O. G. Dely szerk.: Vertebrata Hungarica 21. (Budapest, 1982)

Čkhikvadze, V.M.: On findings of fossil Cryptobranchidae in the USSR and Mongolia 63-68. o.

VERTEBRÁTA HUNGARICA TOM. XXI. 1982 p. 63-67 On the findings of fossil Cryptobranchidae in the USSR and Mongolia* By V. M. CKHIKVADZE Abstract: A lower jaw labelled as Zaissatiurus beliajeva

e (in error for Z. belajaevaei) mentioned by CHERNOV (1959) and TATARINOV (1964) originates from the locality KonurKura in the Zaisan depression. A full description is given of this species based on the holotype and other specimens from Kiin-Kerihs, Taizhungen, Kusto-Kyzylkain, etc., all of the same age as the holotype. Other specimens are from the Lower Miocene (KongurKulja) and the Middle Oligocene (Mailabai). The composition of the family Cryptobranchidae is briefly reviewed. The remnants of the giant salamander Zaissanurus beliajeva

e Tschernov, 1959 from the tertiary deposits of the Zaisan hollow have been known for a long time but these materials have not been published as yet. CHERNOV (1959) provided only the scientific name, the locality of the find (a lower jaw), tentative age and probable dimensions of this salamander, indicating that "...it was about 1.25 m long". From personal communications with KHOZATSKIÏ and DAREVSKII it occurred that description of this species is lacking also in CHERNOV'

s heritage of manuscripts. The situation has arisen when, according to Articles 12, 13 and 16 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), the name of this salamander does not meet the fitness criteria (ESTES & DAREVSKY 1977). However, striving to preserve CHERNOV's authorship and the name proposed by him, Zaissanurus beliajeva

e, provided below are not only the description of the holotype which was in CHERNOV's possession, but also additional materials from the collections of the Institute of Paleobiology of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, results of the joint expeditions of the Palaeontological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences (PIN) and Institute of Paleobiology (IP); collections of 1966-1980. On the label of the holotype, in CHERNOV'

s handwriting is: "Zaissanurus beliajevaei Cernov, 1947. Zaissan expedition PIN, 1947. Sup(ervisor) of expedition) E.I. BELIAJEVA. Djeman-Gora. In boulder-stones. ? Paleogene. N 416-12." Some more precise definitions are of certain importance. The date of first mentioning of this salamander should be 1959, but not 1947 as the label claims. The location Djeman-Gora is a rare and also distorted synonym of Konur-Kura (= Djuva-Kara = Djeman-Kara) which is located west of the city Zaisan, 12 km south of the town Karabulak; at the northern slopes of Manrak mountain-ridge in eastern Kazakhstan. The residues of this region still have names given by BELYAEVA in 1946. In this same residues the bones of this salamander * Paper presented by author at the First Herpeteological Conference of Socialist Countries on the 25th August, 1981 in Budapest.