NO. 2120. THE FORE LIMB OF ALLOSAURUS FRAGILIS—GILMORE. 503 



those in charge of that work are to be congratulated upon their 

 close approximation to the facts as revealed by the discovery of this 

 more recent material. 



Remove the fourth digit, replace mtc. Ill by mtc. IV and insert 

 the carpal bones and the limb would be quite in accord with the 

 fossil specimen before me. 



Hay ^ in 1908 in commenting upon the New York specimen con- 

 cluded that it had been wrongly identified as AUosaurus, because of the 

 great size of the hand in relation to the other segments of the limb, 

 being led into this mistaken idea by relying upon the then supposed 

 authentic figure of the limb and foot as published by Marsh. 



Willis ton 2 in 1902 in describing some limb material secured by 

 him in Wyoming refers to the so-called AUosaurus fore limb figured by 

 Marsh in the following: 



There were two scapulae obtained that certainly show a generic distinction from 

 AUosaurus, as I have convinced myself from inspection of the scapula referred by 

 Marsh to that genus, and figured by him in various places. It remains to be seen, 

 however, whether this scapula of Marsh indubitably belongs with the bones first 

 referred by him to AUosaurus. I do not think there is conclusive evidence of this. 



The facts regarding this scapula as presented on a preceding page 

 bears out Dr. S. W. Williston's conclusion. 



The type of AUosaurus fragilis Marsh is in the Peabody Museum of 

 Yale University, and in a recent letter Dr. R. S. Lull informs me that it 

 consists of two vertebrae and one phalange, from Garden Park, Canon 

 City, Colorado, collected by B. F. Mudge in 1877. It bears the 

 catalogue number 1930. The type material is from the same locality 

 as the specimen described here and possibly from the same quarry. 

 The fore and hind limbs figured so widely by Marsh do not pertain to 

 the type-specimen, although such reference ^ has been made regarding 



them. 



Fore Limb and Foot. 



The fore limb of AUosaurus as compared with the hinder is rela- 

 tively small, but the large size of the processes and the rough nature 

 of their surfaces imply a powerful musculature. The great size of 

 the terminal phalanges and the general structure of the foot indi- 

 cates that it was used exclusively for seizing, holding, and tearing, 

 and that it had long ago lost its function as an organ of progression. 

 The hand is relatively of enormous size, being slightly longer than 

 the humerus and nearly one and one-half times as long as the forearm. 

 In general it resembles the foot of Ornitholestes, although the bones are 

 more robust, and there is no trace with either foot of mtc. IV. 



The carpus is ossified, there being two transverse rows, but the 

 precise number of elements composing it yet remains to be determined. 



» Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 35, 1908, p. 355. 

 * Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. 11, 1901, p. 112. 

 • « O. P. Hay, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 35, 1908, p. 355. 



