FLYING DRAGONS 209 



feet. 1 Plate XXXIII., shows a restoration of the largest known < 

 form, viz. Pteranodon, which has been described by Dr. S. W. 

 Williston of the Chicago University. Its wing was nine feet 

 long, and the skull, which is principally beak, was nearly four feet 

 long, the beak being very long, pointed, and quite toothless, which 

 suggests that this Pterodactyl dived after fishes. 



Whether Pterodactyls were cold-blooded or warm-blooded is 

 a question on which the authorities are not agreed. Professor 

 Owen argued from the absence of feathers that they could not 

 have been warm-blooded. But, in spite of this great authority, 

 who has defended his opinion somewhat strongly, there are others 

 who argue that the amount of work involved in sustaining a 

 Pterodactyl in the air makes it highly probable that it was warm- 

 blooded. Such, at least, is the view of the late Professor H. G. 

 Seeley, who says of the Cambridge specimens : " That they lived 

 exclusively upon land and in air is improbable, considering the 

 circumstances under which their remains are found. It is likely 

 that they haunted the sea-shores, and, while sometimes rowing 

 themselves over the water with their powerful wings, used the 

 wing-membranes, as the bat does, to enclose their prey and bring 

 it to the mouth. 



"The large Cambridge Pterodactyls probably pursued a more 

 substantial prey than dragon-flies. Their teeth are well suited 

 for fish, but probably fowl and small mammals, and even fruits, 

 made a variety in their food. As lord of the cliff, it may be 

 presumed to have taken toll of all animals that could be conquered 

 with tooth and nail. From its brain it might be regarded as an 

 intelligent animal. The jaws present indications of having been 

 sheathed with a horny covering." 



1 Certain books still repeat the over-estimate of Marsh and state that the 

 length from tip to tip was twenty-five feet. This is wrong. 



P 



