The Vertebrate SkeletonReynolds, Sidney H. (Sidney Hugh)
Science
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Reynolds, Sidney H. (Sidney Hugh)
Skeleton
In _Sphenodon_, then, on the dorsal surface of the skull, are the
large =supratemporal fossae= (fig. 52, 20). Their inner margins are
separated from one another by the parietal walls of the cranium, while
externally each is bounded by a bony arch, the =supratemporal arcade=,
formed of the postfrontal, postorbital, and squamosal. Posteriorly the
boundary is formed by a =post-temporal bar=, formed by the parietal
and squamosal. Below the supratemporal arcade is another large
vacuity, the =infratemporal= or =lateral temporal fossa= (fig. 52,
21). This is bounded above by the supratemporal arcade, and is
separated from the orbit in front by the =postorbital bar=, formed by
the union of outgrowths from the jugals and postorbitals. Behind it is
bounded by a continuation of the post-temporal bar formed of the
squamosal and quadratojugal, and below by an =infratemporal arcade=,
which is chiefly composed of the quadratojugal and jugal.
Below the post-temporal bar is a third vacuity, the =post-temporal
fossa= (fig. 52, D, 23), bounded above by the post-temporal bar and
below by the exoccipital and opisthotic.
_Sphenodon_ and the Crocodilia are the only living reptiles with
complete supratemporal and infratemporal arcades, but they are both
present in the extinct Pterosauria and some Dinosauria.
Supratemporal fossae, bounded below by supratemporal arcades, occur in
all reptiles except some Chelonia, the Ophidia, the Geckonidae among
Lacertilia, and the Pariasauria and others among Theromorpha; they are
specially large in _Nothosaurus_ among the Sauropterygia, _Dicynodon_
among the Theromorpha, and many Crocodilia and Pterosauria. In some
Dinosaurs, such as _Ceratosaurus_, they are very small, while the
infratemporal fossae are correspondingly large.
In _Elginia_[93] (Theromorpha) and some Chelonia, such as _Chelone_,
there are no fossae on the surface of the skull, a complete false roof
being developed; in other Chelonia, such as _Trionyx_, the true
cranium is freely visible, the only part of the false roof developed
being the infratemporal arcade.
In many reptiles large =pre-orbital vacuities= occur; they are
specially large in the Pterosauria and in some of the Crocodilia and
Dinosauria (fig. 35, 3). In some Pterosauria they are confluent with
the orbits.
The premaxillae are usually separate, but sometimes, as in some Ophidia
(fig. 51, 1), Chelonia, Lacertilia (Agamidae), and Dinosaurs
(Ceratopsia) they are united. In the Dinosaur _Hadrosaurus_ they are
exceedingly large and spatulate. In the Rhynchocephalian
_Hyperodapedon_ they are drawn out into a strongly curved beak.
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