120 ANIMAL LIFE PAST AND PRESENT. 



A totally different type of Giant Land Eeptile 

 from the Sussex Wealden was first indicated to Man- 

 tell by a huge bone of the upper arm, or humerus as it 

 is anatomically termed. This stupendous bone, which 

 is now in the Natural History Museum, has a 

 length of upwards of fifty-four inches, and approxi- 

 mates in form to the corresponding bone of the croco- 

 diles, being solid throughout, and thus totally different 

 from the very much smaller arm-bone of the Iguanodoii. 

 As being the largest form with which he was ac- 

 quainted, Man tell proposed to call the reptile represented 

 by this bone the Pelorosaur, from the Greek peloros. 

 vast, and sauros, a lizard. For a long period little or 

 nothing more was known of the structure of this huge 

 creature, but at length specimens were obtained from 

 the Wealden of the Isle of Wight which indicated the 

 nature of its teeth and various parts of its skeleton ; 

 while valuable information was also afforded by speci- 

 mens obtained from the Kimeridge and Oxford clays, 

 which underlie the Wealden beds. It is true, indeed, 

 that the specimens from the Isle of Wight have been 

 described under a different name from the Sussex 

 remains, but they differ only in minute points of 

 detail. The tooth shown in woodcut 34 is that of the 

 Isle of Wight reptile, to which the name of Hoplosaur 

 (armed lizard) has been applied. It will be seen that 

 this type of tooth is quite different from that of the 

 Iguanodon, the outer surface of the crown being con- 

 vex, without flutings, and with smooth edges ; while 

 the inner surface is concave and spoon-like, Specimens 



