880, pp. 109, 110.
WHITE.) THE NORTH AMERICAN PERMIAN. 35

be expected that precisely the same association of types would be found 

on this continent that is found in Europe and elsewhere.

The difference of opinion which has 0 prevailed concerning the existence of the Permian in North America has been shared even by those 

who recognize the importance of considering all the facts which bear 

upon each case of assumed equivalency of North American strata to 

the Permian of Europe. Some have believed that it should be strictly 

chronological as regards the whole of a given formation, while others 

claim that the most we can reasonably assume in any case is approximate contemporaneity, and all that we can ever certainly know in such 

cases is the hoinotaxial relation of formations with one another in different parts of the world, respectively. The scope of this bulletin, 

however, will admit of only a partial discussion of those views.

If all the time which is represented by the entire Carboniferous system in Europe is represented by the entire Carboniferous system of 

North America, the Permian of Europe must necessarily have a complete time equivalent somewhere on this continent. If that system is 

everywhere incomplete at the upper limit on this continent, and the 

same is complete in Europe, it necessarily follows that the stratigraphical time equivalent of the European Permian is either absent or incomplete in North America. But all the known facts which bear upon 

this case are of such doubtful value in their application to the question 

of strict chronological equivalency that it seems to be unprofitable to 

discuss it. Therefore the only question that remains to be considered 

in this connection is tha' of homotaxy.

The question, even after being reduced to these limits is a complex 

one, for it still involves the consideration of conflicting or disagreeing 

paleontological evidence, as well as a recognition of upper and lower 

delimiting boundaries of. the formation. Besides this, formulary taxonomy has no real existence because geological systems are not subdivisible into the same, or even similar, units in widely separated parts 

of the world. Still there can be no good reason for doubting that there 

are in various parts of North America strata which are homotaxially 

equivalent, at least in part, to the Permian of Europe. But it is equally 

true that much of the reputed North American Permian can not be 

satisfactorily separated from the Coal Measures, and even those strata 

which have been separated more or less satisfactorily are found to be 

so intimately related to the Coal Measures as to make the lower limit 

indefinable.2

Heretofore also it has been impracticable to say whether the upper 

limit of the Carboniferous isysteni in North America is complete or not. 

For example, none of the reputed Triassic strata, which occur in various

»In view of the last mentioned condition several American and European writers have applied the 

compromising term " Permo-carboniferous " to that undeflnable upper portion of the Carboniferous 

system. Unfortunately, however, somo American authors have of late applied that torm to the whole 

Carboniferous series, seeming thereby bo imply that the series includes an inseparalle equivalent of 

the Permian, as well as of the remainder of the Carboniferous system.
36 TEXAN PERMIAN A>tt) ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. IBULL.??.

parts of the continent, have been found in such relation to the reputed 

Permian as to indicate that there was continuous sedimentation from 

the one formation to the other; nor have those Triassic strata been 

found to contain any conclusive paleontological evidence of their immediate succession to the Permian. Indeed, as regards the remains of invertebrate life, the existence of any Triassic strata in North America 

rests upon comparatively slight evidence; slighter, indeed, than it 

might have seemed to be before the discovery of Triassic types associated with well known Carboniferous forms.1

The conflicting character of a part of the evidence afforded by the 

reputed North American Permian as to its age has already been shown, 

but there is an important case of want of harmony of different portions 

of certain accepted paleoutological evidence that deserves mention. 

In Prof. Cope's Systematic Catalogue of the Permian vertebrate fauna 

of North America,2 he shows that these remains have been discovered 

mainly in two limited districts, one in eastern Illinois and the other in 

Texas. His catalogue also shows that of the seventy-six species enumerated not one is, and of the thirty-two genera only five are, common 

to the two divisions. He also says that " the Permian vertebrate fauna 

of Illinois and Texas 3 exhibits close parallels, but not yet generic identity, on this continent."

On the contrary, the marine invertebrates which characterize the 

North American Coal Measures, a part of which usually range up into 

the reputed Permian, are widely distributed on this continent, and 

their geographical range includes both the Illinois and Texan vertebrate localities. That is, the invertebrate fauna referred to is uniform 

over a region jn which the vertebrate fauna is diverse. In all the vertical and geographical range of these invertebrate fossils there has 

been observed no evidence of the decadence of old forms such as would 

be taken to indicate an approaching close to the geological period4 

which they have especially characterized; and it is only in the case of 

the Texan Permian that an introduction among them of new forms 

has yet been observed which might be regarded as forerunners of a 

new one.

