The Coal Measures Amphibia of North AmericaMoodie, Roy Lee
Science
The Coal Measures Amphibia of North America
Moodie, Roy Lee
Amphibians, Fossil -- North America; Paleontology -- Carboniferous; Paleontology -- North America
The species differs from the type of the genus (_T. punctulatus_) in the
possession of a broadly rounded muzzle. This character will also separate
it from other species of the genus. The sculpturing of the bones of the
cranium is coarser in the present species than in the type. The form
of the clavicle is different in the two species. The above-described
species seems to be more closely allied to the form described as Tuditanus
walcotti than to other species of the genus. I have been unable to detect
the presence of limbs, although Cope says they are present.
Measurements of the Type of Tuditanus brevirostris Cope.
mm.
Median length of skull 15
Width of skull at posterior border 18
Width of skull across orbits 11.5
Length of orbit 3
Width of orbit 2
Interorbital space 4.5
Length of clavicle 7
Width of clavicle 3
Length of longest rib preserved 9
Length of entire specimen 54
The material consists of the type specimen with counterpart and two
fragments which probably are to be associated with this species. Collected
by Doctor J. S. Newberry.
=Tuditanus longipes Cope.=
Cope, Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc., XV, p. 210, 1874 (Sauropleura).
Cope, Geol. Surv. Ohio, II, pt. II, 398, pl. XXVI, fig. 2, 1875.
Type: Specimen No. 1099 G, American Museum of Natural History.
Horizon and locality: Linton, Ohio, Coal Measures.
The cranium of this species is quite unknown. The only genus with
which the specimen can be compared in the structure of the skeleton is
_Tuditanus_. From the other species of the genus the present form differs
in the presence of ventral chevron rods and the elongate character of the
limbs, as well as in the possession of large iliac bones, which, in the
only other species in which the ilia are known, are small and slender. It
seems best to locate the species in this genus for the present, although
it may eventually have to be removed to another group. Very little is
known of the main portion of the skeleton of the species of _Tuditanus_,
other than in _T. longipes_, so an exact comparison is impossible. From
all the species of Tuditanus thus far known the present species differs
in the elongate character of the limbs and in the presence of ventral
scutellation. There are three other species of Tuditanus in which the
limbs are known. These are: _T. walcotti_ Moodie, _T. minimus_ Moodie,
and _T. punctulatus_ Cope. In these three species the limbs are short
and weakly developed. From the other species of _Tuditanus_ the present
species maybe separated by its size principally, since nothing of the
bodies of the other species is known.
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