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

This fragment of a premaxillaiy bone is fractured behind the sockets for the third pair of teeth. It is 1¹/₈ inch long, and shows one pair of small teeth in front and two pairs of large ovate teeth on the palate. The first pair are divided from each other and from the second pair by films of bone; and the second pair are separated from the third by rather more than half the length, of the third socket. Behind the third pair of sockets the palate is ⁵/₈ths of an inch wide; it is flattened, and has a blunt moderately elevated mesial ridge. Behind the second pair of sockets the jaw is ⁵/₈ths of an inch high; behind the third pair of sockets it is ³/₄ths of an inch high; the distance between the places of measurement is ¹/₂ an inch. The sides are flat and converge to a rounded nose. The jaw is rounded from side to side in front, and the outline of the top of the nose rounds over the blunt termination of the snout above the teeth on to the palate.

In the shortness of the nose it somewhat resembles the ?P. giganteus (Bowerbank), but the jaw attenuates less rapidly, is truncated, and has larger teeth.

XIX.

This species nearly resembles O. brachyrhinus, from which it differs in larger size, with a relatively wider palate, which is without a keel, and in a larger front pair of teeth. It approximates towards O, colorhinus, but is smaller, and wants the rugose lunate area over the front pair of teeth characteristic of that species. There are many varieties or species nearly related to this type, but from their imperfect preservation and the small part of the head which they represent, it is not possible to give descriptions of them.

XX.

A fragment of a ?dentary bone, fractured behind through the socket for the third tooth. The sockets are nearly circular. It measures about an inch long,, and behind the socket for the second tooth 1³/₄ inch high. The sides of the jaw are gently concave from above downward, having a pinched aspect and approximating; they round into a narrow rostral ridge, which widens towards the tip of the snout and is truncated by a small sub-circular [or sub-pentagonal] rugose area at right angles with the part of the palate behind the first pair of sockets. The first pair of sockets are nearly as large as the second, and from the steep incline of the jaw look more than usually upward; they are ⁷/₁₆ths of an inch long, are separated from each other by an interspace of ⁶/₁₆ ths, and from the second sockets by an interspace of more than ¹/₈th of an inch, while the second socket is separated from the third by about ¹/₄th of an inch. The palatal space between the second pair is about ³/₄ths of an inch.

XXI.

Fragments of premaxillary bones. The largest portion is 2¹/₂ inches long, and is fractured behind the socket for the fourth tooth, and the upper part of the nose is also broken away. The palate is flattened, with the median part slightly convex. The sides of the jaw converge upward, but not rapidly; in front they round into each other, but there is a slight mesial depression. The front pair of teeth are large, separated from each other and from the second pair by films of bone. Above the first pair of sockets, so as to look downward and forward, is an impressed lunate area ⁹/₁₆ths of an inch wide and ⁵/₁₆ths of an inch high, to which a soft lip may have been attached. This area is in the same plane with the first pair of teeth and at right angles with the upper outline of the nose. The sockets of the first pair of teeth are a little smaller than the second pair; they are both about half an inch in diameter and nearly circular. An interspace of ³/₁₆ths of an inch separates the second socket from the third. The tooth is elliptical, the socket being narrower and longer than that of the second. The palatal interspace between the third pair is more than ³/₄ths of an inch. The interspace between the third and fourth sockets is about ³/₈ths of an inch. The diameter of the nearly circular fourth socket is ¹/₄th of an inch.

The overhanging lunate lip space, with the size of the teeth and width of the palate, abundantly distinguish this species.

XXII.

I regard the fragment on which this species was founded as being the terminal end, and not a section of a jaw; partly from the rounding of the lateral surfaces to the front, and chiefly from the snapped off teeth in the middle of the truncated anterior end, for they are smaller than the pair behind them, and look forward at a greater angle, so that the converging sockets of both pairs meet behind. These characters are well shown in Mr Dinkel's excellent figure, Pl. II. fig. 3a. Second Sup. Palæont. The palate is destroyed, and gives no clue to the bone being either lower or upper.

