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
A second English Pterodactyle is found in the Upper Lias of Whitby. It
is only known from an imperfect skull, published in 1888. It has the
great advantage of preserving the bones in their natural relations to
each other, and with a length of head probably similar to Dimorphodon
shows that the depth at the back of the eye was much less; and the skull
wants the arched contour of face seen in Dimorphodon. The head has the
same four lateral vacuities, but the nostril is relatively small and
elongated, extending partly above the oval antorbital opening, which was
larger. There is thus a difference of proportion, but it is precisely
such as might result from the species having the skull flatter. The head
is easily distinguished by the small nostril, which is smaller than the
orbit of the eye. The animal is referred to another genus. The quadrate
bones which give attachment to the lower jaw send a process inward to
meet the bones of the palate, which differ somewhat from the usual
condition. Two bony rods extend from the quadrate bones backward and
upward to the sphenoid, and two more slender bones extend from the
quadrate bones forward, and converge in a #V#-shape, to define the
division between the openings of the nostrils on the palate. The
#V#-shaped bone in front is called the vomer, while the hinder part is
called pterygoid. The bones that extend backward to the sphenoid are not
easily identified. This animal is one of the most interesting of
Pterodactyles from the very reptilian character exhibited in the back of
the head, which appears to be different from other specimens, which are
more like a bird in that region. Yet underneath this reptilian aspect,
with the bony bar at the side of the temporal region of the head formed
by the squamosal and quadrate bones, defining the two temporal vacuities
as in Reptiles, a mould is preserved of the cavity once occupied by the
brain, showing the chief details of structure of that organ, and proving
that in so far as it departs from the brain of a Bird it appears to
resemble the brain of a Mammal, and is unlike the brain of a Reptile.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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