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
In the sandstone of Elgin, usually named Trias, a small Dinosaur is
found, which has been named Ornithosuchus, from the resemblance of its
head to that of a Bird. Seen from above, the head has a remarkable
resemblance to the condition in Rhamphorhynchus, in the sharp-pointed
beak and positions of the orbits and other openings. In side view the
orbits have the triangular form seen in Dimorphodon, and the preorbital
vacuities are large, as in that genus, while the lateral nostrils, which
are smaller, are further forward in the Dinosaur. The differences from
Dimorphodon are in the articulation for the jaw being carried a little
backward, instead of being vertical as in the Pterodactyle, and the bone
in front of the nose is smaller. Notwithstanding probable differences
in the palate, the approximation, which extends to the Crocodile-like
vacuity in the lower jaw, is such that by slight modification in the
skull the differences would be substantially obliterated by which the
skull of such an Ornithosaur is technically distinguished from such a
Dinosaur.
The back of the skull is clearly seen in the Whitby Pterodactyle, and
its structure is similar to the corresponding part of such Dinosaurs as
Anchisaurus or Atlantosaurus, without the resemblance quite amounting to
identity, but still far closer than is the resemblance between the same
region in the heads of Crocodiles, Lizards, Serpents, Chelonians. Few of
these fossil Dinosaur skulls are available for comparison, and those
differ among themselves. The coincidences rather suggest a close
collateral relation than prove the elaboration of one type from the
other. They may have had a common ancestor.
The Trias rocks near Stuttgart have yielded Dinosaurs as unlike
Pterodactyles as could be imagined, resembling heavily armoured
Crocodiles, in such types as the genus Belodon. Its jaws are compressed
from side to side, as in many Pterodactyles, and the nostrils are at
least as far backward as in Rhamphorhynchus. Belodon has preorbital
vacuities and postorbital vacuities, but the orbit of the eye is never
large, as in Pterodactyles. It might not be worth while dwelling on such
points in the skull if it were not that the pelvis in Belodon is a basin
formed by the blending of the expanded plates of the ischium and the
pubis, into a sheet of bone which more nearly resembles the same region
in Pterodactyles than does the ischio-pubic region in other Dinosaurian
animals like Cetiosaurus.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account