20 VERTEBRATA. REPTILIA. 



paddle fins of a Whale. Its general outline was 

 that of a monstrous Porpoise ; it had four broad 

 fin-like feet, a long powerful tail, probably dilated 

 at the end vertically. Mr. Owen thinks that it was 

 clothed with a skin like the Cetacea, without scales, 

 perhaps between that of the Shark and that of the 

 Leathery Turtles. It probably came ashore to sleep 

 and to lay its eggs. Specimens have been found 

 nearly thirty feet in length. 



The Plesiosaurus* was still more remarkable in 

 its deviation from present forms. The head of a 

 Lizard, furnished with teeth like those of a Croco- 

 dile, was placed at the end of an enormously long 

 and slender neck, like the body of a Serpent, while 

 the trunk and tail had the proportions of an ordinary 

 quadruped ; the ribs were those of a Chameleon, 

 and the paddles those of a Whale.-)- Mr. Cony- 

 beare supposes that it was marine ; that it occa- 

 sionally came on shore, where it moved awkwardly ; 

 that its long neck would be an impediment in swim- 

 ming submerged, and therefore it probably swam 

 on or near the surface, its long neck elevated out 

 of water and arched like that of a swan, darting 

 down on its finny prey among the seaweeds that 

 clustered in the shallows. 



ios, near, and <rat/goj, sauros, a lizard. t Buckland. 



