. College collection of palaeontology. 44 VERTEBRATA. No. 64. [1287] Compsognathus longipes, Wagner. Skeleton, on slab (cast). Tliis species is the most bird- like of the discovered Dino- saurs, and indeed was once thought to be a bird. It has a length of about two feet, a small head upon a slender neck, and toothed jaws. The fore limbs are small, but the hind limbs are long, and strik- ingly like the legs of birds in their structure. Huxley says "it is impossible to look at the conformation of this strange reptile and to doubt that it hopped or walked in an erect or semi-erect posi- tion
. College collection of palaeontology. 44 VERTEBRATA. No. 64. [1287] Compsognathus longipes, Wagner. Skeleton, on slab (cast). Tliis species is the most bird- like of the discovered Dino- saurs, and indeed was once thought to be a bird. It has a length of about two feet, a small head upon a slender neck, and toothed jaws. The fore limbs are small, but the hind limbs are long, and strik- ingly like the legs of birds in their structure. Huxley says "it is impossible to look at the conformation of this strange reptile and to doubt that it hopped or walked in an erect or semi-erect posi- tion, after the manner of a bird, to which its long neck, slight head and small anterior limbs must have given it an extraordinaiy ; This most interesting and very perfect specimen is unique, and the species is the only representative of the Sub-order Compsognatha. It was found in the lithographic limestone of Bavaria, and is in the museum of the University of Munich. Size, 12 x 14 ORDER PTEROSAURIA (Ornithosauria). The extraordinaiy characteristic of this order is tlie power of flight, and no other reptiles, extinct or modern, possessed this ability. They were veritable dragons—the bats among reptiles. The wing was an expanse of skin (patagium) supported by the hind limbs and the gi-eatly elongated outer finger. The remain- ing three digits of each manns were free, provided with claM's, and adapted for grasping. These reptiles possessed many affinities with birds, for example, the shape of the skull, the form of the brain, the structure of the shoulder girdle, the keeled sternum, and in some species the probably horny beak. The pneumatic bones give force to the suggestion that the animals were warm-blooded. On the other hand, the pelvis, hind lin^bs and vertebrae are distinctly reptilian, as is the general ensemble of the characters. No remains have been found of anj' Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images
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