52 



VERTEBRATA. 



No. 76. [235] Nothosaurus mirabilis, Munst. 



Skull (cast). This Triassic sea- 

 saurian had very large temporal, 

 orbital and nasal cavities. The pre- 

 maxillary teeth were unusually long, 

 strong and sharp; there were two similar teeth in each maxillary; the remain- 

 ing serial teeth were small but acute. All the teeth were inserted in distinct 

 cavities. The animal attained the length of seven feet. This specimen is 

 from the Muschelkalk at Bayreuth, Bavaria, and is in the Tylerian Museum 

 of Haarlem. Size, 15 x 6. 



No. 77. [231] Pliosaurus brachydeirus, Owen. 



Paddle (cast). This 

 big-headed, short-necked 

 amphicceliau reptile was 

 more closely lacertilian 

 than the Ichthyosaurus. 

 With the exception of 

 the teeth, which are thick- 

 er and stronger, of the 

 vertebra of the neck, 

 which like those of the 

 Ichthyosaurus are com- 

 pressed, and of the more 

 massive proportions of 

 the jaws and paddle- 

 bones, the skeleton of 

 the Pliosaurus resembles 

 that of the Plesiosaurus. 

 Some individuals attain- 

 ed the length of more 

 than forty feet. This 

 huge paddle was found 

 in the Kimmeridgian bed 

 (Upper Oolite) near Dor- 

 chester, England, and is 

 in the Museum of that 

 city. 



Size, 7ft. Sin. xlft.9. 



No. 78. [233] Pliosaurus grandis, Owen. 



Tooth (cast). This is the largest reptilian tooth among either actual or 

 extinct forms, and rivals in size the teeth of the full grown Sperm-whale. It 

 belonged to a big-headed, short-necked Lizard, resembling the Plesiosaurus. 

 This fine typical specimen was found in the Upper Oolite (Kimmeridge clay) 

 of Dorsetshire, England, and is now in the British Museum. Size, 12 x 3. 



