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 elements of the cranium are very poorly preserved. It has been
impossible to determine all of the sutures. The bones of the premaxillary
region have been destroyed, but the arrangement of them was probably not
far different from that which obtains in other members of the genus. The
posterior boundaries of the nasals are preserved and prove this element
to have had an obtuse posterior border. The sutures bounding the frontals
are clear and show that they were small and that they formed a part of
the inner boundary of the orbits. The parietal is recognized as a large
element, apparently the largest in the skull. Together the parietals form
a wide oval inclosing, on the median suture, the circular pineal foramen.
The parietals are sculptured with coarse radiating grooves and ridges,
much after the manner of _Erpetosaurus radiatus_ Cope. The pittings
present on that form are, however, absent in _T. minimus_. The sutures
bounding the postparietal are tolerably well defined and these show that
element to have been rather large and quadrate, with the usual relations.
The tabulare is distinct, triangular, and small. It is produced into an
angle on the posterior border strongly recalling a similar condition in
_T. punctulatus_. The boundaries of the prefrontals and the upper borders
of the maxillæ are not clearly ascertained. The lacrimal has not been
detected. The post-frontal and postorbital form the posterior boundary
of the orbit, although all of the limits of the latter element have not
been definitely determined. The position of the supratemporal is well
assured, although its entire boundaries are not determined. It has the
usual relations and joins the parietal broadly. The jugal is broad and
widens posteriorly to join the squamosal, which, as usual, forms the
quadrate angle of the skull. The sutures bounding the quadratojugal and
the posterior end of the maxilla are not determined.
There are but two fragmentary vertebræ preserved and an estimate based
on the length of these remains gives about 30 presacral vertebræ. The
structure of the vertebræ preserved can not be ascertained, but the neural
spines appear to have been low and stout.
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