1 70 EXTINCT MONSTERS 



direction. Plate XXIV., which is a restoration, should be compared 

 with the drawing of the skeleton in Fig. 58. Another important 

 feature of the skeleton is the remarkable ossified tendons, by 

 means of which the neural spines of the vertebre were held 

 together, and so strengthened. They increase in number in the 

 region of the thighs, and also in the first part of the tail. 



The reader will have noticed the smallness of the fore limbs 

 compared with the hind limbs. This is often the case with 

 Dinosaurs. Only three fingers of the hand were used the first 

 was a rudimentary one ; the second and third were of nearly 

 equal length, the fourth shorter, and the fifth entirely wanting. 

 These long fingers ended in hoofs, not claws ; the fore limb as a 

 whole was adapted for walking and support, rather than for 

 purposes of prehension, although the latter might have been 

 expected from its small size and position. The hind limb, has 

 three digits, all well developed and massive. These were covered 

 with fairly broad hoofs, and it is clear that this Dinosaur was in 

 the habit of walking on its hind legs. It is distinguished from 

 Hadrosaurus, a near ally, by the fact that its limb-bones, instead 

 of being hollow, are all solid. This piece of evidence tends to 

 confirm the idea that Claosaurus was fond of the water ; for it has 

 been pointed out by Owen, Marsh, and other authorities, that 

 land animals, having to support the weight of their bodies on 

 land, have hollow bones ; while those which live in the water, like 

 whales, being buoyed up by the action of the water, and thus 

 having so much weight taken off their hands and feet, have their 

 limb-bones solid. 



The late Professor von Zittel considered that possibly Claosaurus 

 was not to be distinguished from Hadrosaurus. 



There is an unusually fine example of a mounted skeleton in 

 the United States National Museum (Washington), to which the 



