3 o8 HISTORICAL PALEONTOLOGY. 



Birds of Prey (Raptores*) are represented by Vultures, Owls, 

 and Hawks. The toothed Birds of the Upper Cretaceous 

 are no longer known to exist; but professor Owen has 

 recently described from the London Clay the skull of a very 

 remarkable Bird, in which there is, at any rate, an approxi- 

 mation to the structure of Ichthyornis and Hesperornis. The 

 bird in question has been named the Odontopteryx toliapicus, 

 its generic title being derived from the very remarkable char- 

 acters of its jaws. In this singular form (fig. 227) the margins 

 of both jaws are furnished with tooth-like denticulations, which 

 differ from true teeth in being actually portions of the bony 



Fig. 227. Skull of Odontopteryx toliapicus, restored. (After Owen.) 



substance of the jaw itself, with which they are continuous, 

 and which were probably encased by extensions of the horny 

 sheath of the bill. These tooth-like processes are of two 

 sizes, the larger ones being comparable to canines ; and they 

 are all directed forwards, and have a triangular or compressed 

 conical form. From a careful consideration of all the dis- 

 covered remains of this bird, . Professor Ow-'-.n concludes that 

 " Odontopteryx was a warm-blooded feathered biped, with 

 wings; and further, that it was web-footed and a fish-eater, 

 and that in the catching of its slippery prey it was assisted by 

 this Pterosauroid armature of its jaws. " Upon the whole, 

 Odontopteryx would appear to be most nearly related to the 

 family of the Geese (Anserina') or Ducks (Anatida} ; but the 

 extension of the bony substance of the jaws into tooth-like 

 processes is an entirely unique character, in which it stands 

 quite alone. 



The known Mammals of the Mesozoic period, as we have 

 seen, are all of small size ; and with one not unequivocal 

 exception, they appear to be referable to the order of the 



