VERTEBRATE PALAEONTOLOGY IN 1908 463 



some of the GoniopJiolididce. Possibly it may be a direct 

 descendant of the latter — an idea supported by the fact that 

 several members of the Judith River fauna present a Jurassic 

 fades. 



The paper of widest general interest on this group of reptiles 

 is perhaps one by Dr. O. P. Hay on the habits and pose of the 

 members of the sauropodous group, as specially represented 

 b}' Diplodocus, published in the October number of the American 

 Naturalist. The skeletons of these reptiles, as exemplified by 

 the cast of that of Diplodocus in the British Museum, are generally 

 set up as if the creature carried its body raised high above the 

 ground after the fashion of a rhinoceros ; while the food of the 

 species in question has been supposed to be the leaves of large 

 succulent water-plants. 



Dr. Hay, on the other hand, regards Diplodocus as an amphi- 

 bious reptile, which could swim with facility, and could also 

 probably creep, albeit somewhat laboriously, on land. When 

 feeding it would appear to have swum or crept lazily about, 

 gathering in plants floating on the surface or growing loosely 

 on the bottom. Deep-water vegetation could be reached by 

 means of the swan-like neck, as could also foliage twenty feet 

 above the surface. Perhaps floating algae, such as C/iara, which 

 could easily be raked in by the peg-like front teeth, may, how- 

 ever, have constituted the staple food of the Diplodocus. That 

 these reptiles ever reared themselves up on their hind-limbs is 

 as unlikely as that crocodiles could perform the same feat. 



If these creatures curved their bodies in rhinoceros-fashion, 

 Mr. Hay is of opinion that, with a weight of something like 

 twenty tons, they would inevitably have been mired when 

 walking on marshy ground ; and he therefore presumes that the 

 limbs were directed outward, after the manner of crocodiles, with 

 the belly resting on the ground. And he further suggests that 

 the skeletons should be mounted in museums in this pose, when 

 the body, placed in a crocodile-like attitude, would be little, if 

 any, less imposing than when erect ; while the long neck, as 

 flexible as that of an ostrich, might be placed in any one of 

 several graceful positions. 



It may be mentioned, in connection with these suggestions, 

 that the iguanodon managed to get about, without becoming 

 bagged, on yielding soil, despite the fact that its enormous 

 weight was concentrated on a single pair of supports. 



