C. E. Beecher — Reconstruction of a Cretaceous Dinosaur . .n^ 



The Pose of Claosavrus. — The entire skeleton of Claosaiir-us, as 

 already mentioned, was given in a drawing j)u})lished by Professor 

 Marsh. This drawing is here reproduced (figure 4), since it differs 



Figure 4. — Restoration of Claosaurus annectens ; one-eightieth natural size. 



After Marsh. 



in some important details from the skeleton now mounted (Plates 

 XLI-XLV). It represents the animal as standing nearly on the 

 ends of the toes, with the tail resting on the ground and with 

 pendent fore limbs. 



In the mounted specimen, for reasons previously stated, the animal 

 was placed in a running position. Moreover, since there is an 

 obvious analogy between the habits and posture of Iguanodon and 

 Claosaurus, and the footprints of the former show no marks of a 

 dragging^ tail, the latter was mounted with the tail raised to balance 

 the weight of the animal. Further, this is the position assumed by 

 modern lizards employing bipedal locomotion (figure 1). In Clao- 

 saurus the ischia are closely united at their distal ends, and it would 

 have been impossible for the chevrons to pass between them as 

 shown in figure 4. Without doubt the animal could have sat down 

 or dropped the tail to the ground. The mounted skeleton shows 

 that there were really four instead of two post-sacral vertebrae with" 

 out chevrons, and that the first chevrons were short and very oblique 

 so as entirely to clear the ends of the ischia (Plate XLIII). 



The present restoration represents the animal as touching nearly 

 the whole length of the toes to the ground (figure 5). This position 

 Avas adopted because of the fact that all the bird-like dinosaurian 

 footprints show the imprint of nearly the full length of the phalanges. 



