PAL4ZONTOLOGICAL NOTES 207 
in the floor of the neural canal between the arches are very dis- 
tinct. A further point of interest lies in the fact that the two 
sides of the neural arch are united at the top by suture only, this 
remains distinct through life, as it is clearly seen in the largest 
and best ossified specimens. The ribs have but one head, and 
there seems to be no articular face preserved, indeed, in many of 
the specimens it looks as if the rib had been anchylosed to the 
end of the transverse process and broken off when the ribs were 
bent down to their present position. In some of the vertebre 
the end of the transverse process shows the articular face for the 
rib. The top of the neural arches was expanded so that it forms 
a broad, low arch which is longer than the centrum and overlies 
rather widely the anterior zygapophyses of the succeeding ver- 
tebre, Fig. 2, Plate I, shows one of the larger vertebre twice 
natural size. 
MEASUREMENTS. 
Height from bottom of centrum to top of neural arch, - - pe 
Greatest length of centrum, - = = : 4 : BG 
Greatest length of the upper portion of the neural arch, - <i i 
With the specimens of the vertebral column of Lysorophus 
was found a fragment of a small skull consisting of the anterior 
portion of the snout as far back as the middle of the orbit, and 
the anterior portion of the attached lower jaw. There is no rea- 
son to connect this specimen with the others, except that it 
occurs in the same restricted locality, a few square yards, and 
that no other bones were found, even after a careful search. So 
far as the specimen goes, it corresponds almost exactly with the 
description and measurements of [sodectes (Pariotichus) megalops 
Cope. From the character of the deposits it seems very prob- 
able that the skull belongs with the other specimens, and that 
we may have the skull of Lysorophns, if so, however, the genus 
Tsodectes must be removed from the Pariotichidae as the vertebral 
column of that family has nothing in common with that of Lysor- 
ophus. No trace of the limb bones were found, and this with the 
coiled and firmly articulated vertebral column with its strong 
ribs has a very snake-like character, and it seems probable that 
the animal was very long-bodied and slender. 
