56 Transactions of the Kansas 



tebra was obscurelj^ seen in the face of the solid limestone, about eight feet from the 

 top of the ravine. An liour's work served to detach a block of rock containing sev- 

 eral vertebrre and other bones. While removing the superfluous material from this 

 block, in order to facilitate its removal to camp, a fortunate stroke of the hatchet 

 revealed a peculiar reticulated surface, several square inches in extent. The thought 

 instantly flashed upon my mind that here was something which had never before 

 been seen by human eye. The conclusion was irresistible that the reticulated 

 surface was the fossilized covering of the skin of the saurian, so perfectly pre- 

 served that every scale was distinctly visible, its outline clearly marked, and the 

 elevated central line, or " carina," unmistakably indicated. Although, according 

 to Prof. Dana's time-ratios, a period of Ave million years must have elapsed since 

 this saurian swam in the shallow waters of the cretaceous soas of Western Kansas, 

 yet each individual scale exposed to view was as perfectly preserved as if the animal 

 had but yesterday died. 



Prof. Marsh, of Yale College, some years ago described the large dermal plates, 

 or scutes, belonging to other mosasauroid genera, which, as he writes me, "appear 

 to be mainly confined to the neck and throat. " But, so far as I am able to learn, 

 nothing has been hitherto known of the general covering of the saurian 

 body in any genus, and nothing whatever of the dermal covering in the genus 

 Liodon. It might have been expected that this covering would be found 

 to consist of larger plates, like those of the alligator and crocodile. On the con- 

 trary, it is composed of small scales, much resembling in size, shape and arrange- 

 ment, the scales of living Ophidians. Dana, in his Manual of Geology (2d 

 Edition, p. 465), speaks of the mosasaurs as "snake-like reptiles." This 

 comparison is strengthened when it is found that their dermal scales were 

 almost an exact pre-figuration of those of the rattlesnakes which infest the 

 ledges within which these saurians are found. The scales first exposed to 

 view appeared to be on the anterior portion of the ventral surface of the 

 body, but another small area was found not far from the pelvic bones. All the 

 scales discovered were on the lower surface of the body, the bones lying above 

 them except in oiie or two spots where a bone had, b}^ pressure, been forced through 

 the dermal covering. The original surface exposed was afterwards increased in ex- 

 tent, until a total continuous area of thirty-three and one-third square inches was 

 uncovered. This surface contains an average of ninety scales to the square inch, or 

 a total of 3,000 scales. These are all preserved upon a single block of limestone, 

 which also contains several vertebrae, phalanges, and other bones. A comparison 

 with the scales of the living rattlesnake of the \A&.\nii {Crotalus conjfuentus Suj), 

 indicates that the scales of the saurian were somewhat smaller than those of the 

 snake, which, in a full-grown "rattler," average eighty to the square inch, instead 

 of ninety. 



On the day after the discovery of this dermal surface, I determined to obtain the 

 remainder of the saurian, which was imbedded in the solid rock. It was necessary 

 to remove eight feet of superincumbent material before the proper level or " hori- 

 zon" was reached, and also to undermine the specimen, in order to secure the 

 remains in their original position, and, if possible, to expose a larger portion of the 

 dermal covering. After three days and a half of hard labor, by myself and two as- 

 sistants, we succeeded in removing one large slab, five and one-half feet, by two and 

 one-half feet, and six inches in thickness, weighing 500 lbs., and two smaller slabs, 

 each containing the bones of a hind leg and foot. The large slab was found to con- 

 tain dorsal vertebrae, ribs, and pelvic bones, in perfect preservation and apparently 

 without distortion. It also contains one of the forward limbs, or hands, lying un- 



