﻿242 
  THE 
  EXTINCT 
  BATRACHIA, 
  REPTILIA 
  

  

  Tailed 
  Batrachian 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  period, 
  but 
  is 
  a 
  known 
  peculiarity 
  of 
  the 
  Anura. 
  In 
  this 
  respect, 
  then, 
  the 
  present 
  

   creature 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  most 
  nearly 
  allied 
  to 
  that 
  Order. 
  The 
  slender 
  toes 
  are 
  also 
  much 
  more 
  consistent 
  

   with 
  that 
  type 
  than 
  with 
  the 
  Urodela; 
  nevertheless, 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  the 
  Stegocephalous 
  form 
  Sauropleura 
  digitata 
  

   from 
  the 
  coal 
  measures 
  of 
  Ohio, 
  indicate 
  similar 
  digits. 
  

  

  Though 
  no 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  Stegocephali 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  known 
  which 
  presents 
  the 
  elongate 
  tarsus, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  

   (Pelion) 
  present 
  Anurous 
  characters 
  in 
  the 
  cranium,* 
  and 
  therefore, 
  the 
  present 
  peculiarity 
  need 
  not 
  be 
  unexpected. 
  

   From 
  the 
  fact 
  also, 
  that 
  no 
  Anura 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  in 
  older 
  strata 
  than 
  Tertiary, 
  while 
  Stegocephali 
  are 
  emi- 
  

   nently 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  Carboniferous, 
  it 
  is 
  safe 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  the 
  present 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  forms 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  type. 
  

   The 
  animal 
  which 
  left 
  the 
  impressions 
  of 
  its 
  feet 
  in 
  the 
  coal 
  measures 
  of 
  Westmoreland 
  Co., 
  Penn., 
  is 
  the 
  third 
  

   and 
  highest 
  in 
  order 
  of 
  position. 
  It 
  was 
  discovered 
  by 
  Dr. 
  King, 
  of 
  Greensburg, 
  and 
  stated 
  by 
  him 
  to 
  consist 
  of 
  

   twenty-three 
  consecutive 
  steps 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  individual. 
  The 
  step 
  marks 
  present 
  the 
  short 
  thick 
  digits 
  of 
  many 
  

   tailed 
  Batrachia, 
  and 
  no 
  doubt 
  represent 
  another 
  genus 
  of 
  the 
  Stegocephali. 
  It 
  was 
  called 
  Thenaropus 
  heterodactylus 
  

   by 
  King, 
  and 
  was 
  of 
  considerable 
  size.f 
  

  

  Ascending 
  in 
  the 
  scale 
  of 
  strata, 
  the 
  Triassic 
  Rocks 
  of 
  Pennsylvania, 
  New 
  Jersey 
  and 
  the 
  Connecticut 
  Valley 
  

   present 
  us 
  with 
  a 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  tracks. 
  Small 
  tracks 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  by 
  Wheatley 
  in 
  the 
  lower 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   section 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  been 
  so 
  fortunate 
  as 
  to 
  observe 
  in 
  the 
  tunnel 
  at 
  Phoenixville, 
  on 
  the 
  Schuylkill. 
  They 
  come 
  

   from 
  the 
  " 
  black 
  shales," 
  about 
  190 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  series. 
  A 
  posterior 
  foot 
  track 
  is 
  wide, 
  with 
  five 
  short 
  

   toes, 
  the 
  inner 
  and 
  outer 
  very 
  short 
  ; 
  the 
  order, 
  5 
  — 
  1 
  — 
  4 
  — 
  2 
  — 
  3, 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  their 
  lengths, 
  the 
  longest 
  being 
  the 
  third. 
  

   The 
  sole 
  is 
  wider 
  than 
  long. 
  It 
  was 
  no 
  doubt 
  made 
  by 
  a 
  Batrachian. 
  Dr. 
  I. 
  Lea 
  has 
  described 
  other 
  tracks 
  from 
  the 
  

   same 
  position 
  and 
  locality, 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  Chelichnus 
  wymanianus.^ 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Chas. 
  Hitchcock 
  has 
  found 
  tridactylous 
  bird-like 
  tracks 
  in 
  the 
  red 
  shales 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  series 
  near 
  to 
  Easton, 
  

   Penna., 
  and 
  similar 
  ichnolites 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  by 
  J. 
  H. 
  Smock, 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  Jersey 
  State 
  Geological 
  Survey, 
  at 
  

   a 
  point 
  on 
  the 
  Delaware 
  River 
  above 
  Trenton. 
  § 
  They 
  compare 
  closely 
  with 
  some 
  of 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Connecticut 
  Valley. 
  