Finally, while it is freely admitted that a considerable number of the

1 The Triassic character of a part of the Permian fauna of Texas has been sufficiently stated, but it 

is also true that certain Carboniferous types occur in the Meekoceras beds of southeastern Idaho. 

Besides this those beds appear to have an intimate stratigraphical relation to the characteristic Carboniferous strata beneath them. Add to these facts the further one that types similar to those which 

have been relied upon in referring the Idaho beds to the Middle Trias also occur in undisputed Carboniferous strata, and it seems possible that those reputed Triassic beds ought to be referred to the 

Permian rather than to the Trias.

2 Trans. Am. Philos. Soc., 1888, vol. 16, pp. 285-288.

3 TJ. S. Geol. Survey Terr., 1884, vol. 3, p. 25.

* It has been pointed out by some authors that certain of the Brachiopods, and other species which 

characterize the Coal Measures, have never been found in any of the reputed Permian strata, and it 

seems to have been assumed that their absence was due to a final decndcnce of those forms before the 

Permian period was reached. It seems, however, not at all unreasonable to infer that intervening 

conditions differently affected certain of the classes of animals then living, in consequence of which 

they were differently dispersed,
WHITE.] THE NORTH AMERICAN PERMIAN. 37

invertebrate species which characterize the Permian of Europe have 

closely related representatives on this continent, it should not be forgotten that the latter are as characteristic of our undisputed Coal Measures as they are of the reputed Permian. Even if those forms are really 

specifically identical on the two continents it does not necessarily prove 

the contemporaneity of the respective formations containing them. 

In fact those formations must necessarily be of a difference in age equal 

to the time required by the geographical distribution of the species.

The recognition of the Permian in Texas as a separate upper group of 

strata belonging to the Carboniferous system is based upon both stratigraphical and paleontological evidence, and this evidence is fuller than 

that which has been adduced in favor of any other reputed Permian 

strata of North America. First, it contains invertebrate species 

which have been referred to the Permian in other districts northward 

from Texas, some of which are closely related to Permian species 

of Europe. Second, it contains the large vertebrate fauna published by Prof. Cope which he regards as characteristically Permian. 

Third, the Texan formation evidently constitutes an upper, apparently the uppermost, portion of the Carboniferous system. Fourth, 

the lithological difference between this formation as a whole and the 

Coal Measures beneath it, while not great, is sufficiently marked to 

make it conveniently distinguishable by the eye. Besides this the 

Mesozoic element which has been shown to exist among the invertebrates of the Texau Permian may properly be regarded as holding an 

opposite relation to the Paleozoic element, and thus to suggest a balance of paleontological evidence in favor of the Permian age of the formation. l

The present s :ate of our knowledge, or of warranted opinion, as to the 

existence of the Permian formation in North America may be summed 

up briefly as follows :

Although in the region traversed by the Mississippi Eiver the two 

earlier divisions of the Carboniferous system, namely, the Lower Carboniferous and the Coal Measures, are as clearly recognizable as they 

are in Europe, in many parts of this continent where Carboniferous 

strata are largely developed no separate recognition of either of those 

divisions, or of the Permian, is practicable.

In those regions where the Coal Measures or their equivalent are 

recognizable certain strata are sometimes found resting upon them 

which have been referred to the Permian, but those strata are, as a 

rule, not distinctly separable from the Coal Measures upon either stratigraphical or paleontological grounds. That is, no distinct stratigraphical plane of debarkation between the Coal Measures and the reputed 

Permian is observable. Besides this, many of the common Coal-Meas1 It is admitted that the value of this suggestion j8 somewhat lessened by the known presence of the 

Ammonites parkeri of'Heilptin in the underlying Texan Coal Measures, and by the presence of similar typos beneath the Permian in certain parts of the Old World. Still, such forms as Waagenoceraa 

eumminsi may properly bo regarded as immediate harbingers of the Mesozoic age.
38 TEXAN PERMIAN AND ITS MESOZOIC TYPES OF FOSSILS. [BULL.??.

ure species range up into those Permian strata, and many acknowledged 

Permian types, according to the European standard, occur in the unquestioned Coal-Measure strata beneath them.

