VEETEBEATA 



79 



t^ 



h 



< 



4 



>. 



P 





? I 



^ 



Fig. 27. — Olidastes vropy- 

 ttoTiCope; skull one-half natur- 

 al size. From the Upper Greta 

 cic of Alabama. 



The Dolichosauria are only known 

 from European formations. Some 

 of the species are snake-like in form. 

 Acrodonta are best known from the 

 same region, but one species is known 

 from the American Eocene. It may 

 belong to the Rhiptoglossa. The 

 extinct Iguania and Leptoglossa are 

 all European as far as known, while 

 Diploglossa are known from both 

 continents. 



The Pythonomoepha (Fig. 27) in- 

 clude two families, the Mosasauridse 

 and the Plioplatecarpidse. The 

 Mosasauridse were the predominant 

 type of sea-saurians during the Cre- 

 tacic period in North America, 

 and they were common in Europe 

 and in New Zealand, and some 

 species have been found in Brazil. 

 The Plioplatecarpidse are only known 

 from the Upper Cretacic in Eu- 

 rope. Some of the species of Mosa- 

 saurus and Liodon reached a length 

 ^ of fifty feet. Their limbs were short, 

 inflexible paddles, and the pelvic 

 bones were very slender and feeble. 

 The Ophidia include the follow- 

 ing superfamilies : 



A. Supratemporal intercalated 

 in the cranial walls. {Angio- 

 stomata.) 



a, No ectopterygoid ; pala- 

 tines bounding choanse 

 posteriorly ; ethmotur- 

 binal forming part of 

 roof of mouth ; rudi- 

 ments of a pelvis. {Sco- 

 lecophidia.) 



