ZEUGLODON CETOIDES, 59 



1 ON THE SUPPOSED ZEUGLODON CETOIDES, OF PROF. OWEN. 



BY ONE OF THE EDITORS. 



In 1843, I received from Alabama the vertebra of a large fossil 

 animal, supposed to belong to the same species which had been 

 described by the late Dr. Harlan, in 1832, under the name of Ba- 

 silosaurus j and in 1839, was described and refigured by Prof. 

 Owen, under the name which stands at the head of this article. 

 These bones had remained till this spring in the boxes in which 

 they were packed, but having time and opportunity to give them 

 an examination,! took them from the boxes and placed them in the 

 State geological rooms. I then commenced removing the matrix 

 or rock in which the parts of the head were enveloped. In the 

 performance of this work, I soon perceived that the teeth were 

 quite dissimilar to those of the animal which had been described, 

 [first by Dr. Harlan and subsequently by Prof. Ow^en. The teeth, 

 las will be seen by the annexed cuts, (by those who have seen the 

 drawings of the above named gentlemen,) are very unlike theirs ; 

 and indeed, it seems impossible that these differences should arise 

 from imperfection in the specimens, inasmuch as most of the 

 broken teeth in my possession exhibit the peculiar forms I have 

 represented, either by themselves or the casts upon the matrix. 

 Besides, the figures in the London Geological Transactions repre- 

 sent the margins so entire in all the specimens of the teeth there 

 agured, that provided Dr. Harlan's animal was the same, this pecu- 

 iar margin could not have existed. For these reasons, I am 

 rery much inclined to believe that the animal in my possession 

 s quite distinct, especially when it is taken into the account that 

 he Zeuglodon had a long tail and a short neck, in which last 

 characteristic it was supposed to have been similar to the Dugong ; 

 livhereas, these vertebrae demonstrate, that the animal had a short 

 -hick tail and an extremely long neck, the heavier portion of the 

 mimal being towards the posterior extremity. In form and model, 

 herefore, it resembled, generally, the Pleiseiosaurus, as represent- 

 ;d in the restored skeletons. It is true, that it seems not a little 

 emarkable that two such enormous animals should be found exist- 