   The 
  most 
  important 
  series 
  of 
  tracks 
  of 
  any 
  extinct 
  fauna, 
  is 
  that 
  brought 
  to 
  light 
  by 
  Hitchcock 
  and 
  Deane, 
  and 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  by 
  the 
  former 
  in 
  the 
  Ichnology 
  of 
  Massachusetts, 
  and 
  the 
  supplement 
  to 
  the 
  same. 
  With 
  the 
  corrections 
  intro- 
  

   duced 
  in 
  the 
  latter, 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  species 
  of 
  Vertebrata 
  represented 
  is 
  ninety-eight, 
  which 
  are 
  referred 
  to 
  42 
  genera. 
  

   These 
  are 
  distributed 
  under 
  the 
  following 
  heads: 
  

  

  Genera. 
  Species. 
  Genera. 
  Species. 
  

  

  Fishes, 
  1 
  2 
  Ornithoid 
  Lizards 
  or 
  Batrachians, 
  7 
  14 
  

  

  Chelonians, 
  5 
  9 
  Narrow-toed 
  Birds, 
  4 
  13 
  

  

  Batrachia, 
  10 
  15 
  Thick-toed 
  Birds, 
  2 
  16 
  

  

  Lacertilians, 
  11 
  20 
  Marsupialoid 
  Mammalia, 
  3 
  9 
  

  

  The 
  identification 
  of 
  species 
  and 
  genera 
  from 
  their 
  tracks 
  is 
  in 
  a 
  degree 
  practicable, 
  when 
  the 
  family 
  or 
  other 
  

  

  higher 
  group 
  is 
  known. 
  This 
  latter 
  degree 
  of 
  exactitude 
  is, 
  however, 
  impossible, 
  except 
  for 
  the 
  very 
  highest 
  rank 
  of 
  

  

  divisions. 
  Of 
  the 
  classes 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  above 
  species 
  are 
  referred, 
  we 
  fully 
  expect 
  to 
  see 
  the 
  Fishes, 
  Batrachians, 
  and 
  

  

  Rhynchocephalians|| 
  represented, 
  as 
  their 
  remains 
  occur 
  in 
  strata 
  of 
  like 
  age 
  elsewhere. 
  Tortoises 
  have 
  not 
  yet 
  been 
  

  

  found 
  below 
  the 
  Jurassic, 
  yet 
  as 
  the 
  first 
  forms 
  are 
  of 
  no 
  doubtful 
  type, 
  they 
  maybe 
  looked 
  for 
  in 
  the 
  Trias. 
  As 
  to 
  the 
  

  

  two 
  groups 
  of 
  Ornithoid 
  lizards 
  and 
  thick-toed 
  birds, 
  the 
  greatest 
  probability 
  attaches 
  to 
  their 
  being 
  Dinosauria 
  and 
  to 
  

  

  some 
  extent 
  Thecodontia. 
  The 
  belief 
  in 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  Mammals 
  must 
  be 
  left 
  for 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  their 
  remains. 
  

  

  Their 
  existence 
  is, 
  of 
  course, 
  not 
  beyond 
  the 
  limits 
  of 
  possibility, 
  yet 
  palaeontologists 
  will 
  not 
  find 
  anything 
  absolutely 
  

  

  inconsistent 
  with 
  the 
  reptilian 
  type 
  in 
  the 
  examples 
  of 
  supposed 
  Mammalia 
  brought 
  forward 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Hitchcock. 
  Birds 
  

  

  would 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  likely 
  to 
  be 
  found, 
  and 
  if 
  they 
  be 
  their 
  representatives, 
  one 
  would 
  think, 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  

  

  first 
  of 
  their 
  class. 
  We, 
  however, 
  reserve 
  acquiescence 
  to 
  the 
  theory 
  of 
  their 
  existence 
  until 
  it 
  be 
  proven 
  that 
  they 
  

  

  were 
  not 
  bird-like 
  Dinosauria. 
  

  

  The 
  sizes 
  of 
  the 
  tracks 
  vary 
  from 
  those 
  appropriate 
  to 
  the 
  small 
  recent 
  reptiles 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  latitude, 
  to 
  forms 
  of 
  

   medium 
  size 
  like 
  Clepsysaurus, 
  and 
  to 
  those 
  which 
  can 
  only 
  find 
  their 
  counterparts 
  in 
  the 
  gigantic 
  Hadrosauri 
  and 
  

   Lselapes 
  of 
  the 
  Cretaceous 
  period. 
  To 
  such 
  animals 
  Hitchcock 
  has 
  applied 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  Anomoepus, 
  Brontozoum, 
  

   and 
  Otozoum. 
  

  

  *As 
  Wynuin 
  has 
  pointed 
  out. 
  {Proc. 
  Ac. 
  Nat. 
  Sci., 
  Phila., 
  1856, 
  "S. 
  

  

  tSee 
  Dana's 
  Manual 
  of 
  Geology, 
  p. 
  51. 
  {See 
  Geol. 
  Survey 
  of 
  N. 
  J., 
  by 
  Cook, 
  p. 
  174. 
  

  

  II 
  Huxley's 
  supposed 
  Triassic 
  Lacertllia 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  all 
  IUiynchoccphalia. 
  

  

  