§ 27. THE PLESIOSAURUS. 575 



and have supplementary bones to increase the strength, and 

 diminish motion.* The general figure of the Ichthyosaurus 

 must have been that of a Grampus or Porpoise, with four 

 large paddles. The teeth prove it to have been carnivorous ; 

 the paddles, that it was aquatic ; the scales, bones, and 

 other remains of marine fishes, constantly found in the 

 abdominal cavities of the skeletons, and in the coprolites, f 

 that it was an inhabitant of the sea. Its skin appears to have 

 been naked, or at least destitute of scales. J 



27. The Plesiosaurus. § — The discovery of a remarkable 

 specimen, by Miss Anning, enabled Mr. Conybeare at once 

 to establish the characters of that extraordinary extinct 



Lign. 129.— Restored figure of the Plesiosaurus. 

 (From Mr. Hawkins.) 



marine reptile, the Plesiosaurus, which differs from the 

 Ichthyosaurus in the extreme smallness of the head, enor- 



* Memoir on a Peculiarity of Structure in the Neck of the Ichthyo- 

 saurus, by Sir P. M. de Grey Egerton, Bart. 



t The Coprolites, or fossil excrements of Ichthyosauri (the true 

 nature of which was first ascertained by the sagacity of the Dean of 

 Westminster) are found in profusion in the clays and marlstones of the 

 Lias ; often occupying the abdominal cavity of the skeleton (see Dr. 

 Buckland's Bridg. Essay, p. 190) ; and the state of preservation of these 

 bezoar -stones, as they are commonly called, is such, as to show not only 

 the nature of the food of these reptiles, but also the dimensions, form, 

 and structure of the stomach and intestinal canal. The coprolites of 

 the fishes of the chalk often afford like indications. See " Medals of 

 Creation," p. 656. 



\ The Epidermis, or scarf-skin, and the Corium, or true skin, occur 

 in a fossil state. — Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Essay, Plate 10, fig. A. 1, 

 2, 3, 4. Ibid. PI. 1 ! 5, contains figures of coprolites. 



§ Medals of Creation, p. 714. 



