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 impression of the skull is distinct only in a favorable light, and
even then the boundaries of the cranium are a little uncertain. For this
reason no representation of the form will be attempted. The sculpturing
on the parietals is, however, distinct enough to show relationship with
the previously described specimen, and the form of the body impression,
the absence of abdominal scutes, the shape of the clavicle and its
sculpture, and the proportions of the hind limbs all agree with the
characters which have been assigned to the genus _Tuditanus_. The fragment
of the jaw is interesting as giving the first information as to the
character of the mandible in the genus _Tuditanus_. It is very slender and
of uniform width as far as preserved. The teeth are short, blunt cones,
apparently pleurodont.
The clavicle is of the typical _Tuditanus_ form, with the sculpturing
lines radiating out from the angle. The impression of the body adds
nothing to that already described for the type specimen. The nearly entire
hind limb is of great interest as adding another example of the phalangeal
formula. The foot is almost perfectly preserved, and the formula was
probably 2-2-3-3-2. The endochondrium of the limb bones is not highly
developed. About a dozen vertebræ are represented by molds in the soft
coal, but nothing of their structure can be determined.
The sharp, reptile-like claws in which the toes end (fig. 21, B) recall
those of _Eosauravus_ and of _Tuditanus minimus_ Moodie. It is another
link in the chain of the suggested relationship between the microsaurians
and the early reptiles.
Measurements of the Second Specimen of Tuditanus walcotti Moodie.
mm.
Length of entire body impression 75
Width across belly, maximum 16
Length of skull ?17
Posterior width of skull ?14
Length of fragment of jaw 4
Width of fragment of jaw 1.5
Length of tooth in jaw .25
Length of clavicle 8
Width of clavicle, maximum 4
Length of hind limb 22
Length of femur 8
Length of tibia (?) 6
Length of metatarsal 2
Length of first digit 6
=Genus ERPETOSAURUS Moodie, 1909.=
Moodie, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XXVI, p. 348, fig. 1, 1909.
Moodie, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 37, p. 21, 1909.
Type: _Erpetosaurus radiatus_ Cope.
Skull stout, elements sculptured with radiating grooves, ridges, and
pits; orbits large and usually placed far forward; occiput sometimes
with posterior table; skull more or less rounded; lateral-line canals
consisting of supraorbital, suborbital, jugal, and temporal canals,
the last two uniting to form a circular canal in one species; clavicle
triangular, sculptured like the skull.
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