Prof. 0. C. Marsh — European Dinosaurs. 3 



Restorations of European Dinosaurs. 



The restorations of Dinosaurs I have now to submit to you 

 are four in number, and represent some of the best-known 

 European forms, types of the genera Compsognathus, Scelidosaurus, 

 Hypsilophodon, and Iguanodon. These outline restorations have 

 been prepared by me mainly for comparison with the corresponding 

 American forms, but in part to insure, so far as the present oppor- 

 tunity will allow, a more comprehensive review of the whole group. 

 The specimens restored are all of great interest in themselves, and 

 of special importance when compared with their nearest American 

 allies. 



Compsognathus. (Plate I.) 



The first restoration, that of Compsognathus longipes, Wagner, 

 1861, shown one-fourth natural size in Plate I, is believed to 

 represent fairly well the general form and natural position, when 

 alive, of this diminutive carnivorous Dinosaur, that lived during the 

 Jurassic period. The basis for this restoration comprises — (1) a 

 careful study of the type specimen itself, made by me in Munich, 

 in 1881 ; (2) an accurate cast of this specimen, sent to me by 

 Prof, von Zittel; and (3) a careful drawing of the original made 

 by Krapf, in 1887. The original description and figure of Wagner 

 (Bavai'ian Academy of Sciences, 1861), and those of later authors, 

 have also been used for some of the details. No restoration of the 

 skeleton of this unique Dinosaur has hitherto been attempted. 1 



Compsognathus has been studied by so many anatomists of repute 

 since its discovery, that any attempt to restore the skeleton to a 

 natural position will be scrutinized from various points of view. 

 My interest in this unique specimen led me long ago to examine 

 it with care, and I have since made a minute study of it, as related 

 elsewhere, not merely to ascertain all I could about its anatomy, 

 but also to learn, if possible, what its relations were to another 

 diminutive form, Hallopus, from a lower horizon in America, which 

 has been asserted to be a near ally. Both are carnivorous Dinosaurs, 

 probably, but certainly on quite different lines of descent. 



The only previous attempt to restore this remarkable Dinosaur 

 was by Huxley, when in America, in 1876. He made a rapid 

 sketch from the Wagner figure, and I had this enlarged for his 

 New York lecture. This sketch, reproduced on the diagram on 

 p. 4 (Fig. 1), represents the animal sitting down, a position which 

 such Dinosaurs occasionally assumed, as shown by the footprints in 

 the Connecticut Valley, which Huxley examined in place at several 

 localities with great interest. 



The great majority of Dinosaurian footprints preserved were . 

 certainly made during ordinary locomotion, although some series 

 show evidence of more rapid movement. All those referred to 



1 The remains of the embryo within the skeleton of Compsogiiathits, first detected 

 by me in 1881, while examining the type specimen, is not represented in the present 

 restoration. This unique fossil affords the only known evidence that Dinosaurs were 

 viviparous. 



