A PREHISTORIC MAMMAL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1749, 14 May 1913, Page 8

A PREHISTORIC MAMMAL.

FIND AT WAVERLEY. (By Telegraph.— Special Correspondent.) Wanganiii, May 13. ; About two weeks ago several, fossilised bones ,wcro discovered ou the side' of a cliff at AVaverlcy bench, and were forwarded, ,(;o Ml', A. Hamilton, Director of tbo Dominion Museum, at Wellington, • asking-.for his opinion. 'He lias now for■warded tbo following interesting reply:— "I have received your pieces of fossil bones, and they appear to/mo to bo un--1 doubtedly a part of tho.bone of a fossil cetacean. The only thing against this would be that It lies under about 30ft. of .papa. If'yo'u. the blue clay w-hicli, is. called papa 'on the cast coast, it is'rather curious, but if it is only tho sandy; yellowish clays arid sands of tho Patou, coast, it is not so curious. Sorao of tho bones "are, of oourse, a great size— tho vertebrae-are'very'large. In a similar situation, near, fiunedin,-there n'as exposed-many years ago a, largo series of vertebrae of tho samo'-class. • Very little work 'has been done in identifying these oolaceans. Perhaps tho best cetacean's skeleton yet found was obtained by Mr. Jl'lvay, geologist' to the old survey, at AVharekuri, in the AVaitaki Valley. It was very large, and belonged to tile toothed vdriet.v, called kekenodon. Reptilian bones are.sometimes..found in tho older formations as' largo as these, tut very fragmentary, principally in tho South Island. ■.Tho-texture,, however, is quite different." - ' It is probable that a. further effort will bo mado to recover tho. balance of the skeleton at an early date.