7 6 EXTINCT MONSTERS. 



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 also been 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 

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

 name Megalosaurus, 1 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. 



No entire skeleton of the Megalosaur has ever been found, but 

 there was enough material to enable Dr. Buckland, Professor 

 Owen, and Professor Phillips to form a very fair idea of its general 

 structure. It should be mentioned here that Dr. Mantell, the 

 enthusiastic geologist to whose labours palaeontologists are greatly 

 indebted, had previously discovered similar teeth and bones in 

 the Wealden strata of Tilgate Forest. Sherborne, in Dorset, is 

 another locality which has yielded a fine specimen of parts of both 

 jaws with teeth. A cast of this may be seen in the geological 

 collection at South Kensington. It was found in the Inferior 

 Oolite (Wall-case IV.) ; the original specimen lies in the 

 museum of Sherborne College. Remains of Megalosaurus have 

 also been found at the following places : Lyme-Regis and Watchet 

 (in the Lias) ; near Bridport (in Inferior Oolite) ; Enslow Bridge 

 (upper part of the Great Oolite and Forest Marble Beds); Wey- 

 mouth (in Oxford Clay) ; Cowley and Dry Sandford (in the Coral 

 Rag) ; Malton in Yorkshire (in Coralline Oolite) ; also in 

 Normandy. They have also been found in Wealden strata. 



1 Greek megas, great ; sanros, lizard. 



