ii6 EXTINCT MONSTERS 



The creature must have been fully nine feet long when 

 alive. The great width and squareness of the animal is a 

 feature that strikes one at once. The skull decidedly resembles 

 that of a Labyrinthodont, and, even to a casual observer, has a 

 frog-like look. But internally it is like that of the Tuatara, or 

 Sphenodon, of New Zealand, which is a survival from very old 

 times, and throws much light on several orders of Triassic reptiles. 

 The backbone, or vertebral column, also resembles that of the 

 little Tuatara, and not that of a Labyrinthodont. In the shoulder 

 girdle we see a resemblance to the Anomodonts, as also in the 

 pelvis, or region of the hips, which is remarkably mammalian. 

 Every one who looks at the skeleton must be struck with the great 

 strength and massiveness of the limb-bones. The arm-bone 

 suggests two very triangular wedges fastened together ; so does the 

 femur, or thigh-bone. The present writer suggested three years ago 

 that all this strength may have been for the purpose of supporting 

 a massive shield as in the case of the common tortoise, and now, 

 1909, he hears that another genus Propappus actually had such 

 an armoured shield. For the sake of comparison, a specimen of 

 the Tuatara (Sphenodon) is placed in a case close by (Wall-case 9). 

 Visitors will find it instructive to compare the skeleton of a 

 Sphenodon with that of the Pareiasaurus. On so doing, they will 

 see a resemblance in the limb-bones of the two creatures. How 

 fortunate that this little lizard should have survived so many 

 geological ages as it were on purpose to give us some help in 

 studying the long-lost Anomodonts! Professor Seeley considers 

 that the limbs, as represented by their bones, are intermediate 

 between those of mammals and the tailed amphibians, such as 

 newts and salamanders. But the creature was more of a reptile 

 than an amphibian, as is shown by the fact that its skull articu- 

 lated with the first joint of the backbone by means of one condyle, 



