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
All the specimens are much mutilated, but all show the distinctive
post-coracoid lateral emarginations, but as these are not seen in
German Pterodactyles they are to be regarded as characters of a
peculiar sub-order and not as characteristics of the sub-class.
The example figured in this memoir and by Professor Owen is 2-5/8
inches in antero-posterior measurement, probably about one third its
entire length.
A small example in the collection of Mr Reed of York extends 1-1/4
inch in the same measurement, and by the analogy of _P. suevicus_ was
more than twice that length when perfect. It is remarkable in that the
coracoid facets look much less outward and much more backward than in
the larger species.
The mammalian sternum is usually in many consecutive pieces like the
vertebral column. The types in which it attains any size as an expanded
shield are Cetaceans and the Manatee, but in these groups it has no
keel and is not connected with the other bones of the pectoral girdle.
The proximal portion of the sternum of the Mole is elongated and
bird-like, with the shield narrower than in the typical gallinaceous
birds, and with the keel similarly developed. It is connected with the
humerus by small sub-quadrate bones named clavicles placed at the sides
of the proximal end. The sternum in Bats usually consists of a proximal
and a distal part. It is narrow except at the proximal-termination
where it widens like the letter T or Y; and to the sides of the lateral
prolongations are attached the long, slender, curved bones named
clavicles, and a pair of ribs. This sternum develops a bird-like keel.
Both Mole and Bat are regarded as differing from Pterodactyles in the
bone giving attachment to the clavicles instead of to the coracoids.
The proximal part of the sternum in both the living animals, gives
attachment to but one pair of sternal ribs. The Pterodactyle sternum
otherwise differs from the Bats in having the articulations for the
coracoids close together, of a peculiar concavo-convex character, with
a massive portion or keel prolonged forward in front of the coracoid
articulations. The Bat cannot be said to resemble the Pterodactyle
closely. The sternum of the Mole differs from that of the Pterodactyle
in having a less developed shield, and in having a more developed keel
which is not prolonged in front of the coracoid articulations. These
examples demonstrate that resemblance in conformation is functional,
and no proof of affinity.
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