308 VERTEBKATE AXniALS. 



is the type. In Ichthi/m-nis^ as in Hesperornis, the jaws are fur- 

 nished witli numerous conical teeth, but tliose are sinik in dis- 

 tinct sockets. The wings are well develo]]ed, and the bird must 

 have posses.sed considerable powers of flight. The sternum has a 

 keel, and the metacarijai bones are anchylosed with one another. 

 Lastly, there is tlie extraordinary character that tlie bodies of the 

 vertebrce were hirom-nre, and in this respect resemble rhe vertehrie 

 of most fishes and of many Amphibians and Reptiles. The size of 

 Ichthyornis dispar, the only known species of the genus, seems to 

 have been about etiual to that of a Pigeon. 



