gy and Mineralogy. 157 



condition it was found by Mr. F. Etzold, the assistant of Pro- 

 fessor Credner. It consists now of parts of the dorsal and caudal 

 vertebra with ribs, parts of the anterior and posterior extremities, 



the pelvis, and the complete set of abdominal ossicles. No parts 



of the skull and the scapular arch were preserved. 



KadaliosauruB had the shape of a Lizard with relatively very 



long limbs of equal size. There were about twenty dorsal verte- 

 bra? each 9— 10 nun long. The vertebras are considered biconcave 

 with persistent notochord and short neural spines. Tin; ribs were 

 hollow and one-headed. The sacrum consisted of two vertebrae, 

 with strong sacral ribs ; the tail was probably not very long, but 

 sessed very long ribs on the first four vertebra'.* 



The constitution of the abdominal skeleton is very remarkable. 

 It extends from the shoulder-girdle to the pelvis, consisting of 

 about 80 string of ossicles. Each of these strings is com- 

 posed m the anterior two-thirds of the " plastron " of a median 

 and 5-6 lateral pieces. The distal end of each piece is forked for 

 the reception of each following onv. Median pieces are only de- 

 veloped in the anterior part ; the lateral pieces diminish in num- 

 ber from front to behind, there being only two or three at the 

 end. According to Credner, from whom this account is taken, 

 these abdominal ossicles were connected by five or six bands of 

 cles with the true ribs, but only in the anterior region of the 

 body. The pelvis was very strong and solid. The ilium showed 

 anterior and posterior processes, very much more developed than 

 in PakeoJiatteria, pubis and ischium were plate-like; all three 

 seemed to take part in the acetabulum. The limb-bones were 

 solid, with well-ossified condyles ; humerus with an ectepicondylar 

 foramen ; femur strongly curved. Fore- and hind-limbs of about 

 the same length. The first row of the tarsus contained two 

 bones, astragalus and calcaneum. The end phalanges formed 

 curved claws. 



The question now is, what is the systematic position of Kadalio- 

 aurus f Professor Credner calls it a lizard-like reptile, and 

 seems to be inclined to consider it as an ancestral form of the 

 Lacertilia. lie lays much stress on the foramen ectepicondyloideum 

 of the humerus. But it seems to me that it is not quite sure yet, 

 whether this foramen is really ect- or entepicondylar. I do not 

 think it possible to determine the exact systematic position of 

 this interesting fossil until the skull and shoulder girdle are 

 known. It may be the ancestor of Lizards, but it may be just as 

 well the ancestor of the archesaurian branch of Keptiles, contain- 

 ing Crocodilia, Dinosauria, Pterosauria, or that of Birds. We 

 have to wait for more material for the solution of this question. 



My opinion on the origin of the abdominal ossicles in the Rep- 

 tilia is entirely supported by the condition found in Kadalio- 



* These ribs are very peculiar and quite unique among Reptiles, with the ex- 

 ception of the Mesosauridae, in which the first caudal ribs are also long. In 

 Kadaliosaurus the first caudal rib is the longest, the fourth the shortest, the pos- 

 terior ends of these four ribs are nearly on a straight line. 