The upper limit of the Carboniferous system and the lower limit of 

the Trias have never been clearly recognized upon this continent, and 

it is therefore not now known that either of these systems are here at 

any point complete in that respect. But the upper limit of the Carboniferous system is known to be incomplete at most places where 

strata of that age occur.

A large part of the North American strata, which various authors 

have referred to the Permian, have no valid claim to be either so considered or to be considered as separate from the Upper Coal Measures. 

But a part of them may reasonably be assumed to be homotaxially 

equivalent with at least a part of the European Permian, although their 

delimitation from the Coal Measures may in most cases be difficult or 

impracticable.

The evidence upon which the Texan strata have been referred to the 

Permian is fuller than that which has been adduced with regard to 

any other North American strata that have been so referred. That is, 

the evidence both of the vertebrate and invertebrate fossils is in favor 

of such reference, and the difference in the character of the strata from 

those of the underlying Coal Measures, although not great, is conveniently distinguishable. Still, it is true that the Texan Permian strata 

bear many Coal-Measure invertebrate species, and that its flora at 

present is unknown.

In the foregoing discussions I have referred to the discovery of a 

niolluscan fauna in Texan strata which contains both Mesozoic and 

Coal-Measure types as indicating that those strata are later in their origin than the Coal Measures; or, in other words, that they are of Permian age. While I think such a conclusion is correct in this case, especially when correlated facts are considered, it is by no means certain 

that Mesozoic forms similar to those found in the Texan strata were 

not introduced at a still earlier Carboniferous period than that which 

the Texan fauna is understood to represent.

That is, in view of our present knowledge of those Indian and Sicilian faunas that have been referred to on preceding pages, it seems 

probable that a considerable number of their Mesozoic molluscan types 

were really introduced in those parts of the world at an earlier epoch 

than the Permian. I am not now prepared to express a definite opinion 

upon this subject, but after examining the published works of Profs. 

Waagen and Gemmellaro, I am inclined to think that the strata from 

which they respectively obtained their commingled Mesozoic and Carboniferous forms are homotaxially equivalent to the Upper Coal Measures of North America, which strata belong beneath the Texan Permian.
WHITB.] THE NORTH AMERICAN PERMIAN. 39

In all the preceding discussions, as well as in the last paragraph, I 

have referred to certain of the mollusca of the Indian, Sicilian, and 

Texan faunas as being of Mesozoic types, and in accordance with the 

generally accepted views of paleontologists it is entirely proper to do 

so, but it is not to be denied that a part of the genera which have been 

recognized among those faunas have not yet been discovered in any 

other faunas, or in any other geological horizon than that of the upper 

portion of the Carboniferous system. In view of this fact the propriety of positively referring the types mentioned to the Mesozoic rather 

than to the upper portion of the Carboniferous may well be questioned. 

That is, it seems to be probable that while there is no error in referring a part of those commingled forms to the Paleozoic and a part to 

the Mesozoic, it i« likely that certain members of those faunas which 

will be found to be characteristic of the upper portioi of the Carboniferous system rather than of the earlier Mesozoic.

PLATES.

41

PLATE I.

43
PLATE I. 

MEDLICOTTIA COPEI (page 21).

Fig. 1. Lateral view of an imperfect example.

Fig. 2. Diagrammatic section of the volutious.

Fig. 3. Septal sutnre.

WAAGENOCKRAS CUMMINSI (page 20),

Fig. 4. Lateral view of a small example.

Fig. 5. Peripheral view of the same.

Fig. 6. Lateral view of a larger, imperfect example.

Fig. 7. View of septum of a still larger example.

Fig. 8. Septal suture of the same.

POPANOCERAS WALCOTTI (page 21).

Fig. 9. Lateral view of a small example. 

Fig. 10. Peripheral view of the same. 

Fig. 11 Septal view of the same.

44
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 77 PL. I

11

\\fVW

INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS FROM THE TEXAN PERMIAN.
PLATE II.

