The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle [vol. 1 of 5]: Fossil mammalia

The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle [vol. 1 of 5]: Fossil mammalia

Mr. Owen having undertaken the description of the fossil remains of the Mammalia, which were collected during the voyage of the Beagle, and which are now deposited in the Museum of the College of Surgeons in London, it remains for me briefly to state the circumstances under which they were discovered. As it would require a lengthened discussion to enter fully on the geological history of the deposits in which these remains have been preserved, and as this will be the subject of a separate work, I shall here only give sufficient details, for the reader to form some general idea of the epoch, at which these animals lived,of their relative antiquity one to the other,and of the circumstances under which their skeletons were embedded. All the remains were found between latitudes 31 and 50 on the eastern side of South America. The localities may conveniently be classed under three divisions, namelythe Provinces bordering the Plata; Bahia Blanca situated near the confines of Northern Patagonia; and Southern Patagonia. The first division includes an enormous area, abounding with the remains of large animals. To the eastward and southward of the great streams, which unite to form the estuary of the Plata, those almost boundless plains extend, which are known by the name of the Pampas. Their physical constitution does not vary over a wide extent;the traveller may pass for many hundred miles on a level surface, without meeting with a single pebble, or discovering any change in 4the nature of the soil. The formation consists of a reddish argillaceous earth, generally containing irregular concretions of a pale brown, indurated marl. This stone, where most compact, is traversed by small linear cavities, and in several respects resembles the less pure fresh-water limestones of Europe. The concretions not unfrequently become so numerous, that they unite and form a continuous stratum, or even the entire mass. At Bajada de Sta. F, in the Province of Entre Rios, beds of sand, limestone, and clay of different qualities, containing sharks teeth and sea-shells, underlie the Pampas deposit. The shells, although numerous, are few in kind. Mr. George B. Sowerby informs me that they appear to belong to one of the less ancient tertiary epochs; they consist of Venus nov. spec. near to V. cancellata; Arca nov. spec. near to A. antiquata; a very large oyster, probably an extinct species; an imperfect specimen of a second species of oyster near to O. edulis; and a Pecten near to P. opercularis. These beds pass upwards into an indurated marl, and this again into the red argillaceous earth of the Pampas, containing the remains of those extinct quadrupeds, which every where characterize that deposit. To the southward of the Plata level plains of an uniform composition, interrupted only at wide intervals by hills of crystalline rock, extend to a distance of about three hundred miles; and to the northward for at least an equal space, and probably much further. As might have been expected from the perfectly level surface, wherever a continuous section is presented on the banks of the great rivers, very slight changes of colour show, that the deposit has been accumulated in strata as horizontal as the land, or as the water-line at the base of the cliffs. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 68925
Author: Owen, Richard
Release Date: Sep 6, 2022
Format: eBook
Language: English
Publisher: Smith, Elder & Co,1839,copyright 1840,copyright 1841
Publication Date: 1839
Publisher Country: United Kingdom

Contributors

Editor: Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882