V.—On the Teeth and Buccal Structures in the genus Conulus, Leske

Abstract

The question as to the existence and characters of the jaws in Conulus albogalerus, Leske, has long been a subject of controversy. On prima facie evidence it seemed probable, so long as the genus was retained among the Holectypoida (the Galeritidæ of older authors), that jaws existed. Conulus appears as a successor to Discoidea among the Cretaceous Echinoids, and, with a few exceptions, all echinologists admitted that the latter genus was armed with a lantern and teeth. The truth of this assumption was proved by Lovén (Lovén, 1892, p. 53), and the details of the jaw structure were elaborated recently by myself in this Magazine (pp. 148–52, PL VI, 1909). That Conulus should be classed among the Holectypoida seems to be an established proposition, and it appeared in the early part of the Cretaceous period, together with Pyrina, probably as an offshoot from the Holectypus line of descent.