132 EXTINCT MONSTERS 



the branch called Dinosaurs somewhere near crocodiles, the 

 sphenodon, and even the turtles. 



We will take each sub-order in turn, and describe its leading 

 features, and some of the individual genera will be described 

 somewhat fully. In our previous edition the English and 

 the American Dinosaurs were separately dealt with ; in the 

 present edition they are not so divided. We have been obliged to 

 omit details here and there to save space, as we are now limited 

 to one volume, and a great part of Creatures of Other Days, 

 will be found to be included in the present work. The Theropoda 

 (or beast-footed sub-order) include such forms as Megalosaurus, 

 Anchisaurus, Compsognathus, etc. They played the part of lions 

 and tigers of the present day. 



To begin with Megalosaurus. In the year 1824 that keen 

 observer and original thinker, the Eev. Dr. Buckland, described to 

 the Geological Society of London some remains of a very strange 

 and formidable reptile found in the Limestone of Stonesfield, near 

 Woodstock (about twelve miles from Oxford). This rock, known 

 as " Stonesfield slate " from its property of splitting up into thin 

 layers, has long been celebrated for its fossil remains, and from it 

 have been also obtained the bones of some early mammals. It is 

 a member of the Lower Oolitic group. 



The portions of skeleton originally discovered consisted of 

 part of a lower jaw, with teeth, a thigh bone (femur), a series 

 of vertebrse of the trunk, a few ribs, and some other fragments. 

 The name Megalosaurus, or " great lizard," suggested itself both 

 to Dr. Buckland and Baron Cuvier, because it was evident from 

 the size of the bones that the creature must have been very big. 

 It is true these bones were not found together in one spot ; but 

 Professor Owen came to the conclusion that they all belonged to 

 the same species. 



