178 THE STORY OF REPTILE LIFE. 



looking beast known as Pariesaurus. This was 

 a heavy, clumsily built animal, with a short, 

 massive head, and short tail and legs. The 

 limbs, however, were sufficiently long to carry 

 the body well above the ground. The jaws 

 were armed with teeth having serrated edges. 

 But in addition to these, small teeth occurred 

 also on the palate. From the heavy build of 

 this beast, we may infer that it was of a sluggish 

 disposition, but others, notably the Carnivorous 

 types, doubtless displayed extreme agility. The 

 carriage of the body is an extremely interesting 

 feature of these animals, for among the reptiles, 

 with the exception of the Chameleons and the 

 Pterodactyles, and the forms to be described 

 presently, the body must be said to be dragged 

 rather than carried over the ground. 



The last group to be considered is remarkable 

 for the extreme specialisation which it displays 

 in the matter of the teeth. In the forms known 

 as the Dicynodontia, or double dog-toothed, the 

 jaws were either toothless or encased in horn, as 

 in the Tortoises, or were armed with a single 

 pair of tusk-like teeth which projected down- 

 wards from the upper jaw. It is from the 

 presence of these teeth that the group takes its 

 name. 



Whether the remains of certain large Eeptiles 

 which have been found in Texas really belong to 

 this group or not is uncertain. But the genera 

 known as Dimetrodon and Naosaurus are remark- 

 able, indeed unique, on account of the enormous 

 development of the spines of the anterior trunk 

 vertebrae, which projected above their case of 