Another specimen, rather smaller, shows the rostrum well rounded; the front is truncated at right angles to it: there is the same rounding of its lower part into the sides, and the stumps of the front pair of teeth are visible though they are again worn level with the rugose front of the snout.

But the finest fragment of this species is a rostral end, (perhaps of the upper jaw) three inches long, two inches deep, and with the palate as wide. It indicates 5 teeth on a side: the front pair small, 2nd and 3rd much larger, and two pairs behind, which are smaller. The palate is flat, and attains its greatest width at the third tooth, behind which it contracts noticeably. The third tooth is more than half an inch in diameter, the fourth is ⁵/₁₆ths of an inch long. The spaces between teeth seem equal to the long diameter of the sockets, which are oval and straight. The sides round into the front of the muzzle more gradually in this specimen than in the others. An impressed line runs along the median ridge of the upper surface. Just as the jaw gets narrower behind, so the well-rounded upper surface becomes more acute behind.

Behind the third socket the palate measures 1⁷/₈ inch from side to side, and the jaw is there nearly 2 inches high.

This is the most massive Pterodactyle jaw known. In the recent state it may have indicated a creature sufficiently distinguished from those to which the smaller fossils belonged, but now the divergence of characters is so slight as to be for zoological purposes of no value.

It is related to O. Fittoni; the chief points of difference being the truncated muzzle, the compression behind the third tooth, the much sharper (?) dorsal ridge, and the large size of the head.

XXIII.

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 1³/₄ 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 1³/₄ 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 1¹/₄ 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 2¹/₂ inches high, and 1³/₈ inch long. The palatal surface, which is very small and badly preserved, is 1³/₄ 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 1¹/₂ inch in length; it is about ¹/₂ an inch wide.

I am indebted to W. Reed, Esq. of York, for the opportunity of making a notice of this species, which closely resembles O. capito.

XXV.

The palate is 2³/₄ inches long, and at the second pair of teeth about ⁷/₈ths of an inch wide. It is fractured at the end through the fifth socket, and at the side along the palatal groove. The first pair of teeth is smaller and closer together than the others. The palatal interspace between the second pair is ³/₈ths of an inch; between the third pair, which are large teeth, it is ¹/₂ an inch. The sockets are sub-circular, and are not separated from each other by wider interspaces than their own length. In front is a long triangular rugose area, convex from above downward, a distance of 1¹/₂ inch; and concave from side to side, a width above of rather more than ¹/₂ an inch. Below this the flattened sides converge to a blunt keel; where, fractured, the jaw is 2¹/₂ inches deep. There are several fragments of species allied to the last; one has the triangular area in front very small, only half as high as in the type and very narrow, for the sides are gently rounded into it. It is marked by short longitudinal furrows, impressed vessels I think, while in O. simus the surface is irregularly rough. The first pair of teeth are much larger than in O. simus; they are longer, more conical, and circular, and separated by as wide a space as the second pair. There is not much to found a species on, but as it appears to be quite distinct from O. simus, it is named O. Carteri. Another fragment, with the area very long, is marked O. platyrhinus. But a sufficiency of species has been indicated to make known the Ornithosaurian fauna of the Cambridge Greensand. And the detailed description of critical types and of the other parts of the skeletons is beyond the general osteology of the tribe, and will rather belong to a memoir in which this flock of Pterodactyles will be restored to their living forms.

APPENDIX.

Chief English Writings on Ornithosaurians.

INDEX.

Affinities, 24, 94
Albatross, 31
Alisphenoid, 81
Appendix, 129
Archæopteryx, 8
Aspect, 105
Astylica, 97
Atlas and axis, 64
Avian carpus, 52

Basi-occipital bone, 78
Basi-sphenoid, 80
Bat, 31, 105
Birds, 52
Blainville, 97
Body, 108
Bonaparte, 109
Brain, 25
Brain-cavity, 87
Buckland, 60
Burmeister, 17

