FOSSIL REPTILES OF DORSET. 31 



GENUS DORATORHYNCHUS, Seeley. 

 DORATORHYNCHUS VALiDus, Seeley. 

 Pterodactylus validus, Owen. 



Through a fortunate occurrence Professor H. G. Seeley procured 

 a portion of the lower-jaw, and one vertebra of this flying reptile 

 from the Purbeck beds, at Langton, near Swanage. Isolated bones 

 are occasionally met with in this locality, but insufficient to assign 

 to them a generic or specific place. Professor Seeley places it under 

 a new genus on account of the dissimilarity of its compressed 

 elongated many-toothed spear-shaped flattened jaw to Pterodactylus. 

 The teeth, which are placed in shallow sockets, are vertical at the 

 posterior part of the jaw, gradually becoming more inclined as 

 they approach the front, where they protrude horizontally ; the 

 margin of each socket has an elevated rim. There are no less 

 than seven teeth within the space of an inch; but this close- 

 packing is not uniform, some of the interspaces being as wide as 

 one of the teeth. A similar deviation from the dental type occurs 

 in some species of Plesiosaurus. The jaw, as much of it as is 

 preserved, measures 12 J inches in length. The symphysis is well 

 preserved and extends to five inches. The vertebra, which is four 

 inches and a quarter long, is only three-quarters of an inch wide in 

 front and slightly more so behind. It is apparently concave and 

 shallow before, and the posterior articulation is nearly flat. The 

 crushed condition of the bone, however, renders its exact character 

 uncertain. In discussing the question as to which part of the 

 skeleton this bone belongs, Professor Seeley is inclined to regard 

 it as cervical from the analogy of Pterodactylus longirostris, whose 

 cervical vertebrae enlarged six diameters closely resemble this type. 



A Pterosaurian finger-bone from the Feather-bed, Middle 

 Purbecks, Langton, which I gave to the County Museum, may 

 possibly belong to Doratorhynchus ; it agrees in its dimensions with 

 Professor Seeley's description. 



GENUS DIMORPHODON, Owen. 



DlMORPHODON MACRONYX, Buckldnd. 



Portions of three of these remarkable volant Reptiles sufficient to 



