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 supratemporal lies posterior to the postorbital
and jugal and borders the quadratojugal, which is an unusual condition,
but what significance the condition has remains to be determined.
Posterior to the supratemporal lies the squamosal, which forms the
quadrate angle of the skull. The quadratojugal is a small element and
forms part of the lateral boundary of the skull. The jugal is a large
element and forms the entire lateral border of the orbit. There are
no teeth preserved on the fragment of the maxilla, but there are some
impressions farther forward which resemble the pleurodont denticles of the
modern Amphibia.
The sculpture of the surface of the cranial bones consists of parallel
ridges which are separated by grooves equal to them in width. The ridges
radiate inward on the squamosals and f rentals and outward on the
supratemporals. They are somewhat interrupted on the other skull elements.
The right clavicle is ornamented with a sculpture of similar radiating
grooves and ridges.
Cope described an atlas in connection with this skull, but I do not find
it. The slender impressions to the right of the clavicle may possibly
represent ribs. They are gently curved and truncate at the inner end.
A nearly complete system of lateral-line canals has been detected on
this skull. The canals preserved are: the temporal, the jugal, the
infraorbital, the occipital cross-commissure, and the supraorbital. These
terms were used for the first time for the Amphibia by the writer (458)
in a discussion of the organs and their significance in the correlation
of the skull elements. The occipital cross-commissure in the present
skull is represented by a row of elongate pits, such as Andrews (8) has
described for _Ceraterpeton galvani_ Huxley from the Coal Measures of
England. The cross-commissure is contained within the tabulare. The jugal
and temporal canals form a complete ring, much as the same canals do
in _Trematosaurus_. The supratemporal in _Erpetosaurus tabulatus_ Cope
is excluded from the parietal by the extension of the tabulare and the
postorbital, and it is to be noticed that the temporal canal has a changed
position to correspond with the changed condition of the squamosal. This
is of considerable interest in connection with the correlation of the
supratemporal in fishes and amphibians. This subject has been fully
treated in another place (458) and it will only be necessary to state
here that on the basis of the lateral-line canals and their arrangement
in fishes and the Amphibia the true correlation of the supratemporal
elements in amphibians and fishes has been made. The temporal canal in the
present specimen has, apparently, an indication of a connection with the
supraorbital canal, but of this I am not sure. The jugal canal occurs on
the supratemporal and quadratojugal, and it joins the infraorbital on the
jugal. The infraorbital is indicated by a short portion a few millimeters
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