45
PLATE II.

GONIATITES BAYLOKENSIS (page 19.)

Fig. 1. Lateral view.

Fig. 2. Outline showing general form by peripheral view.

Fig. 3. Septal suture.

NAUTILUS ? (page 24).

Fig. 4. Lateral view of an imperfect example.

Fig. 5. Outline of outer volution ; restored from imperfect examples.

Fig. 6. Septal sutures from a broken example.

NAUTILUS ? (page 24).

Figs. 7,8,9. Different views of a portion of a natural cast of interior of the shell. 

Fig. 10. Outline of transverse section of a larger example, probably belonging to this

species. Both examples are from Godwin Creek. Compare with Figs. 6,

7,8. PI. III.

NAUTILUS OCCIDENTALS (page 23).

Fig. 11. Peripheral view of a fragment of a natural cast of the interior of the shell. 

Fig. 12. End view of the same, showing septum and siphuucle.

NAUTILUS (ENDOLOBUS) ? (page 24).

Fig. 13. View of a fragment showing the small median lobe at the inner border of the 

septum.

ORTHOCERAS RUSHENSIS (page 22).

Figs. 14,15. Lateral view of two fragments showing septa. 

Fig. 16. Similar view of a small example.

46
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 77 PL. II

INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS FROM THE TEXAN PERMIAN.
PLATE III.

47
PLATE III.

NAUTILUS WINSLOWI (page 23).

Figs. 1, 2. Two views of a small example showing numerous small lateral lobes. 

Figs. 3-5. Different views of three different examples showing varatiou as regards 

surface features.

' NAUTILUS ? (page 23).

Fig. 6. Lateral view of a very.imperfect natural cast of the interior of the shell. 

Figs. 7, 8. Two views of another example. Both examples are from Military Crossing. Compare with Figs. 7-10, PI. II.

EUOMPHALUS SUBQUADHATUS (page 25).

Fig. 9. Apical view of a large example, somewhat distorted by pressure.

NATICOPSIS KEMEX (page 24). 

Fig. 10. Upper view of a natural cast of the interior of the shell.

NATICOPSIS SIIUMAKDI (page 24). 

Fig, 11. Lateral view.

MURCHISONIA ? (page 25)".

Figs.0 12,13. Lateral view of two examples showing difference iu surface ornamentation.

PATKLLA ? (page 25).

Fig. 14. Dorsal view and surface outline of transverse section. 

BELLKROPTION MONTITOKTIANUS (page 20). 

Figs. 15,16. Two views of a small example.

SPIUOUBIS ? (page 30).

Fig. 17. Upper view, much enlarged.

All figures of natural size except the last, which is much enlarged.

48
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 77 PL. Ill

16

INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS'FROM THE TEXAN PERMIAN.
49 

Bull. 77 4
PLATE IV.

AVICULOPECTEN OCCIDENTALIS (page 29). 

Fig. 1. Left valve.

GERVILLIA LOKOA (page 29). 

Fig. 2. Left side view.

CLIDOPHORUS OCCIDENTALIS (page 27.) 

Fig. 3. Eight side view.

YOLDIAf 8UB8CITULA (page 27.)

Fig. 4. Left side view.

PLEUROPHORUS t

Fig. 5. Left side view of a natural cast of the interior of the shell.

Fig. 6. Dorsal view of the same.

Figs. 7, 8. Right side view of the two natural casts of the interior of the shell.

Fig. 9. Similar view of another broader example.

Fig. 10. Right side view of an artificial cast, showing surface markings.

SEDGWICKIA TOPEKAENSIS (page 26). 

Fig. 11. Lateral view of a natural cast of the interior of a left valve.

MYALINA AVICULOIDES (page 28.) 

Fig. 12. Right Hide view of a natural cast of the interior of the shell.

MYALINA PERATTENUATA (page 28.)

Fig. 13. Left side view of an example from Camp Creek.

Fig. 14. Right side view of an example from Godwin Creek. ,

Fig. 15. Similar view of an example from Military Crossing.

MYALINA PERMIANA (page 28.)

Fig. 16. Left side view of an example from Godwin Creek. 

Fig. 17. Right side view of an example from Camp Creek. 

