. The ancient life-history of the earth; a comprehensive outline of the principles and leading facts of palaeontological science. Paleontology. THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD. 2/9 which it very closely resembles, appears to have walked upon its hind-legs, the fore-limbs being disproportionately small. Another remarkable group of Reptiles, exclusively confined to the Cretaceous series, is that oi \hQ Mosasatiroids, so called from the type-genus Mosasaiu-us. The first species of Afosa- saurus known to science was the M. Camperi (fig. 210), the. Fig. 210.—Skull oiMosasaJiriis Camperi, greatly reduced. Maa
. The ancient life-history of the earth; a comprehensive outline of the principles and leading facts of palaeontological science. Paleontology. THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD. 2/9 which it very closely resembles, appears to have walked upon its hind-legs, the fore-limbs being disproportionately small. Another remarkable group of Reptiles, exclusively confined to the Cretaceous series, is that oi \hQ Mosasatiroids, so called from the type-genus Mosasaiu-us. The first species of Afosa- saurus known to science was the M. Camperi (fig. 210), the. Fig. 210.—Skull oiMosasaJiriis Camperi, greatly reduced. Maastricht Chalk. skull of which—six feet in length—was discovered in 1780 in the Maestricht Chalk at Maestricht. As this town stands on the river Meuse, the name of Mosasatirus (" Lizard of the Meuse ") was appHed to this immense Reptile. Of late years the remains of a large number of Reptiles more or less closely related to Mosasaui'us, or absolutely belonging to it, have been discovered in the Cretaceous deposits of North America, and have been described by Professors Cope and Marsh. All the known forms of this group appear to have been of large size—one oi t\\&m, Mosasaiu'tcs princeps, attaining the length of seventy-five or eighty feet, and thus rivalling the largest of ex- isting Whales in its dimensions. The teeth in the " Mosa- sauroids " are long, pointed, and slightly curved; and instead of being sunk in distinct sockets, they are firmly amalgamated with the jaws, as in modern Lizards. The palate also carried teeth, and the lower jaw was so constructed as to allow of the mouth being opened to an immense width, somewhat as in the living Serpents. The body was long and snake-like, with a very long tail, which is laterally compressed, and must have served as a powerful swimming-apparatus. In addition to this, both oairs of limbs have the bones connecting them with the. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that
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Keywords: ., bookcentur, bookdecade1870, booksubjectpaleontology, bookyear1876
