158 ROY L, MOODIE 
copy Newton’s figures of the brain, as he has shown it in lateral 
and dorsal views. An examination of these figures (fig. 13) will 
show at once how bird-like the brain of the pterodactyls was. 
This is, however, no indication of direct avian relationship, but 
is rather a development in response to the volant habits and to 
the highly organized condition of the optic apparatus, for the 
eyes were enormous. 
An avian relationship for the pterodactyls has been advocated 
by several students of these vertebrates, as is indicated, for in- 
stance, in the term Ornithosauria, one of the earlier terms under 
which the pterodactyls were known. This relationship has, how- 
ever, been largely disproven, and it is now the opinion of the 
majority of those most competent of expressing an opinion that 
the pterodactyls were true reptiles, curiously modified for life in 
the air. They reached the highest volant adaptation of any 
known animal, not even excepting some of the modern tropical 
butterflies. An evidence of this high degree of adaptation is 
given by Williston®* in the following words: ‘‘ Notwithstanding 
the enormous expanse (more than 19 feet) of the wings, these 
animals when alive must have weighed but little. I doubt very 
much if one of the largest species reached twenty pounds.” 
The optic lobes in Scaphognathus are as well developed as in 
some modern birds and much better developed than among the 
contemporary reptiles, the dinosaurs. 
The brain lay very close to the occipital condyle and far behind 
the orbit (Newton, ’88, pl. 77, fig. 1) and between and under the 
cancellous parietals. The length of the brain from the edge of 
the occipital foramen to the front of the cerebral lobes is 25 mm. ; 
its greatest width across the optic lobes is 17 mm. The length 
of the skull was 140 mm. 
The large piriform flocculus was flattened from above down- 
wards and is attached at its broad end to the side of the hind 
brain just below the cerebellum. ° 
Portions of three canals of the ear are evident, and there are 
also indications of the ampullae. There seems to be an aperture 
2% Williston, S. W. 1897. Kans. Univ. Quart., vol. 6, p. 38. 
