EXPLORATIONS FOR FOSSIL VERTEBRATES. 563 



!/ 



*m*~J 



n 



'in 











S5 



O 



as 

 O 

 H 



w 



There is naturally a strong feeling 

 in the far west that some of these 

 remarkable fossils should be kept 

 nearer home and not continually be 

 the subject of eastern enterprise. Ac- 

 cordingly, the University of Wyo- 

 ming, situated at Laramie, under the 

 active leadership of the late Professor 

 Wilbur C. Knight, for many years 

 sent out expeditions, chiefly into vari- 

 ous parts of the great state of Wyo- 

 ming. These also were highly suc- 

 cessful in securing remains of the 

 amphibious dinosaurs, also of the 

 great long-necked marine reptiles of 

 the order Plesiosauria. To one speci- 

 men of the latter type, distinguished 

 by a swimming paddle 7 feet 4 inches 

 in length, Professor Knight gave the 

 name of Megalneusaurus rev. Un- 

 fortunately we have to record the 

 death of this ardent naturalist and 

 indefatigable explorer, who made up 

 iu energy and personal hard work 

 what the university lacked in financial 

 resources. 



We have to add also the Univer- 

 sity of California to the ranks of 

 exploring institutions. Professor 

 James Perrin Smith and Professor 

 J. C. Merriam explored in 1895 and 

 1901, 1902, 1903 the bottom of 

 an ancient inlet of the sea, of trias- 

 sic age, in which are deposited the 

 remains of very peculiar types of 

 ichthyosaurs. These have been de- 

 scribed by 1 Professor Merriam, who 

 has appropriately given them the 

 name Shastosaurus, in reference to 

 the proximity of the beds in which 

 they occur to Mt. Shasta. These 

 reptiles are in general distinguished 

 from the plesiosaurs by the dolphin- 

 like form of the body and the shark- 



