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GEOLOGY OF THE DENVER BASIN. 



and indicate clearly that this reptile was herbivorous in habit, avian in 

 form, and in many respects the most bird-like dinosaur yet discovered. 

 It was described by the writer in 1877, under the name Nanosaurus agilis. 

 The type specimen consists of the greater portion of the skull and skeleton 

 of one individual, with the bones more or less displaced, and all entombed 

 in a slab of very hard quartzite. The whole skeleton was probably thus 

 preserved in place, but, before its discovery, a part of the slab had been 

 split off and lost. The remaining portion shows on the split surface many 

 important parts of the skeleton, so that the main characters of the animal 

 can be determined with considerable certainty. 



Fig. 27. — Dentary lione of Xanm-aurns oyilis M;irsh ; seen from the left. 

 Fig. 28.— Ilium of same individual; left -ide. Both figures are natural si . 

 Fig. 29.— Left femur of Kanosaurut rex Marsh. One-half natural size. 

 a, front view; b. side view; c. hack view; d, proximal end ; e, distal end. 



A study of these remains shows that the reptile they represent was 

 .me of the typical Ornithopoda, and one of the most avian yet discov- 

 ered. A dentary bone in fair preservation, shown in tig. 27, indicates that 

 the animal was herbivorous, and the single row of pointed and compressed 

 teeth, thirteen in number and small in size, forms a more regular and 

 uniform series than in any other member of the group. The ilium, also, 

 shown in fig. 28, is characteristic of the Ornithopoda, having a slender. 



