﻿INTERMEDIATE 
  BETWEEN 
  BIRDS 
  AND 
  REPTILES. 
  11 
  

  

  the 
  whole, 
  however, 
  Yon 
  Meyer 
  concludes 
  that 
  there 
  can 
  be 
  little 
  

   doubt 
  the 
  jaw 
  really 
  belonged 
  to 
  Archceopteryx 
  ; 
  and 
  he 
  expressed 
  

   his 
  conviction 
  that 
  this 
  singular 
  feathered 
  fossil 
  cannot 
  be 
  looked 
  

   upon 
  as 
  a 
  bird 
  with 
  persistent 
  embryonic 
  characters, 
  but 
  rather 
  as 
  a 
  

   distinct 
  type, 
  and 
  perfect 
  of 
  its 
  kind. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  article 
  Mr. 
  Evans 
  also 
  gives 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  his 
  researches 
  in 
  

   reference 
  to 
  a 
  certain 
  nodular 
  mass 
  having 
  a 
  distinctly 
  bilobed 
  out- 
  

   line 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  observed 
  upon 
  the 
  slab 
  containing 
  the 
  Archceo- 
  

   pteryx. 
  Mr. 
  Evans, 
  having 
  prepared 
  casts 
  of 
  the 
  brain-cavity 
  of 
  a 
  

   great 
  number 
  of 
  living 
  birds, 
  was 
  enabled 
  to 
  institute 
  a 
  long 
  series 
  

   of 
  careful 
  comparisons, 
  and 
  to 
  demonstrate 
  most 
  satisfactorily 
  the 
  cor- 
  

   rectness 
  of 
  his 
  determination, 
  that 
  the 
  mass 
  in 
  question 
  represented 
  

   a 
  cast 
  of 
  the 
  anterior 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  brain-cavity 
  of 
  Arcliceopteryx. 
  

  

  III. 
  Prof. 
  Owen 
  has 
  added 
  to 
  his 
  ornithological 
  researches 
  another 
  

   Eocene 
  bird 
  from 
  the 
  London 
  Clay 
  of 
  Sheppey 
  *, 
  to 
  which 
  his 
  at- 
  

   tention 
  had 
  been 
  drawn 
  by 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  Davies, 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Museum, 
  

   who 
  also 
  worked 
  it 
  out 
  with 
  his 
  own 
  hands. 
  

  

  This 
  bird, 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  named 
  Odontopteryx 
  toliapica, 
  is 
  ren- 
  

   dered 
  remarkable 
  by 
  the 
  very 
  prominent 
  denticulation 
  of 
  the 
  alveolar 
  

   margins 
  of 
  the 
  jaws, 
  to 
  which 
  its 
  generic 
  appellation 
  refers. 
  

  

  The 
  denticulations 
  are 
  intrinsic 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  bone 
  bearing 
  them, 
  

   and 
  are 
  of 
  two 
  sizes, 
  numerous 
  smaller 
  denticles 
  occupying 
  the 
  spaces 
  

   between 
  the 
  larger 
  ones, 
  which 
  are 
  about 
  half 
  an 
  inch 
  apart. 
  

  

  When 
  perfect 
  the 
  skull 
  was 
  probably 
  5 
  to 
  6 
  inches 
  in 
  length 
  ; 
  but 
  

   the 
  anterior 
  extremity 
  is 
  wanting. 
  

  

  Prof. 
  Owen 
  concludes 
  the 
  Odontopteryx 
  to 
  have 
  belonged 
  to 
  or 
  

   near 
  the 
  Anatklce, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  web-footed 
  and 
  a 
  fish-eating 
  bird, 
  

   for 
  which 
  its 
  serrated 
  jaws 
  would 
  admirably 
  adapt 
  it. 
  

  

  As 
  we 
  have 
  not 
  the 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  bird, 
  but 
  the 
  skull 
  alone, 
  

   it 
  would 
  be 
  presumptuous 
  to 
  surmise 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  presence 
  or 
  absence 
  

   of 
  other 
  modifications 
  besides 
  the 
  pseudo-teeth 
  with 
  which 
  the 
  jaws 
  

   are 
  armed 
  f 
  . 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  extreme 
  rarity 
  of 
  all 
  terrestrial 
  animal 
  remains 
  pre- 
  

   served 
  in 
  a 
  fossil 
  state, 
  it 
  may 
  justly 
  be 
  concluded 
  that 
  many 
  more 
  

   such 
  archaic 
  birds, 
  having 
  reptilian 
  modifications, 
  actually 
  existed 
  in 
  

   the 
  Mesozoic 
  epoch, 
  although 
  they 
  may 
  possibly 
  never 
  be 
  discovered 
  

   by 
  geologists. 
  

  

  Passing 
  from 
  birds 
  to 
  Dinosauria, 
  we 
  are 
  able 
  to 
  enumerate 
  

   several 
  forms 
  of 
  reptilia 
  which 
  appear 
  to 
  offer 
  points 
  of 
  structure 
  

   tending 
  towards 
  the 
  so-called 
  " 
  wingless 
  birds," 
  or 
  those 
  birds 
  

   which 
  are 
  devoid 
  of 
  the 
  power 
  of 
  flight 
  by 
  reason 
  of 
  the 
  relatively 
  

   small 
  size 
  of 
  their 
  fore 
  limbs 
  and 
  the 
  feathers 
  which 
  they 
  support. 
  

  

  * 
  See 
  Quart. 
  Journ. 
  G-eol. 
  Soc. 
  for 
  November 
  1873, 
  and 
  abstract 
  in 
  Geol. 
  

   Mag. 
  August 
  1873, 
  p. 
  376. 
  

  

  t 
  Many 
  living 
  birds, 
  and 
  notably 
  the 
  Merganser 
  serrator, 
  have 
  a 
  denticulated 
  

   mandibular 
  border 
  which, 
  although 
  connected 
  only 
  with 
  the 
  horny 
  covering, 
  

   and 
  not 
  with 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  mandibles 
  (as 
  in 
  Odontopteryx), 
  yet 
  is 
  sufficient 
  

   to 
  prove 
  that 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  feathers 
  can 
  no 
  longer 
  be 
  looked 
  upon 
  as 
  neces- 
  

   sarily 
  implying 
  that 
  the 
  beak 
  with 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  preened 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  

   edentulous. 
  (John 
  Evans, 
  op. 
  cit. 
  p. 
  421.) 
  

  

  