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EXTINCT MONSTERS 



A fine specimen is to be seen at the Natural History Museum 

 (Wall-case 9). Like the Rhynchosaurus, it had a broadly triangular 

 form of skull, with the orbits for the eyes directed upwards, and 

 the jaws prolonged into a sharp curved beak, so that it comes 

 into the same order of " beak-headed lizards." But, unlike the 

 latter reptile, it had several rows of well-developed, low, conical 

 teeth, both on the jaws and palate. The specimen at South 

 Kensington shows the head, neck, backbone, and ribs, together 



FIG. 38. Front view of skull of Elginia mirabilis, as restored from natural 

 moulds in the Elgin Sandstone, by Mr. E. T. Newton. 



with some of the limb-bones. We have therefore ventured on 

 a restoration by Mr. Smit (see Plate IX.), in order to give the 

 reader an idea of its curious head and beaked jaws. (The limbs 

 might be larger.) Hyperodapedon must have had a wide geo- 

 graphical range during the period of the Trias; for its remains 

 have also been found in the centre of England (Warwickshire), 

 in Devonshire, and in Central India. A much larger species 



