PARASUCniA 



189 



related most nearly 

 to the crocodiles and 

 dinosaurs, and are 

 probably an early 

 branch of the stem 

 from which they, the 

 pterodactyls and the 

 birds, arose, a branch 

 that persisted only a 

 short time, geologi- 

 cally speaking, and 

 went entirely out of 

 existence at the close 

 of Triassic times, 

 leaving no descend- 

 ants behind. Never- 

 theless, in this 

 comparatively brief 

 life-span they devel- 

 oped not a few dis- 

 tinctive forms and 

 became widely dis- 

 tributed over the 

 earth. Their remains 

 are known from the 

 Upper Trias of Ger- 

 many, England, and 

 Scotland, India, 

 South Africa, and 

 from Massachusetts, 

 North and South 

 Carolina, and ma no- 

 places in the Rocky 

 Mountains. No true 

 phytosaurs are yet 

 known from South 

 America, but in all 



Fig. 93. — Skull of Mystriosuchus, a phytosaur: pw, 

 premaxilla; m, maxilla; na, nasal; /, frontal; p, pre- 

 frontal; /, lacrimal; pf, postfrontal; po, postorbital; 

 pa, parietal; sq, squamosal; gj, quadratojugal; 

 pi, palatine; /, transverse; in, internal nares; en, 

 external nares; pt, pterygoid; bs, basisphenoid; eo, 

 exoccipital. (After McGregor.) 



