NATURE 



{Dec. 21, 1 87 1 



conclusion however, he was largely aided by Prof. Phillips, Stonesfield had been assigned to its true position in the 

 and that i't is true is rendered almost certain by the skeleton of its possessor, and the so-called "clavicle" 

 independent observations of Prof. Cope on the fossil ' shown to be in all probability a long, stihform, bird-hke 

 rpntiles of America When the large pelvic bone from ischium, there could no longer be any doubt as to the 



reptiles of America. 



Fig. 5.— H^ad of Megalosaunis. Scale, one-tenth of nature. , , 1 ti c ivne of Varanus 



Restoration of the head and lower jaw, of which, however, only the anterior portions arc known. These are sliaued. i nc lyp 

 i followed i), general, but the postorbital arrauRement is different, the bony circle there benig completed from cousidenng iguana 

 ,ith some eye to crocodile. The length of head as thus drawn (thirty-nine inches) is less than that usually allowed (five feet). i,,,ervenhia 



The posterior part of the ma.xillary bone is separated from the orbit, notwithstanding its smooth, apparently tree "^S«! "^ ^", ;,on,inuou"s 

 -• ■ • "■■ nay be objected to. The nasal cavity is siipposed to be divided by a median ridge he snglena^^^^ 



o openings, as in some of the monitors. The intermaxillary bones, which originally included four teeth eacn, 

 ? adult specimen. 



kind of animal to which it belongs. The massive an- 

 chyloscd sacrum of five vertebr.c, and the whole arrange- 



continuation of the jugal. This 1 

 'ntcrmaxillary bone) into t 



witir the 

 appear i 



xill.i 



ment of the pelvic arch, as well as the peculiar form of 



The left 

 spec'mens 



. Scale 



Fro. 6. — Megalo 



aspect of the sh 



ens in the O.vford Museum, w 



kver end of the humerus. It 



1 arrangement and the furm 



id speci.illy how closely 11 reser 

 Scapula. 2. Caracoid 



one tenth of na 

 here restored 

 ; complete e.vcept 



tline fron 



.., ,,. ... regard ti 



will be remarked how bird like in th 

 of the bones is the humero-scapula 



the astragalus and the shape of the coracoid and scapula, 

 indicate a close alliance with the birds ; while, on the 

 other hand, the rest of the structure is mainly reptilian. 



The specimens which are preserved m the Oxford 

 Museum, and which have been figured by Prot. 

 Phillips, afford a very complete idea of the creature. 1 he 

 magnificent upper ma.xiUary described by Prof. Huxley 

 in the '■ Geological Journal," enables the front portion 

 of the cranium to be restored with considerable certainty, 

 and the accompanying woodcut (Fig. 5) may be taken to 

 represent the entire head. ■. r\ c a 



The premaxillaries of the Megalosaurus from the Uxtord 

 clay, in the collection of Mr. James Parker, are traversed 

 by foramina which may indicate the presence of a small 

 horny beak, or snout. 



The arrangement of the shoulder girdle may be seen 

 in Fig. 6, in which i = Scapula ; 2 = Coracoid ; and 

 3 = Humerus, as well as that of the pelvic arch and 

 hind leg (Fig. i), and the comparison of the two dia- 

 grams, will show the enormous disproportion of the hind 

 to the fore limb in respect of size. All these three figures 

 are drawn to one-tenth of natural size, and enable us to 

 realise the form of one ol the most remarkable of the 

 fossil reptiles. The recent discovery of a nearly perfect 

 skeleton by Mr. James Parker establishes the fact that 

 some, at least, of the opistho-ccelian vertebra, on which 

 the genus Streptospondylus has been based by Prof. 

 Owen, belong really to this animal. In point of time, 

 the Megalosaurus lived from the Liassic to the Wealdeti 

 age, and was one of the most formidable inhabitants of 

 the great Mesozoic continent. The pains and labour 

 which Prof. Phillips has bestowed in collecting and 

 putting together the fragments and disjcita monbm of the 

 animal, and the careful criticism to which he has sub- 

 jected each bone, render this portion of the work pecu- 

 liarly valuable. r -i 



Nor is the chapter on the most gigantic of the fossil 

 reptiles, the Ceteosaurus, inferior in interest to that which 

 relates to Megalosaurus. The bones discovered m the 

 Great Oolite at Enslow Bridge, near Oxford, in 1870, 

 settled for ever all doubt as to the animal having been 

 aquatic or terrestrial. The scapula (Fig. 3) and the 

 ilium (Fig. 3) resemble in general outline those of 

 Megalosaurus, and show that the animal belongs to the 



