Dragons of Sea and Air 



in a very complete state of preservation. In 

 some instances this completeness is thought to 

 be the result of animals having been engulfed 

 in some treacherous quicksand, for not only are 

 all the bones present, but, what is very unusual, 

 they are all in their proper places. The thigh- 

 bones are in the sockets, the ribs curve outward 

 from their respective vertebrae, even the bony 

 tendons that lay in the muscles running from 

 the back to the tail have remained just as they 

 were when death overtook the animal. More 

 than this, in rare instances even the impress of 

 the skin with its small, irregular, horny scutes 

 is preserved in the rock, so that in this instance 

 we are not obliged to guess at the character of 

 the covering. They were long-headed animals, 

 these same Thespesii, for the skull measures 

 more than a yard in length, and as they walked 

 erect on their huge three-toed feet the top of 

 the head was from 10 to 12 feet from the 

 ground. From nose to tail a full-grown ani- 

 mal — such as the fine example at Yale — was 

 from 25 to 30 feet long ; and this same tail 

 was not dragged along after the slovenly 



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