﻿8 
  THE 
  EXTINCT 
  BATRACHIA, 
  REPTILIA 
  

  

  belief 
  in 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  such 
  vertebrae, 
  and 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  these 
  in 
  a 
  well 
  ossified 
  con- 
  

   dition, 
  in 
  the 
  apparently 
  nearly 
  allied 
  genus 
  Raniceps 
  Wyman 
  strengthened 
  such 
  belief. 
  

   There 
  were 
  actually, 
  however, 
  only 
  osseous 
  neural 
  arches 
  present, 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  now 
  decidedly 
  

   of 
  the 
  opinion 
  that 
  the 
  vertebral 
  centra 
  were 
  either 
  cartilaginous 
  or 
  annuliform, 
  as 
  in 
  

   Archegosaurus. 
  

  

  AMPHIBAMTJS, 
  Cope. 
  

   Proc. 
  Acad. 
  Nat. 
  Sci. 
  Philadelphia, 
  1865. 
  134. 
  

  

  AMPHIBAMTJS 
  GRANDICEPS, 
  Cope. 
  

  

  Proc. 
  Acad. 
  Nat. 
  Sci. 
  Philadelphia, 
  1865, 
  134. 
  Palsentology, 
  111. 
  State 
  Survey, 
  Tah. 
  

   Carboniferous; 
  Lower 
  Coal 
  Measures; 
  Morris 
  County, 
  Illinois. 
  

  

  MICROSAURIA. 
  

  

  This 
  suborder 
  was 
  established 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Dawson 
  for 
  small 
  lizard-like 
  vertebrates 
  from 
  

   the 
  Coal 
  Measures, 
  Avhich 
  he 
  thought 
  presented 
  points 
  of 
  affinity 
  to 
  the 
  Saurium 
  reptiles, 
  

   at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  recognizing 
  Batrachian 
  characteristics. 
  

  

  These 
  creatures 
  form, 
  in 
  fact, 
  a 
  series 
  closely 
  resembling 
  or 
  parallel 
  with 
  what 
  was 
  

   probably 
  an 
  immature 
  stage 
  of 
  the 
  Labyrinthodontia. 
  They 
  are, 
  Labyrinthodonts, 
  

   with 
  simple, 
  or 
  very 
  slightly 
  inflected 
  enamel 
  of 
  the 
  teeth, 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  the 
  

   exostosis 
  of 
  the 
  cranial 
  bones 
  much 
  reduced. 
  This 
  character 
  has 
  been 
  much 
  overrated 
  

   by 
  some 
  authors. 
  In 
  the 
  Dendrerpeton 
  obtusum 
  Cope 
  the 
  grooving 
  and 
  pitting 
  exists 
  

   only 
  on 
  the 
  posterior 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  cranium, 
  and 
  gradually 
  disappears 
  anteriorly. 
  In 
  the 
  

   Alligator 
  mississippiensis 
  the 
  same 
  is 
  the 
  case. 
  . 
  

  

  The 
  only 
  species, 
  included 
  in 
  this 
  tribe, 
  in 
  which 
  inflections 
  of 
  the 
  enamel 
  have 
  been 
  

   described 
  is 
  the 
  Dendrerpeton 
  acadianum, 
  and 
  here 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  at 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  tooth. 
  

   It 
  is, 
  however, 
  not 
  impossible 
  that 
  this 
  genus 
  should 
  not 
  be 
  associated 
  with 
  Hylerpeton, 
  

   (Estocephalus, 
  etc. 
  

  

  The 
  genera 
  Urocordylus, 
  Ceraterpeton, 
  Lepterpeton, 
  Ophiderpeton, 
  and 
  others 
  

   recently 
  described 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Huxley, 
  also 
  belong 
  here. 
  

  

  The 
  genus 
  Brachydectes 
  m. 
  is 
  established 
  on 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  crania 
  only, 
  while 
  

   Sauropleura 
  m. 
  is 
  known 
  from 
  portions 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  skeleton 
  except 
  the 
  cranium. 
  There 
  is, 
  

   therefore, 
  a 
  possibility 
  of 
  a 
  double 
  eii^loi 
  in 
  this 
  case, 
  though 
  not 
  in 
  respect 
  to 
  the 
  

   species. 
  

  

  