l62 



NA TURK 



[August 5, 1909 



found in the region of Converse County, Wyoming, 

 made famous by the explorations of Hatcher for re- 

 mains of the great horned dinosaurs or Ceratopsia. 

 The entire animal lay in a normal position on its 

 back. The left fore limb was outstretched at right 

 angles to the body, while the right fore limb lay 

 stretched over the under surface of the head. The 

 hind limbs were drawn up and doubled on themselves. 

 The hinder portion of the pelvis and the entire tail 

 had been removed by erosion. The epidermal im- 

 pressions are best shown on the throat and an- 

 terior part of the neck, on the arms and fore limbs, 

 the entire right side of the body, including the axillary 

 region, and especially over the abdomen. The skin 

 is inflected like a curtain over the entire abdominal 

 region without a single break, with brilliant impres- 

 sions of the scale pattern. This abdominal infolding, 

 the close appression of the skin to the surface of the 

 bones, and the sharp transverse folds all indicate that 

 after death the body was exposed for a long time to the 

 sun, and the muscles and viscera became completely 

 dehydrated ; i n 

 other words, the 

 body became 

 thoroughly dried 

 and mummified, 

 while the epider- 

 mis became har- 

 dened and leathery 

 under the action 

 of the sun. In 

 this condition the 

 dinosaur mummy 

 was caught in a 

 freshet, and 

 rapidly buried in 

 fine river sand, 

 which took a per- 

 fect cast of the 

 epidermal mark- 

 ings before the 

 tissues disinte- 

 grated under the 

 solvent action of 

 the water. 



There is no evi- 

 dence in any part 

 of the epidermis 

 either of coarse 

 tubercles or of 

 o verlapping 

 scales;, on 

 tlie contrary, the epidermis is extremely thin, and the 

 markings are very fine for an animal of such large 

 dimensions. In all parts of the body observed, the 

 epidermis is covered with scales of two kinds — namely, 

 smaller tubercular scales and larger pavement or non- 

 imbricating scales. The latter are perfectly smooth, 

 and, as grouped in clusters or rosettes, assume a 

 rounded or irregularly polygonal form. Over the 

 throat, neck, sides, and ventral surface these clusters 

 are regularly -"isposed in different patterns, separated 

 by rows of finer tubercular scales, but in the tail, as 

 indicated in the specimen of Trciclwdon iiiirabilis 

 (Fig. 2), it is probable that the cluster arrangement 

 disappears, and that the entire tail is covered with 

 the tesselated or pavement scales. The vigorous use 

 of the tail among Iguanodontia as a balancing, and 

 perhaps partly as a swimming, organ would lead us 

 to expect this strong development of the scales in the 

 tail region. This disposition of the scales into larger 

 pavement groups and smaller tubercular rows is unlike 

 that observed by the writer in any Lacertilia ; it 

 appears to be unique. H. F. O. 



NO. 2075, VOL. 81] 



NATURE STUDIES IN NEW ZEALAND AND 

 AT HOME.' 



(i) ly/fR- THOMSON' is well known among zoo- 

 •'■'■'■ logists by his discovery of Anaspides, a very 

 interesting genus of Crustacea, on Mount Wellington, 

 Tasmania. In this volume he has collected observa- 

 tions made in the neighbourhood of Dunedin during 

 the last thirty years. The articles appeared originally 

 in the New Zealand Press, and were obviously written 

 without any intention of subsequent issue in volume 

 form. They are necessarily somewhat slight, and 

 touch upon a great variety of topics without systematic 

 treatment. Yet they possess a value which often 

 attaches to first-hand observation written down at the 

 time, for the animals and plants of the island are 

 undergoing a rapid change. Destruction of the bush 

 and the importation of a European element has trans- 

 formed the neighbourhood, not only of Dunedin, but 

 of other parts of New Zealand. The indigenous 

 plants, insects, and birds are, in many places, be- 



A Marten moving along a Bough. Photo, by Mr. Doug!.-is English. From " The Nature Book.' 



coming scarce, or have disappeared, and only a few 

 more tenacious or more resistent have survived the 

 process of change which has accompanied the develop- 

 ment of the South Island. Hence these notes of garden 

 and field life will be of interest to all who are anxious 

 to preserve records of older societies, whether of 

 animals or plants. It would be of the greatest interest 

 to discover how rapidly and completely the introduced 

 flora and fauna acquire the new periodicity of the 

 seasons in New Zealand, and Mr. Thomson's notes 

 mav give the requisite stimulus to observers for further 

 investigation on the indigenous and alien organisms of 

 that country. 



(2) This work has already appeared in serial form, 

 and will prove a welcome gift-book to many a budding 

 naturalist. The illustrations are excellent, and bring 



1 (i) "A New Zealand Naturalist's Calendar." Notes by the Wayside. 

 By Geo. M. Thomson. Pp. 2=4. (Dunedin : R. J. .Stark and Co., 1909.) 



(2) " The Nature Book." A Popular Description by Pen and Camera of 

 the Delights and Beauties of the Open Air. Vol. ii. Pp. ivH-373-752. 

 (London : Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1909.) Price 12.?. net. 



(q) "The Book of Nature Study." Vol. iii. Edited by Prof. J. Bretland 

 Farmer. Pp.228. (London ; Caxton Publishing Co., n.d.) Price 7^. 6rf. 



