ANOMALOUS REPTILES 123 



from India is reckoned to have attained a length of seventeen 

 feet. 



Professor Huxley concluded that Hyperodapedon and Rhyucho- 

 saurus do not depart from the ordinary lizard type of structure 

 more than some of our modern lizards do such as the Monitor, 

 Chameleon and Gecko, to which both are allied. He thinks 

 that, even in Triassic times, the lizard type had become highly 

 specialised. 



Elginia mirabilis is the name proposed for the skull of a reptile 



FIG. 39. Side view of skull of Elginia mirabilis, as restored from natural 

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



which, on account of the extreme development of horns and spines, 

 reminds one of the living lizards, Moloch and Phrynosoma. The 

 skull of this ancient saurian (see Figs. 38, 39) is unlike that of any 

 living or fossil form, and seems to show affinities with both the 

 Labyrinthodonts and the lizards. All the remains are in the 

 form of hollow moulds in blocks of stone, but Mr. Newton has, 

 with wonderful skill and patience, made casts in guttapercha and 

 so reconstructed the skull, as shown in our illustrations. The 

 Elginia was closely related to Pareiasaurus. 



