A new occurrence of Permian Seymouriamorphs in the U.S.S.R.

A large number of specimens of Seymouriamorph amphibian, family Discosauriscidae, were collected from the south slopes of the Kuramanskiy Khrebet, Mt. Sarytaypan, 10 km northeast of the settlement of Adrasman, Tadzhik S.S.R. Deposits yielding the fossils consist of about 70 m of effusive sedimentary rocks, the top third being tuffs, tuff sandstones, and tuff breccias, and the remainder being alternating fine-grained sandstones, argillites, and siltstones, of gray, greenish, pink, and black colors. The beds overlie 800 m of tuff lavas and tuff breccias and are overlain by 200 m of-tuff breccias. Fossil leaves are abundant in the lower half of the beds in all lithologic types, but the vertebrates are confined to about 1 m of adjoining layers of fine-grained gray to pink sandstone, and almost black argillite. The fossils consist of complete impressions of skeletons, which will yield much anatomical information. Two genera are represented, the most abundant referrable to the Central European form Discosauriscus. The other is related to the European Leptoverpeton but may be new. These specimens permit correlation of the Sarytaypan deposits with Lower Permian' bedsgqn Czechoslovakia and Germany. Larval forms are by far the most abundant, but the presence of adults affords a reliable comparison of growth stages. New and detailed information of the development of the spinal column will also be forthcoming from further study of the growth stages. Presence of gills in the larvae reaffirms the persistence of an aquatic larval stage in the morphologically reptile-like Seymouriamorpha. — N. Hotton III.