Figs. 18, 19. Right aud left side views of two examples from the Military Crossing.

CYTHERE NEBUASCENSIS (page 30.)

Fig. 20. Lateral view and vertical outline, much enlarged. All except Fig. 20 are 

of natural size.

60
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 77 PL. IV

INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS FROM THE TEXAN PERMIAN.
INDEX.

Ammonites parkori Heilprln, In Carboniferous of Wise Cointy,Texas .............. 31

Archer County, f Dssils found in .... .... 9,15

copper ores in.......................... 10

Aviculopecten occklentails ................ 29

Baylor County,fossils found In ............ 15

Bellerophou crasims ....................... 26

montfortianus......................... 26

 1................................. 26

Big Wichita, Military Crossing of.......... 15

Camp Creek, foseils found at...... ...... 15

Clidophorns occklentalis................... 27

Coal Measures, a division of the Carboniferous system ........................... 9

Mesozoic coal-bearing strata, ofteu so 

called................................ 9

of Texas............................... 13

Cope, E.D., cited on Permian fossils........ 12

Copper ores in Texan Permian............. 10

Cummins, W. F., discovery of Permian fossilsby ............................... 9

Information received from.............. 9

Cythere nebrascensis................. .. 30

Euomphalns !....................... 25

subquadratua.......................... 25

Fontaine, W. M., and I. C. "White, remarks 

on the Permian quoted................... 34

Fossils (invertelorate), list of, in Texan Permian ................................. 16

Localities of. in Texan Permian . .. 15 

Gemmellaro, G. (J-., cited on Sicilian fossils.. 9,10 

Geological mapsi of McGce and Hitchcock 

cited.................................... 10

Gervillia longa....... . .... ..... 29

Godwin Creek,fossils found at.. ...... 15

Goniatites baylorensis....... ......... 19

Gypsum-bearing beds............ ....... 13

fossils found in ............. ........ 13

Heilprin, Angelo, cited with reference to 

Ammonites psrkeri...................... 81

Hitchcock,C.H.,geological map cited..... 10

India, Mesozoic forms in the Carboniferous 

strata of.................................. 9

Indian Territory, Permian of............... 11

McGee, W. J., geological map cited........ 10

Meekoceras beds of Idaho, possibly Permian.. ........................... ... 36

Medlicottia copei................... .... 21

Meaocoio types of fossils In Tezan Permian. 9,81

Military Crossing of the Big Wiohita, foseils found at.._..................

Murchisonia t.................

Page.

15

25

Myalinaaviculoides ....................... 28

perattennata........................... 28

permiana .................. ........ 28

Natinopsis remex ........................ 24

ahumardi._.....

Nautilus occidentalis.

winslowi ........

North American Permian, regions of. . 

Old Military Crossing, a settler's term.....

Orthoceras rushensis ....... ... .....

Patella! » ............................

Permian in North America discussed ......

Permian of Texas, copper ores in..........

descriptive section of.................. 15

invertebrate fossils of............ 16,30

Permian regions of North America........ 33

Permo-Carhoniferous, a compromising and 

objectionable term...... ............ 35

Pleuropborus 1 . ........ ..... 27

casts of, found in gypsum-bearing beds. 13 

Popanoceras walcotti...................... 21

Ptychitesoumminsi. .. .............. 20

Scudder, 8. H., on fossil insects of South 

Park, Colorado..................... ... 33

Section, descriptive, of Texan Permian..... 15

Section, general, of Texau formations, illustrated.................................... 14

Sedgwickia topekaensis ............ .... 26

Sicily, Mesozoic forms in carboniferous 

strata of._........................ 9,10

Spirorbis 1........................... 30

Syringopora I........................ 29

Systematic catalogue of Permian vertebrates by E.D.Cope,cited............... 9

Triassio,probable absence of, in Texas.... 13

Waagen, W., cited on fossils of the Salt 

Range, in India ............. .. ... 9

Waagenoceras cnmminsi.................. 20

White, I. C., and W. M. Fontaine, remarks 

on the Permian quoted .................. 34

Teatee, W. S., qualitative analysis of copper 

ores by ............. ... ........... 10

Yoldiaf subscitula.............. .. . 27

61