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 present specimen is preserved on a block of slate from Cannelton,
Pennsylvania. It is associated with the previously described _Erpetosaurus
sculptilis_ Moodie on account of its size, the geological and geographical
distribution, and the character of the sculpture. It may pertain to an
unknown species. Other remains besides the 3 elements of the pectoral
girdle are preserved on the block of slate, but they are, for the most
part, too imperfectly preserved for recognition. Some of them are
phalanges, and I believe I detect a scapula in the rounded curved plate
lying near the right clavicle. The 3 pectoral elements, the interclavicle
and the 2 clavicles, are preserved intact, with the ventral surface
uppermost.
The specimen is particularly important in that it furnishes further
evidence of the simplicity of the microsaurian pectoral girdle, which
Jaekel regarded (347) as being extremely complex, in one species at
least, _Diceratosaurus punctolineatus_ Cope. The 3 elements are broken,
but either the elements or their impressions are present, so that
identification is possible. The elements are sculptured with radiating
grooves and ridges, as in so many of the Microsauria. The interclavicle
is spatulate and bears a general resemblance to the same element of
_Metoposaurus fraasi_ Lucas from the Triassic (383) of Arizona. The
clavicles are triangular, with rounded angles and the hypothenuse on the
interior border.
[Illustration: MOODIE PLATE 14
1 and 2. Photograph of the specimen of _Amphibamus grandiceps_
Cope, from the Mazon Creek shales. × 1.5. Original in possession
of Mr. L. E. Daniels, Rolling Prairie, Indiana.
3. Specimen of _Sauropleura (Colosteus) scutellata_ Newberry, from
the Linton Coal Measures. The species was the first known of the
Ohio Coal Measures Amphibia; at first ascribed by Newberry to the
fishes, but later correctly identified by Cope. × 1. Original in
American Museum of Natural History.
4. The type of _Diceratosaurus (Ceraterpeton) punctolineatus_ Cope,
from the Linton Coal Measures. × 1. Original in American Museum
of Natural History.
]
Measurements of Pectoral Girdle of Specimen No. 4539, U. S. National
Museum.
mm.
Width across the entire girdle 17
Length of interclavicle 15
Width of interclavicle 10
Length of clavicle 11
Width of clavicle, maximum 6
=Erpetosaurus acutirostris Moodie.=
Moodie, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XXVI, pp. 349-351, pl. lxi, fig.
1, 1909.
Type: Specimen No. 8598 G, American Museum of Natural History.
Horizon and locality: Linton, Ohio, Coal Measures.
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