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
The posterior zygapophyses are short and massive, but otherwise
correspond closely with the anterior zygapophyses, only with all the
parts reversed, and except that necessarily they are relatively to the
neural canal a little higher.
A sharp and well defined angular ridge, commencing at the back of the
zygapophysis, is directed inward, and forward, and upward along the
posterior margin of the neural arch to the top of the neural spine. The
posterior aspect of the neural arch is concave from side to side, and
makes a right angle with the superior lateral aspect.
The part of the centrum exposed behind the neural arch is convex above
from side to side.
The pneumatic foramen between the centrum and the neural arch varies
greatly in size; it is oval and longitudinal.
The largest specimens have the centrum 2-1/2 inches long; in the
smallest the centrum measures 5/8ths of an inch in length.
In the second type of cervical vertebra the side of the centrum makes
a right angle with the base, and is separated from it by a sharp angle
as in struthious birds. The side of the centrum is concave, with a
few small pneumatic perforations; and the side of the centrum, which
is high posteriorly, rounds over the oblique ridge connecting the
zygapophyses, into the oblique lateral face of the neural arch. The
anterior zygapophyses are very large and the posterior zygapophyses
small and placed as high as the top of the neural canal.
Every region of the vertebral column displays pneumatic foramina,
situated as in the vertebræ of birds.
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