HIGH SCHOOL ZOOLOGY. 



123 



because the remains are preserved in a very fine toxtnrecl stone of 

 Upper Jurassic, Age found at Solcnhofen in Germany, and used for 

 liLliograpliic pur[»osos. Tlic hist found of the two sjtecimens is very 

 perfect, the carcase of the bird having been bedded in the fine sedi- 

 ment of the sea-shore, in such a position that all the parts are very 

 plain. From these we recognise that the Archceopteryx, as it is 



called, is in many res- 

 pects more like a i-eptile 

 than a true bird, especi- 

 ally so in the fact of its 

 tail being formed of a 

 large number of distinct 

 vertebrae, so that the 

 o'-dinal name Saururse, 

 was formed for it on 

 this account. (Fig. 92). 

 No other bird-remains 

 hitlierto found show 

 this peculiarity, so that 

 Archajopteiyx stands 

 alone with its lizard- 

 like tail, while all other 

 birds, livinnj and fossil 

 show some union of the 

 caudal vertebrae. In 

 respect to its plumage and organs of flight, however, Arch- 

 seopteryx is a true bird, and not a flying lizard. Two other 

 fossil birds have been found in the Cretaceous rocks of the 

 Western States which share with Archseopteryx another rep- 

 tilian character, that of toothed jaws, but in other respects 

 more closely resemble the birds of the present day Of these 

 two genera, one, Hesijeromis, appeal's to have been destitute of the 

 power of flight, because the bones of the anterior extremity are 

 much reduced and there is no keel ui)on the sternum, such as 



Fiff. 92— Berlin specimen of Archajopteryx, J, 



with le;^ from London specimen. 



'UF. Tibia. MF. Tarso-metatarse. Z. The toes. 