Cambridge upper Greensand, 2
Camel, 47
Carp, 79
Carpus, 48
Carruthers (Mr), 106
Caudal vertebræ, 75
Cerebral lobes, 87
Cervical vertebræ, 65
Cetaceans, 30
Chameleon, 31, 34, 37, 41, 47, 72
Chelydra, 61
Chrysochloris, 42, 47
Ciconia marabou, 86
Circulation, 100
Classification, 108
Claw phalange, 59
Cod, 79
Coracoid, 32
Cranium, 80
Crocodile, 31, 35, 37, 41, 47, 63, 69, 83, 93, 95, 97
Cuvier, 7, 92
Cycnorhamphus, 111

Delphinidæ, 83
Dentary bone, 92
Dicynodonts, 61
Dimensions, 103
Dimorphodon, 112, 60
Dinornis, 67
Dinosaurs, 99, 61
Dipnoal reptiles, 99
Dorsal vertebræ, 69

Echidna, 61
?Eggs, 106
Epipubic bones (see prepubic bones)
Evidence that Pterodactyles were Reptiles, 5

Facial bones, 91
Families, 110
Femur, 62
Fibula, 63, 22
Food, 105
Fore-arm, 48

Gallus domesticus, 90, 82, 34
Genera, 111
German Pterodactyles, 106
Goldfuss, 11, 63
Goose, 92
Grouping of reptiles, 97
Gypogeranus serpentarius, 42

Habits, 104
Hand, 53
Hare, 87
Head 18, 77, 106
History, 3
Horse, 41
How the meaning of the word reptile is lost, 98
Humerus, 38
Huxley (Prof), 86, 116

Ichthyosaurus, 34, 37
Iguana, 41, 47, 69, 82
Ilium, 60
Ischium, 60

Jerboa, 64

Kangaroo, 55, 69

Ligamentum teres, 62
Lower jaw, 91
Llama, 77, 69

Malar bone, 107
Mammalian Affinities, 31, 34, 87, 41, 42, 61, 62, 69, 75, 79, 83, 86, 94, 105
Manubrium, 29
Marsupial bones, 61, 110
Materials, 1
Mergus merganser, 31
Metacarpus, 53
Metatarsus, 63
Meyer (H. von), 17, 109
Mole, 30, 37
Monimostylica, 97
Monitor, 41, 47, 69, 72, 86
Monotremata, 34
Mould of Brain-cavity, 87

Objections to Prof. Owen's grouping, 99
Occipital bones, 81
Oken, 10
Optic lobes, 84
Orbito-ethmo-sphenoid bone, 85
Orbits, 107
Organization, 7
Ornithocephalus, 111
Ornithocheirus, 112
Ornithorhynchus, 88
Ornithosauria, 27
Ossemens fossiles, 7
Ostrich, 52, 58, 86
Owen (Prof. R.), 3, 29, 32, 36, 48, 54, 56, 64, 66, 69, 75, 78, 88, 91, 92, 98, 108, 115

Pachyrhamphus, 111
Parrot, 87
Palæontology, 109
Parietal bones, 81
Parker (Mr W. K.), 79
Pectoral girdle, 28
Pelvis, 59
Penguin, 8, 69
Petrosal, 82
Phalange, 56
Plan of organisation, 25
Pneumatic cavities, 23, 26, 100
Porpoise, 86
Post frontal, 107
Premaxillary bones, 91, 107
Prepubic bones (prepubic), 61, 110, 111
Pterodactyle's place in nature, 102
Pterodactylus, 111
Pteroid bone, 48
Pterosauria, 99, 108
?Pterygoid end of palatine bone, 91

Quadrate bone, 89, 107
Quadrato-jugal, 90
Quenstedt, 17, 21

Radius, 42
Reptilia, 94
Respiration, 26, 100
Restoration, 103
Rhamphorhynchus, 111
Ribs, 108
Roc, 5
Sacrum, 73
Scapula, 35
Scink, 41, 72
Second phalange, 57
Sömmerring, 10
Species, 112
Squamosal bone, 81
Stannius, 97
Sternum, 28
Streptostylica, 97
Struthious birds, 31, 72

Tarso-metatarsus, 63
Teeth, 92
Tibia, 62

Ulna, 43

Vertebral column, 64
?Vomer, 88

Wagler, 11
Wagner, 14
Walker (Mr J. F.), 87
Walking, 105
Walrus, 79
Wing-finger, 66

THE END.