On Bauria cynops Broom

Abstract

Descriptions of this genus and species, the type of an infraorder, have thus far been based on three individuals. The type in the South African Museum, Cape Town is a complete skull, but somewhat unsatisfactorily preserved and cleaned. The second specimen in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, is a good skull with a portion of the skeleton, but the skull has been damaged in the course of preparation. The third specimen is in the Bernard Price Institute. It is an exceptionally fine specimen, but was only superficially cleaned when described. This specimen also includes a portion of the skeleton. Two additional complete skulls, one somewhat crushed, have since been added to the Bernard Price Institute's collection. This paper describes Bauria cynops Broom on information derived from all five specimens. Illustrations are based on the three specimens in this Institute. Attention is also given to the position of this infraorder relative to other related groups.