272 



INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY. 



a neck of enormous length, resembling the body of a Serpent ; 

 a trunk and tail having the proportions of an ordinary quad- 

 ruped ; the ribs of a Chameleon, and the paddles of a 

 Whale."* 



The Plesiosauri appear to have lived in shallow seas and 

 estuaries, and to have breathed air hke the Ichthyosauri, or 

 like the Whale and the Porpoise. The most remarkable 

 character is the extraordinary extension of the neck, to a 

 length nearly equalling that of the body and tail together, and 

 surpassing, in the number of its vertebrae (thu'ty-three), that 

 of the Swan. It is supposed to have " swum upon or near 

 the surface, arching back its long neck hke the Swan, and 

 occasionally darting it down at the fish which happened to 

 float within its reach." 



The Pterodactyles^ (P^J- 232) constitute another genus. 



Fig. 232.— Pterodacttle. 



About eight species are now known, the size varying from 

 that of a Snipe to that of a Cormorant. They were consi- 

 dered by Cuvier the most extraordinaiy of all the extinct 

 animals that had fallen under his observation ; and such as, if 

 we saw them restored to life, wovdd appear most unlike to 

 anything that exists in the present world. 



These flpng reptiles resembled, in some degree, our modern 



* Dr. Buckland's TJridgewater Treatise. We use the words of that elo- 

 quent writer, so far as our limited space will permit. 



f From two Greek words, signifying "wing-fingered," some of the 

 finger-joints being of such a length as to have served as the supports for a 

 membranous wing. The dotted lines in the figure (232) indicate the sup- 

 posed outline of this wing, and of the skin of other parts of the body. 



