Frof. 0. C. Marsh— The Wings of Pterodadyles. 205 



Fig. 11. Ibid. Typical form. Cornbrash, Scarborougli. Leckenby 



Collection. 

 ,, 12. Ibid. Kelloway Rock, Scarborougli. Leckenby Collection. 



,, 13. Natica Calypso, D'Orb., var. tenuis. Lower Calcareous Grit, Caytou 



Bay. Leckenby Collection. 

 ,, 14. Cloughtonia cincta, Phillips. Scarborougli Limestone, Clougbton "Wyke. 

 Leckenby Collection. 



(To be continued.) 



II. — The Wings of Pterobactyles.^ 



By Professor 0. C. Marsh, M.A., P.G S. ; 



of Yale College, Newhaven, Conn., U.S.A. 



THE first Pterosaurians discovered were recognized as flying 

 animals, but were tbouglit to be bats. As soon as their general 

 structure became known, they were classed with the Keptiles, al- 

 though it was considered possible that their power of flight was due 

 to feathers. Later, their bones were mistaken for those of Birds 

 by various experienced anatomists, and others regarded them as 

 sharing important characters with that group. Some anatomists, 

 however, believed that the fore limbs of Pterodactyles were used for 

 swimming, rather than for flight, and this view has found supporters 

 within the present decade. A single fortunate discoveiy, made a few 

 years since, has done much to settle the question as to the wings of 

 Pterodactyles, as well as their mode of flight, and it is the aim of 

 the present article to place on record some of the more important 

 facts thus brought to light. 



The specimen to be described was found in 1873, near Eichstadt, 

 Bavaria, in the same lithographic slates that have yielded ArchcBO- 

 ptei-i/x, Compsognathus, and so many other Jurassic fossils known to 

 fame. This specimen, which represents a new species of the genus 

 Bhamphorhynchus, is in a remarkable state of preservation. The 

 bones of the skeleton are nearly all in position, and those of both 

 wings show very perfect impressions of volant membranes still at- 

 tached to them. Moreover, the extremity of the long tail supported 

 a separate vertical membrane, which was evidently used as a rudder 

 in flight. These peculiar features are well shown in Fig. 1, which 

 represents the fossil one-fourth the natural size. 



The discovery of this unique specimen naturally attracted much 

 attention at the time, and many efforts were made to secure it for 

 European museums. The writer was then at work on the toothless 

 Pterodactyles which he had recently found in the Cretaceous of 

 Kansas, and believing the present specimen important for his in- 

 vestigations, sent a message by cable to a friend in Germany, and 

 purchased it for the museum of Yale College, where it is now 

 deposited. 



The Wing Membranes. 



A careful examination of this fossil shows that the patagium of 

 the wings was a thin smooth membrane, very similar to that of 



^ Communicated by the author. This article appeared in SiUinian's American 

 Journal of Science, for AprU, 1882 (vol. xxui. No. 106). 



