TORYNOBELODON LOOMISI, gen et. sp. nov.

The group of proboscideans which we have called the shovel-tuskers or Amebelodonts, was announced in June, 1927,1 following the discovery of Amebelodon fricki. In the field season of 1928, two additional species were found which are represented by mandibular tusks. One of these is a tip of a large and unique tusk, numbered 2-3-9-28, S. and L., the collectors being Bertrand Schultz and John LeMar, both of the class of 1931, the University of Nebraska. It was found within 200 to 300 yards of the spot on his farm where Mr. A. S. Keith, Freedom, Frontier County, Nebraska, found Amebelodon fricki in the spring of 1927, the formation being Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene. Influenced by the coarse ladle-shaped mandible, we have named this new form Torynobelodon loomisi, in recognition of Dr. Fred A. Loomis, who has spent many field seasons in exploring the Tertiary series of Nebraska

A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE NEBRASKA STATE MUSEUM

The Nebraska State Museum has been established a sufficient number of years to make it widely known throughout the state, both by reputation and by personal visits. Incident to a growing clientele and an expanding correspondence, it is expedient that a concise circular letter be issued in bulletin form. Such a pamphlet can be promptly forwarded to inquirers and will offer obvious advantages over individual replies

NEBRASKA GREEN QUARTZITE AN IMPORT ANT FUTURE INDUSTRY

ln southern Harlan and Franklin counties, there occur many acres of green quartzite which must be of commercial consequence when made available. It is a neglected resource upon which important industries are sure to be based. With the development of this bed in view, the Nebraska Geological Survey has examined this area. and through this leaflet wishes to place the results before possible investors

AMEBELODON SINCLAIRI sp nov.

Amebelodonts are so new and so rare that even fragmentary facts relative to the group seem worth publishing. The specimen under consideration is a mandibular tusk found on the farm of Mr. A. S. Keith, Freedom, Frontier County, Nebraska, on the Morrill Geological Expedition of 1928, and is numbered 1-17-7-28, S. and L., the collectors being Bertrand Schultz and John LeMar, both of the class of 1931, the University of Nebraska. The formation was Late Pliocene or Pleistocene

NEBRASKA ROCKS WHICH EXCITE COMMON INQUIRY

This leaflet it intended to serve as an answer to correspondents who make inquiry about the rocks of Nebraska1. Unfortunately for those interested in such matters, the rocks of the State are few in number, and are deeply buried from view by sand and soil, so there are thousands of square miles in which even a pebble is a rarity. That our rocks are level and undisturbed is practically true. Still there are some surprisingly interesting folds and faults

THE MANDIBLE OF AMEBELODON FRICKI

The type specimen of the genus Amebelodon is installed in the Nebraska State Museum, the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. It consists of a mandible with tusks and teeth, all of which are dense and perfect, barring minor cracks and breaks. One toe bone and part of a rib found associated with this mandible may belong to this animal. It was discovered by Mr. A. S. Keith on his farm near Freedom, Frontier County, Nebraska; was secured for the palaeontological collections of Hon. Charles H. Morrill by Mr. Phillip Orr, April 4, 1927; was briefly described and figured in a Museum bulletin June, 1927.1 After a long but unavoidable delay, this mandible has just been mounted and the first photographs with correct measurements are now possible and are presented herewith. Preliminary drawings and measurements were made while the specimen was still in its plaster cinches. This unique specimen, representing a new group of longirostral mastodonts, has been named Amebelodon fricki, and the group designated the Amebelodonts, or shovel-tuskers. Amebelodonts are such distinctive elephants that they plainly belong in a group by themselves, namely the sub-family Amebelodontinae. In them is realized the culmination, in the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene, of the flattened tusks and lengthened mandible of Phiomia osborni of the Egyptian Oligocene

BIENNIAL REPORT

The Nebraska Geological Survey as now constituted has been in operation since 1891, but it has enjoyed state aid during the past four years only. Considering the size of the commonwealth and the limited appropriations for geological work, unusual progress has been made. Since no report covering the work of the first biennium was prepared it will be included incidentally in this paper. Briefly stated the Nebraska Geological Survey during the past biennium has devoted especial attention to the industrial resources of the state, prepared ten o! twelve reports in manuscript form, published eight reports completing volumes I and II, made extensive collections of industrial material, fitted an office with furniture and fixtures, finished certain maps, many drawings, photographs, and plates for succeeding reports, and has prepared an invoice and catalogue of all survey material

NOTICE OF JELLY FISHES IN THE CARBONIFEROUS OF NEBRASKA, MEDUSINA WALCOTTI

In visiting the quarries of the State, certain quadripartite objects suggesting the form of jelly fishes have long attracted the writer\u27s attention. They are large and coarse, and were assumed to be imitative concretions. However, the total number observed seems to strengthen the probability that they are of organic origin. In the fall of 1913, while conducting a field class through the Burlington Quarries, located about two miles northwest of South Bend, they were noted again in a new locality, and three specimens were obtained. Two of these were unusual examples, and showed sufficient structure to identify them with the Medusae

REPORT OF PROGRESS OF THE NEBRASKA STATE MUSEUM

The history and development of the Nebraska State Museum since 1891 have been summarized in a preliminary manner up to 1925 in the first number of Volume I of the Bulletin of the Nebraska State Museum.1 Since 1927, the collections of the Nebraska State Museum, The University of Nebraska, have been housed in a new building, Morrill Hall, on the city campus of The University of Nebraska. It now seems fitting to report upon the exceptional progress of the past few years, and to acknowledge the fine cooperation of those who have helped to make it possible

THE ARTICULATED SKELETON OF TITANOTHERIUM

The skeleton of a titanotherium, stored since 1894, was installed in the west corridor of Morrill Hall, April 28, 1931. In the meantime the specimen has been visited by many citizens, women\u27s clubs, and especially by delegations of school children, boy scouts, and like organizations, from various parts of the State and elsewhere. Repeated requests for a popular report on this particular specimen actuates the writing of this leaflet. Titanotheres were by far the largest creatures of Oligocene time in Nebraska. In point of size they are called gigantic, elephantine, and titanic. The titans of Greek mythology were giants, and therium means beast, so Titan6- therium seems a fitting appellation for these huge and impressive creatures. The skeleton under discussion measures eleven to twelve feet in length, and it stands seven and a quarter feet at the shoulders. In the flesh it must have been about eight feet at the withers. It was a titanothere of medium rather than large size, otherwise it could not have been installed in the case shown in the figure. During that remote time when the strata now exposed in our Bad Lands were being laid down as muds, titanotheres were very abundant. The territory embraced by Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming, is counted the cradle of this strange and comparatively short-lived race. This region was their home, and the part they played in the drama of animal life was enacted here. They have been counted local, but may have been more cosmopolitan than is generally allowed. A few, at least, found their way across the land bridge into the eastern hemisphere, and some even reached Europe. Their gait was slow and heavy like the elephants, but those possessed of longer and less ponderous limbs were capable of corresponding activity and speed