The Ornithosauria: An elementary study of the bones of Pterodactyles made from fossil remains found in the Cambridge Upper Greensand, and arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of CambridgeSeeley, H. G. (Harry Govier)
Science
The Ornithosauria: An elementary study of the bones of Pterodactyles made from fossil remains found in the Cambridge Upper Greensand, and arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge
Seeley, H. G. (Harry Govier)
Pterosauria
A fragment of premaxillary bone two inches long, fractured behind the
socket for the seventh tooth. It most nearly resembles _O. Sedgwicki_
and _O. Cuvieri_. Behind the second tooth the palate is 1/2 an inch
wide; behind the sixth socket it is 5/8ths of an inch wide; the
distance between these points is nearly 1-1/2 inch. The palate is
flattened, with a sharp slight mesial keel and a wide concave channel
on each side which dies away in front. The first pair of teeth are in
front of the snout, rather small, and look forward. In this specimen
the large third tooth is not developed on the left side. The second and
third sockets are large and close together; the succeeding teeth are
parted from each other by interspaces equal to their own diameter. They
are gibbously elliptical. The sides of the jaw are gently convex from
above downward; they round into each other to form a narrow rostral
keel. Behind the second socket the jaw is 1/2 an inch high; behind the
sixth it is nearly 7/8ths of an inch high.
The grooved and relatively wider palate, and the relatively smaller
teeth, abundantly distinguish this species from _O. Sedgwicki_ (Owen).
The smaller, more circular teeth, placed closer together, distinguish
it from _O. Cuvieri_ (Bowerbank).
XII.
Ornithocheirus scaphorynchus (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Tablet.
=J= _c_ 22
This fragment of premaxillary bone is 1-1/2 inch long. The palate is
1/2 an inch wide behind, and the jaw is rather more than 1/2 an inch
high; behind the second tooth it is nearly 5/8ths of an inch high. The
sides converge superiorly to form a well-rounded keel. The palate is
flattened, with a slightly elevated blunt median keel. There appears to
be a pair of small teeth in front of the snout as usual, and six on the
palate, with an indication of another at the posterior fracture. The
teeth are of moderate size and almost circular. In the form of the bone
it is readily distinguished from all the species enumerated.
XIII.
Ornithocheirus platystomus (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Series. Specimen.
=J= _c6_ 32 1
An ill-preserved fragment fractured in front and behind, yet
indicating a distinct species. The palate is flat, with the faintest
median ridge, and the sides are flat and round into a narrow
rostral keel, which in front approximates rapidly towards the
palate. The first pair of sockets are missing; what appears to be
the second pair are about 1/8th of an inch long, separated from the
pair behind by an interspace of 1/4th of an inch. These are ovate
and less than 1/4th of an inch long, and separated from the next
pair by an interspace of not less than 1/4th of an inch. The height
of the jaw over the first pair of sockets preserved is 9/16ths of an
inch; over the second pair it is 14/16ths of an inch; the space
between these points is 9/16ths of an inch. Behind the second pair
of teeth the palate is nearly 5/8ths of an inch wide.
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