REPTILIA. 



49 



hind paddles are of equal size. This fossil head is one of the largest ever found 

 belonging to an Enaliosaurian. The muzzle is entire, and armed with l^lff 

 teeth. The ej^e — seven and a half inches in diameter — is girt by a zone of 



sclerotic plates. Tlie original was found in that ancient cemetery — the Lias 

 beds of Lyrae-Regis, England, and belongs to the Museum at Melbourne, 

 Australia. Size, 5 ft. 1 in. x 1 ft. 9 in. 



No. 70. [214] Ichthyosaurus communis, Conyb. 



Paddle (cast). The anterior paddles of this 

 species were three times longer than the posterior. 

 and were made up of 200 bones. From the Lias 

 in Boll, Wurtemberg, and now in the Imperial 

 Museum at Vienna. Size, 11 x 5. 



No. 71. Ichthyosaurus . 



Vertebra. The vertebrae of tlie Ichthyosaurs are numerous (over one 

 hundred), very short or compressed, deeply bi-concave or amphiccelus. In 

 the latter character they resemble fishes. The neural arches are united to the 

 centra by sutures. There is no sacrum. 



This specimen from the Lias, Weymouth, England. 



No. 72. Ichthyosaurus . 



Tooth. The teeth of this genus are placed in a groove instead of being 

 implanted in socliets. They are very numerous, strong, striated and pointed, 

 indicating an animal diet. 



From the Lias of Lyme-Regis, England. 



No. 73. Ichthyosaurus . 



CoPROLiTE. The fossil excrements of fishes and reptiles are very abundant 

 in some'of the Jurassic deposits of England, and they were puzzling objects 

 until Buckland discovered their nature and named them. The coprolites of 

 the Ichthyosaurs are sometimes several inches in length, and composed of the 

 bones, scales and teeth of the ganoid fishes and smaller reptiles which served 

 as food for the Ichthyosaurs. In color they are gray to black. Upon the 

 outside they show traces of a spiral or twisted structure produced by passing 

 through the "spiral valve" in the small intestine. 



From the Lias of Lyme-Regis, England. 



