6 REVISION OF THE PELYCOSAURIA. 



On November 7, 1S7S, Cope read a paper befoi^e the National Academy 

 of Science, which was reported in the American Naturalist of that year (40). 

 The taxonomic portion of this paper is as follows : 



"The structure of the scapular and pelvic arches (of the Pelycosatiria) was stated 

 to be identical with that already described by Owen as belonging to the Anomodontia. 

 Several important characters distinguish this group from iht: Pelycosauria^ but the two 

 together form an order, which Professor Cope would have, for the present at least, to 

 be retained as distinct from the Rhynchocephalia. The characters of this order, with 

 its two suborders, were given as follows : 



"Theromorpha Cope. Scapidar arch consisting at least of scapula, coracoid, 

 and epicoracoid, which are closely imited. Pelvic arch consisting of the usual 

 three elements, which are united throughout, closing the obturator foramen (f pubo- 

 ischiatum) and acetabulum. Limbs with the phalanges as in the ambulatory 

 types. Quadrate bone proximally united by suture with the adjacent elements. No 

 quadra to-jugal arch. 



^^Pelycosauria. Two or three sacral vertebrae; centra notochordal; intercentra 

 usually present. Dentition full. 



'■'■Anomodontia. Four or five sacral vertebras; centra not notochordal ; no inter- 

 centra. Dentition very imperfect or wanting. 



"The Rhynchocephalia have no distal ischio-pubic symphysis, and apparently no 

 epicoracoid bone. They have an obturator foramen (foramen pubo-ischiatum) and a 

 quadrato-jugal arch. 



"The order Theromorpha was regarded by Professor Cope as approximating the 

 Mammalia more closely than any other division of the Reptilia, and as probably the 

 ancestral group from which the latter was derived. This approximation is seen 

 in the scapular arch and the humerus, which nearly resemble those of the Monotre- 

 }nata^ especially Echidna; and in the pelvic arch, which Owen has shown in the 

 Anomodontia to resemble that of the Mammals, and, as Professor Cope pointed out, 

 especially that of Echidna. The tarsus is also more mammalian than in au}- other 

 division of the reptiles. In the genus Dimetrodon the coracoid is smaller than the 

 epicoracoid, as in Monotremes. The pubis has the foramen for the internal femoral 

 artery." 



The substance of the same paper was printed in 1880 (48) as a portion 

 of the "Second Contribution to the Histoiy of the Vertebrata of the Permian 

 Formation of Texas." 



In these two papers was established the order Theromorpha^ distinct 

 from the Rhynchocephalia^ with the two suborders Pclycosauria and Anomo- 

 dontia. Owen's Theriodontia was still included in the Pelycosatiria^ while 

 the Anomodontia was meant to include all other African fonns. 



It is of interest to insert here Owen's classification of the African forms 

 as it appears in the Catalogue of the Fossil Reptilia of South Africa in the 

 British Museum (117). (See next page.) 



