ANOMALOUS REPTILES 



109 



D. lacerticeps (" lizard-headed," Fig. 26) is only six inches long. 

 Dicynodonts have since been found in the Gondwana series 

 in Central India, and in the Elgin Sandstone, Scotland. 



The vertebrae, or joints of the backbone, are hollow on both 

 sides (biconcave) a feature common to fishes and Labyrintho- 

 donts. Probably they were good swimmers, and spent much 

 of their time in the water; but it is quite clear that they 



FIG. 27. Fore limb of Dicynodon. 

 (After Owen.) 



FIG. 28. Arm-bone (humerus) of 

 Dicynodon. natural size. (After 

 Owen.) 



were air-breathers, and so must have come up to the surface 

 to breathe. 



The genus Oudenodon, 1 although it has no teeth, so closely re- 

 sembles the Dicynodon that it must be included in the same 

 family. The skull is shown in Fig. 26. Professor Owen even 

 suggested that the absence of teeth might merely denote a difference 

 of sex; but this view is not accepted by others. The general 

 shape of the skull is very similar to that of Dicynodon, and the 



1 Greek ouden, nothing ; odous, odontos, tooth. 



