144 A NEW DIN0S1UEIAN EEPTILE. [May'1907, 



the small Scleromochlus Taylori now described. For a geological 

 period so remote as the Trias, the high degree of specialization 

 of this diminutive Dinosaur is truly astonishing. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX. 



Seleromochlus Taylori, gen. et sp, nov. ; impressions of parts of 

 the skeleton. — Trias ; Lossiemouth, Elgin. 



Fig. 1. Type -skeleton, impression seen from below, natural size. [William 

 Taylor Collection.] 

 2. Portions of two skeletons, one showing the plastron of fine abdominal 

 ribs, natural size. [James Grant Collection, Brit. Mus. No. R 3146.] 



Figs. 3 a & 3 b. Portions of tail (3 a), with (3 b) scattered chevron-bones, 3 times 

 the natural size. [William Taylor Collection, No. 2.] 



Fig. 4. Wax-impression of the supposed calcaneum, natural size. [Same 

 specimen.] 

 5. Wax-impression of part of the right hind-foot, natural size. [Type- 

 specimen.] 



abd. = abdominal ribs ; / = femur ; h = humerus ; it. = ilium ; mt. = meta- 

 tarsus ; orb. = orbit ; p = proximal phalanges of hind-foot ; r = radius and 

 ulna ; sc. = scapula ; t = tibia and fibula. 



Discussion. 



Mr. E. T. Newton alluded to the extreme interest attaching to 

 any new fossils from the Elgin Sandstones that might throw 

 additional light upon the age of those deposits, a point which stili 

 needed closer investigation. He also spoke of the difficulty 

 that attended the working-out of these small Elgin reptiles, and 

 warmly commended the masterly manner in which the Author 

 had accomplished his task. The reference of these small specimens 

 to the Dinosauria would, he thought, prove to be correct. 



Dr. C. W. Andeews remarked upon the extremely-high degree 

 of specialization that had been attained by the various groups of 

 Triassic Keptiles, and suggested that the form now under discussion 

 might have been adapted for leaping, a mode of progression common 

 among animals inhabiting desertic or, at least, sandy country, a good 

 instance being the Jerboas, in which also the metatarsals were 

 fused. The view that was expressed by one speaker, that this 

 reptile might have been a predecessor of the Birds, seemed to be 

 negatived by the extreme reduction of the fore-limbs and the absence 

 of teeth. 



Mr. A. P. Young wished to ask whether anything in the skeleton 

 suggested that the animal was fitted for a gliding flight, by means 

 of an extended membrane, as seen in the flying squirrels of Southern 

 India. 



The Authoe, in reply, admitted the remarkable resemblance 

 between several parts of the new skeleton and the corresponding 

 parts of birds, but he did not think that the affinities of the animal 

 were closely Avian. He saw no evidence in the skeleton for the 

 belief that any of the soft parts were arranged for gliding through 

 the air. 



