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
There are six elements of the pectoral girdle preserved. These are: the
six clavicles, the interclavicle, the coracoid of one side, and the two
scapulæ. The interclavicle is rhomboid in form and acuminate posteriorly.
It is sculptured with radiating grooves and ridges. It is quite different
from the same element in _T. punctulatus_, in that the base is acuminate,
not truncate. The clavicle presents much the same shape as does that
element in _Erpetosaurus tabulatus_. It is ornamented by a sculpturing of
radiating lines which take their origin from the lower external angle as
the bone lies in the matrix. The clavicle is somewhat triangular in shape
and lies close to the skull, but this close approximation of the pectoral
elements to the cranium is due probably to post-mortem shifting, since the
scapulæ are shifted backward. There can be little doubt, however, that
the pectoral arch was close to the cranium. There is an oval fragment
preserved on the left of the specimen which I take to be a portion of
the coracoid. The scapula is preserved entire on the left side and is
represented by fragments on the right side. It is almost semicircular in
form and narrows externally until it is somewhat fan-shaped. There appears
to be an ornamentation of lines on the surface of the bone. These lines
follow the contour of the anterior border.
The arm is preserved nearly complete on the left side, and the right
side shows the humerus and the forearm. The humeri are unusual in having
well-developed articular ends as though the endochondral tissue was
well developed. The humerus is expanded at the ends and it is larger at
the upper than at the lower end. The ulna is expanded at the proximal
extremity, but is more attenuated at the distal portion. It is shorter
than the humerus by about one-third of its own length. The radius is a
mere slender rod of bone and presents well-developed articular ends. It is
slightly shorter than the ulna. The carpus is unossified and its position
is represented by a blank space. There are phalanges of 4 digits preserved
and they are 4 in number. The phalangeal elements, like the other bones of
the extremity, have the articular surfaces prominent, with the terminal
phalanx claw-like.
There are no ribs nor traces of them preserved, and a conjecture as to
their character can not be hazarded, since they are known in but two other
species, in which they are slender and curved. There is no evidence of a
ventral scutellation, and so far as is at present known this structure
is absent from all of the species of the genus, or at least it is weakly
developed.
The ilium is all that is preserved of the pelvis. The bone itself has
disappeared and has left a depression which shows this element to have
been an elongate rod very similar to that described for _Micrerpeton_. The
sacral vertebra seems to be indicated by a depression between the iliac
depressions.
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