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
differences in the pelvis; for the anterior process of the ilium is very
short, in comparison with its length in the genus Pterodactylus. And the
long stalk of the prepubic bone with its great hammer-headed expansion
transversely in front gives those bones a character unlike other genera,
so that Cycnorhamphus ranks as a good genus, easily distinguished from
Cuvier's type, in which the four bones of the wing are more equal in
length, and the last is more than half the length of the first; while
the metacarpus in that genus is only a little longer than the humerus,
and much shorter than the ulna. The _Pterodactylus suevicus_ has the
neck vertebræ flat on the under side, and relatively short as compared
with the more slender and narrower vertebræ of _P. Fraasii_.
CHAPTER XV
ORNITHOSAURS FROM THE UPPER SECONDARY ROCKS
When staying at Swanage, in Dorsetshire, many years ago, I had the rare
good fortune to obtain from the Purbeck Beds the jaw of a Pterodactyle,
which had much in common in plan with the _Cycnorhamphus Fraasii_ from
the Lithographic Slate, which is preserved at Stuttgart. The
tooth-bearing part of this lower jaw is 8 inches long as preserved,
extending back 3 inches beyond the symphysis portion in which the two
sides are blended together. It is different from Professor Fraas's
specimen in having the teeth carried much further back, and in the
animal being nearly twice as large. This fragment of the jaw is little
more than 1 foot long, which is probably less than half its original
length. A vertebra nearly 5 inches long, which is more than twice the
length of the longest neck bones in the Stuttgart fossil, is the only
indication of the vertebral column. Professor Owen described a wing
finger bone from these Purbeck Beds, which is nearly 1 foot long. He
terms it the second of the finger. It may be the third, and on the
hypothesis that the animal had the proportions of the Solenhofen fossil
just referred to, the first wing finger bone of the English Purbeck
Pterodactyle would have exceeded 2 feet in length, and would give a
length for the wing finger of about 5 feet 3 inches. For this animal the
name Doratorhynchus was suggested, but at present I am unable to
distinguish it satisfactorily from Cycnorhamphus, which it resembles in
the forms both of the neck bones and of the jaw. Very small
Pterodactyles are also found in the English Purbeck strata, but the
remains are few, and scattered, like these larger bones.
[Illustration: FIG. 65. THE LONGEST KNOWN NECK VERTEBRA
From the Purbeck Beds of Swanage. (Half natural size)]
ORNITHODESMUS LATIDENS
[Illustration: FIG. 66. CERVICAL VERTEBRA OF ORNITHODESMUS
From the Wealden Beds of the Isle of Wight]
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