Dragons of the Air: An Account of Extinct Flying ReptilesSeeley, H. G. (Harry Govier)
Science
Dragons of the Air: An Account of Extinct Flying Reptiles
Seeley, H. G. (Harry Govier)
Pterosauria
The Saurischian Dinosauria have an antorbital vacuity in the side of the
skull between the nasal opening and the eye, as in the long-tailed
Ornithosaurs named Pterodermata. In some of the older genera of these
carnivorous Dinosaurs of the Trias, the lateral vacuities of the head
are as large as in Dimorphodon. But in some at least of the Iguanodont,
or Ornithischian Dinosaurs, there is no antorbital vacuity, and the side
of the face in that respect resembles the short-tailed Pterodactylia.
The skull of a carnivorous Dinosaur possesses teeth which, though easily
distinguished from those of Pterodactyles, can be best compared with
them. The most striking difference is in the fact that in the Dinosaur
the nostrils are nearly terminal, while in the Pterodactyle they are
removed some distance backward. This result is brought about by growth
taking place, in the one case at the front margin of the maxillary bone
so as to carry the nostril forward, and in the other case at the back
margin of the premaxillary bone. Thus an elongated part of the jaw is
extended in front of the nostril. Hence there is a different proportion
between the premaxillary and maxillary bones in the two groups of
animals, which corresponds to the presence of a beak in a bird, and its
absence in living reptiles. It is not known whether the extremity of the
Pterodactyle's beak is a single bone, the intermaxillary bone, such as
forms the corresponding toothless part of the jaw in the South African
reptile Dicynodon, or whether it is made by the pair of bones called
premaxillaries which form the extremity of the jaw in most Dinosaurs.
Too much importance may perhaps be attached to such differences which
are partly hypothetical, because the extinct Ichthyosaurus, which has an
exceptionally long snout, has the two premaxillary bones elongated so as
to extend backward to the nostrils. A similar elongation of those bones
is seen in Porpoises, which also have a long snout; and the bones are
carried back from the front of the head to the nostrils, which are
sometimes known as blowholes. But the Porpoise has those premaxillary
bones not so much in advance of the bones which carry teeth named
maxillary, as placed in the interspace between them. The nostrils,
however, are not limited to the extremity of the head in all Dinosaurs.
If this region of the beak in Dimorphodon be compared with the
corresponding part of a Dinosaur from the Permian rocks, or Trias, the
relation of the nostril to the bones forming the beak may be better
understood.
[Illustration: FIG. 78. COMPARISON OF THE SKULL OF THE DINOSAUR
ORNITHOSUCHUS WITH THE ORNITHOSAUR DIMORPHODON]
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