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, well distinguished from every other
specimen, except one in the collection of Mr Reed of York, which is
here named _O. Reedi_. It is a large head, with larger teeth than any
known species. The jaw is truncated in front, with a rugose vertical
area in front reaching 1-3/4 inch high from the palate, on which the
usual front pair of teeth are not seen. At the angle of this front area
with the palate is a large elliptical tooth 9/16ths of an inch wide,
and behind it, with an interspace of 3/16ths of an inch, is a socket
measuring 10/16ths of an inch in length; the next interspace is about
1/8th of an inch, and the next nearly circular socket is 5/16ths long;
then another interspace of 1/8th of an inch, and another and a smaller
tooth. The palate appears to have been channelled. The sides of the
jaw are flat, or slightly concave, and where fractured above, are 3
inches high. Above the rugose vertical area of the snout, is an area,
concave from back to front, reaching up to the rostral keel; it is flat
from side to side behind, and convex from side to side in front. So
much as is preserved measures 1-3/4 inch in length, and appears to be
relatively narrower than in O. Reedi.
XXIV.
Ornithocheirus Reedi (Seeley).
The anterior part of an upper jaw has flattened slightly concave sides,
which converge above so as to form boundaries of (1) a flat triangular
area which looks anteriorly, and of (2) an oblong area, traversed by
a mesial groove, which looks upward and forward and is concave from
back to front. In the lower half of the truncated triangular anterior
termination are the remains of the stumps of the two anterior teeth;
they are oval in outline, 9/16ths of an inch high, and 7/16ths of an
inch wide; they are parted by an interspace nearly 1/4 of an inch
wide, which becomes concave vertically as it rounds on to the palatal
surface. All the front triangular surface above the teeth is rough: its
entire height is about 1-1/4 inch, and is nearly as wide across the
base. The side rounds a little into the concave median upper surface,
and into the triangular front; so much as is preserved measures 2-1/2
inches high, and 1-3/8 inch long. The palatal surface, which is very
small and badly preserved, is 1-3/4 inch wide behind, but gives no
indication of further widening. On its outer border are seen two large
circular teeth 5/8ths of an inch in diameter; they are separated by a
median palatal interspace of 7/8ths of an inch. Where it is fractured
behind, the specimen shows the sockets of another pair of teeth behind
these, with an interspace of 1/4 of an inch in the antero-posterior
direction. The palate is convex.
The superior oblong area is concave in length as well as transversely.
It makes a great angle with the triangular front of which it is the
upward continuation; so much as is preserved extends 1-1/2 inch in
length; it is about 1/2 an inch wide.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account