﻿AND 
  AVES 
  OF 
  NORTH 
  AMERICA. 
  181 
  

  

  figures 
  of 
  bones, 
  represented 
  by 
  Faujas 
  Saint 
  Fond 
  and 
  Camper, 
  reproduced 
  in 
  the 
  Osse- 
  

   mens 
  Fossiles. 
  In 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  figure 
  of 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  an 
  ulna, 
  Cuvier 
  says, 
  that 
  if 
  the 
  bone 
  

   belonged 
  to 
  Mosasaurus, 
  it 
  would 
  indicate 
  the 
  extremities 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  moderately 
  ele- 
  

   vated. 
  But 
  he 
  continues, 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  feet, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  known, 
  appear 
  on 
  the 
  

   contrary, 
  to 
  have 
  belonged 
  to 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  a 
  contracted 
  fin, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  Dolphins 
  or 
  Plesiosau- 
  

   rus. 
  Of 
  the 
  different 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  feet, 
  figured 
  in 
  the 
  Ossemens 
  Fossiles, 
  after 
  Camper, 
  

   Cuvier 
  likens 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  to 
  the 
  principal 
  carpal 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  Crocodile, 
  another 
  ap- 
  

   peared 
  to 
  belong 
  to 
  some 
  huge 
  Saurian, 
  some 
  are 
  phalanges, 
  and 
  two 
  are 
  attributed 
  by 
  

   him 
  to 
  Turtles, 
  whose 
  remains 
  are 
  not 
  less 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  deposits 
  containing 
  these 
  of 
  

   the 
  Mosasaurus. 
  In 
  conclusion 
  Cuvier 
  adds 
  that, 
  "it 
  was 
  not 
  without 
  hesitation 
  that 
  he 
  

   expressed 
  the 
  conjectures 
  from 
  mere 
  figures, 
  when 
  the 
  immediate 
  comparison 
  of 
  the 
  bones 
  

   themselves 
  would 
  scarcely 
  suffice, 
  so 
  great 
  is 
  their 
  diversity 
  and 
  so 
  small 
  the 
  precision 
  of 
  

   their 
  forms 
  in 
  reptiles." 
  

  

  Goldfuss 
  describes 
  and 
  figures 
  several 
  bone 
  fragments 
  from 
  the 
  deposits 
  of 
  the 
  Creta- 
  

   ceous 
  period 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri, 
  which 
  he 
  views 
  as 
  the 
  portion 
  of 
  a 
  scapula, 
  a 
  coracoid 
  

   bone, 
  and 
  an 
  olecranon 
  process 
  of 
  the 
  Mosasaurus. 
  In 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  ani- 
  

   mal, 
  he 
  says, 
  as 
  it 
  lived 
  in 
  the 
  ocean 
  the 
  toes 
  no 
  doubt 
  were 
  webbed, 
  but 
  the 
  remains 
  

   which 
  have 
  been 
  discovered, 
  on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  do 
  not 
  lead 
  to 
  the 
  supposition 
  that 
  it 
  pos- 
  

   sessed 
  fins 
  like 
  Ichthyosaurians. 
  Prof. 
  Owen, 
  after 
  remarking 
  that 
  no 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  organi- 
  

   zation 
  of 
  the 
  Mosasaurus 
  is 
  so 
  little 
  known 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  locomotive 
  extremities, 
  and 
  sub- 
  

   stantially 
  quoting 
  the 
  views 
  of 
  Cuvier, 
  expressed 
  above, 
  enters 
  into 
  the 
  description 
  of 
  some 
  

   long 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  extremities, 
  "showing 
  the 
  Lacertian 
  type 
  of 
  structure," 
  which 
  were 
  ob- 
  

   tained 
  in 
  the 
  Green-Sand 
  formation 
  of 
  New 
  Jersey. 
  Prof. 
  Owen 
  says, 
  " 
  on 
  the 
  highly 
  

   probable 
  supposition 
  that 
  these 
  bones 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  Mosasaurus, 
  they 
  indicate 
  the 
  ex- 
  

   tremities 
  of 
  that 
  gigantic 
  Lizard 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  organized 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  type 
  of 
  the 
  

   existing 
  Lacertilia 
  and 
  not 
  of 
  the 
  Enaliosauria 
  or 
  Cetacea." 
  Pictet 
  says 
  the 
  humerus 
  of 
  

   Mosasaurus 
  is 
  thick 
  and 
  short, 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  Ichthyosaurus, 
  but 
  gives 
  no 
  evidence 
  for 
  this 
  

   assertion. 
  He 
  adds, 
  we 
  may 
  conjecture, 
  from 
  the 
  flattening 
  of 
  the 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  members, 
  

   that 
  the 
  feet 
  were 
  probably 
  converted 
  into 
  fins 
  like 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Enaliosaurians. 
  

  

  Schlegel 
  states 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  older 
  numbers 
  of 
  Leonharcl 
  & 
  Bronns' 
  Jahrbuch 
  der 
  

   Geologie, 
  etc., 
  that 
  the 
  anterior 
  limbs 
  are 
  paddles, 
  adapted 
  to 
  an 
  aquatic 
  habit. 
  

  

  Finally, 
  Leidy 
  (Cretaceous 
  Reptiles, 
  42,) 
  states 
  that 
  " 
  remains 
  apparently 
  of 
  Mosasau- 
  

   rus 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  the 
  opportunity 
  of 
  examining, 
  indicate 
  the 
  limbs 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  fins, 
  par- 
  

   taking 
  in 
  their 
  structure 
  of 
  the 
  characters 
  of 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  marine 
  turtle 
  and 
  the 
  Plesio- 
  

   saurus. 
  

  

  There 
  can 
  be 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  the 
  above 
  authors 
  have 
  correctly 
  assigned 
  such 
  limbs 
  to 
  

   the 
  two 
  species 
  that 
  came 
  under 
  their 
  observation 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  add 
  the 
  evidence 
  derived 
  from 
  

  

  AMERICA. 
  PHILO. 
  SOC. 
  — 
  VOL. 
  XIV. 
  46 
  

  

  