52 A REVISION OF THE COTYLOSAURIA OF NORTH AMERICA 



Genus CONODECTES Cope. 



Cope, Am. Nat., vol. xxx, 1896, p. 398. 



Cope, Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., vol. xxxv, 1896, p. 129. 



Type: An imperfect skull. No. 4342 Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Cope Coll. From 

 Texas. 



Original description: In the "American Naturalist" for 1896 Cope gave an 

 analysis of the family Otoccelida: "Cranial roof excavated laterally behind, forming a 

 large meatus auditorius. Teeth present in a single row, not transversely expanded. 

 Suspensorium directed posteriorly; nostrils vertical." 



In the "Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society" he writes: 



"Quadrate bone extending posteriorly so that the mandibular articulation^ is 

 opposite the posterior border of the cranial table. Meatus auditorius small, con- 

 nected with the meatal notch. Nostrils directed upwards and a little outwards. 

 Teeth conic, acute, increasing in size to the middle of the maxillary region." 



Conodectes favosus Cope. 

 Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., vol. xxxv, 1896, p. 129. 



Original description: "The teeth preserved show that the premaxillary teeth 

 are small, as in the Isodectes megalops, and that they increase in length posteriorly. 

 The maxillopalatines are excavated on the median line, so as to present two parallel 

 ridges which continue as far as the posterior border of the internal^nares. These 

 ridges probably continue on a palatine bone and they support each a tooth near the 

 posterior extremity. In Isodectes megalops the palatines support numerous small 

 teeth on their inner borders. I find no trace of the interior rows of maxillary and 

 mandibular teeth which are characteristic of the Fariotichidee. Some such teeth 

 may, however, have existed, as a portion of the maxillary bone is wanting from 

 both sides of the skull. 



"This species is seven or eight times the linear dimensions of the Isodectes 

 megalops, and a little smaller than the Otocaelous testudineus. The skull is as 

 wide posteriorly as it is long, and is rather depressed, so that the orbits and nares 

 have a vertical as well as a lateral presentation. The muzzle is flat and projects 

 beyond the lower jaw, and it is rounded in outline, and not narrowed and pro- 

 tuberant as in most of the species oi Pariotichus. The internareal and interorbital 

 regions are flat. ^The narrower brain case is continued between the orbits, and its 

 lateral walls are robust. The palatine bones extend from the maxillaries, and 

 approximate each other nearly on the median line, where they are separated medially 

 by a groove, which becomes wider posteriorly. No teeth can be discerned in the 

 specimen, excepting the large anterior one already mentioned. The surface of the 

 bone is, however, not in good condition. The plate of the pterygoid extends to 

 the jugal on each side, and its posterior border is but little deflected, and is at right 

 angles to the long axis of the skull with indications of teeth. The posterior branch 

 of the pterygoid is slender. The occipital region is injured. The superior surface 

 of the skull is sculptured, on the posterior frontal region in a coarse honeycomb 

 pattern, the ridges occasionally forming small tubercles. 



"The teeth are conic, acute, and with a round section. In this respect they 

 differ from those of most of the species oi Pariotichus, where the crowns are obtuse. 

 They are rather closely placed, and they increase in length to below the anterior 

 border of the orbit. Their character posterior to this point can not be ascertained. 

 The single, large palatine tooth is similar to the maxillaries in form, and equals in 

 dimensions the maxillary tooth which is below the posterior border of the nostril. 



