ZOOLOGY. (533 



spine at the angle of the jaws." It belongs to the gronp of Firmis- 

 ternia and ivS related to the other species of the group as the Hemi- 

 phractida; are to the Arcifera. The family named Ceratobatrachidae 

 in fact is definable as Firmisternials with teeth iu the upper as well as 

 lower jaw, cylindrical (non-dilated) sacral diapo|)hyses,and with precora- 

 coids and an omosternnm. {Proc. ZooJ. 8oc. London^ 1884, pp. 212, 213.) 



PiKjnaciiy of a Frog. — The frog will appear in a new light to many, 

 through the observation of an English gentleman, Mr. Edwiu U. Evans, 

 recorded in Nature. A short time before dark this gentleman heard "a 

 squeaking noise" below bis veranda, and on inquiry found that it came 

 from a bat in coutest with a frog. The bat was " evidently getting the 

 worst of it, but at last succeeded in getting away for a time from its op- 

 ponent; the frog again attacked it, but this time /ic was glad to cry 

 'quits,' as the bat turned on him and beat him off, afterwards managing 

 to hide somewhere," so that he could not be found. The frog was found 

 badly " bitten about the nose, and was in a sad plight." Mr. Evans 

 remarks that the bat had " probably fallen from its nest during the day 

 and was waiting for the evening, when the frog espied it and attacked 

 it, with the before-mentioned result." {Nature, xxxi, p. 55.) 



Reptiles. 



A new group of extinct Jurassic Reptiles. — In Wyoming Territory, in 

 beds of the horizon of the Atlantosaurus beds of tlie Upjier Jurassic, 

 the lower jaw, or rather the dentary bones, of a peculiar reptile were 

 obtained. These are believed by Professor Marsh to indicate a new 

 " order" of extinct Jurassic reptiles, to which he has given the name 

 Macelognatha. The bones in question " resemble in luany respects the 

 corresponding parts of a turtle, but are broader and more nearly hori- 

 zontal. The jaws were evidently covered with a horny beak iu front, 

 but further back they contained teeth. The edentulous portion is flat 

 and thin, and nearly horizontal. The two rami meet in nearly the same 

 plane, and are united at the symphysis by a close suture." The teeth 

 had fallen out, but their places were indicated by sockets, the walls be- 

 tween which " become thinner backwards, and a groove appears to grad- 

 ually take their place." Such were the only evidences of the nature of 

 the extinct animal, but Professor Marsh considers that he was justified 

 in assigning to the species [Macelognaihufi ragans) not only a new family 

 name but a new ordinal one. He thought that the "jaws are too solid 

 and massive for birds or pterodactyles," and that " the close union of the 

 rami by suture separates them from Dinosaurs, and the edentulous beak 

 from crocodiles." He surmises that the animal ''was nearest allied to 

 the Chelonia, although turtles without teeth occur in the same strata 

 with them." (Am. Journ. Sc. (3), xxvii, p. 340.) 



