REPTILIA 331 



Super-Order 11. Chelonia. (Gr. chelone^ a tortoise.) — Fossil 

 relatives of the turtles include a Permian species Eubotosaurus, 

 found in S. Africa, which had teeth and widened ribs. 



Super-Order III. Therapsida. {Anomodontia, Theromorpha.) 

 (Gr. ther, a wild beast; morphe^ form.) — Single lateral temporal 

 vacuity below post-orbital and squamosal. Brain case high, ear 

 low, columella articulates with quadrate. Lower jaw flattened, 

 with loosely articulated bones. Fossils found in Permian and to 

 the Triassic age, chiefly from Africa and North America. 



The Mammalia are supposed to have arisen from this order, 

 possibly by way of the Theriodontia, which were carnivorous, with 

 teeth resembling the incisors, canines and molars of mammals. 

 The Monotremata (see p. 373) have been compared with the Therio- 

 dontia, in support of such a theory. Examples: {Dicynodon^ 

 Cynognathus^ Galepus, Ophiacodon). 



Super-Order IV. Sauropterygia. (Gr, sauros^ a XvL?ixdi\pterygia^ 

 fins.) — /\quatic reptiles with a single temporal vacuity, bounded by 

 the post-orbital squamosal arch. Single coracoids, meeting in a 

 ventral symphysis. The cervical region is extremely long, and the 

 caudal portion of the spinal column is very short. Sauropterygia 

 range from the Triassic to the Cretaceous. 



Super-Order V. Ichthyopterygia. {Gr. ichthysy & fish; ptejjgia, 

 fins.) (Ichthyosauria.) — Marine reptiles with a single lateral 

 temporal vacuity, a large head, elongated jaws, teeth in grooves, no 

 neck, and a long tail resembling a fish. They had two pairs of 

 paddle-like limbs, no sacrum, primitive pelvis, no sternum, but well- 

 developed abdominal ribs. They are of the Mesozoic age, ranging 

 from the Triassic to the Upper Cretaceous. 



Super-Order VI. Archosauria. — Several Orders belong to this 

 super-order, which includes the reptiles that have two lateral tem- 

 poral vacuities in the skull. 



Order i. — Thecodontia are the earliest Reptiles to show a diapsid 

 skull with two lateral temporal vacuities. 



07-der 2. — Rhyncocephalia appeared in the Permian, with maxi- 

 mum development in the Triassic. 



Order J. Dinosauria. (Gr. deinos, terrible; sauros, a lizard.) — 

 These Mesozoic land reptiles were among the largest, reaching a 

 length of one hundred feet and a height of twenty feet. The earliest 

 species, in the Triassic, were carnivorous. Another branch, the 

 Sauropoda, include gigantic herbivores. A herbivorous branch, the 



