VIII.—On a New Long-headed Dipnoan Fish from the Upper Devonian of Scaumenac Bay, P.Q., Canada

Abstract

The well-known deposits of early Upper Devonian age at Scaumenac Bay, P.Q., Canada, have yielded numerous specimens of the rather primitive Dipnoan which is now known asScaumenacia curta(Whiteaves). During the summer of 1984 one of the authors (W. G.-S.) obtained at this locality three specimens of a very distinct new Dipnoan, characterised by an elongated head and other features. Three other specimens of this new form [No. P. 6785 in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.), the anal fin-skeleton of which was figured by Woodward (1893, p. 241) under the nameScaumenacia curta(Whiteaves), and two in the Royal Scottish Museum] were subsequently recognised in museum collections, but the present account is based entirely on the three specimens mentioned above. From these it has been possible to describe almost the whole skeleton, except the endocranium, and to compare it, in some detail, with those of other primitive Dipnoi; in this comparison we have used the results of work by Porster-Cooper (1937) onDipterusand by one of the present authors (T. S. W., nearing completion) on certain primitive Dipnoi.