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 bones of the fore-arm are similar to each other in size, and if
there be any difference between them the ulna is slightly the larger.
There is some evidence that in Rhamphorhynchus the upper end of the ulna
was placed behind the radius, probably in consequence of the mode of
attachment of those bones to the humerus. The ulna abutted towards the
inner and lower border, while the radius was towards the upper border,
consequent upon the twist in the humerus. This condition corresponds
substantially with the arrangement in birds, but differs from birds in
the relatively more important part taken by the radius in making the
articulation. The bones are compared in Dimorphodon with the Golden
Eagle drawn of the same size (Fig. 42). In birds the ulna supports the
great feathers of the wing, and this may account for the size of the
bone. The ulna is best seen at its proximal end in the specimens from
the Cambridge Greensand, where there is a terminal olecranon
ossification forming an oblique articulation, which frequently comes
away and is lost. It is sometimes well preserved, and indicated by a
suture. The examples of ulna from the Lias show a slight expansion of
the bone at both ends, and at the distal end toward the wrist the
articulation is well defined, where the bone joins the carpus. The
larger specimens of the bone are broken. The distal articular surface is
only connected with the proximal end of the bone in small specimens: it
always shows on the one margin a concavity, followed by a prominent
boss, and an oblique articulation beyond the boss. On the side towards
the radius, on the lower end of the shaft there is an angular ridge,
which marks the line along which the ulna overlaps the radius. The
lower end of the radius has a simple, slightly convex articulation,
somewhat bean-shaped. No rotation of these bones on each other was
possible as in man. There is a third bone in the fore-arm. This bone,
named the pteroid, is commonly seen in skeletons from Solenhofen. It was
regarded by Von Meyer as having supported the wing membrane in flight.
Some writers have interpreted it as an essential part of the
Pterodactyle skeleton, and Von Meyer thought that it might possibly
indicate a fifth digit in the hand. The only existing structure at all
like it is seen in the South African insectivorous mammal named
_Chrysochloris capensis_, the golden mole, which also has three bones in
the fore-arm, the third bone extending half-way up towards the humerus.
In that animal the third bone appears to be behind the others and
adjacent to the ulna. In the German fossils the pteroid articulated with
a separate carpal or metacarpal bone, placed on the side of the arm
adjacent to the radius, and the radius is always more inward than the
ulna. If the view suggested by Von Meyer is adopted, this bone would be
a first digit extending outward and backward towards the humerus. That
view was adopted by Professor Marsh. It involves the interpretation of
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