578 



THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. Lect. V. 



Pterodactyles, or Flying-lizards of the ancient world, which, 

 unquestionably, present the most extraordinary modification 

 of reptilian organization which the researches of the palae- 

 ontologist have brought to light. With a head and length of 

 neck resembling those of a bird, the wings of a bat, and the 

 body and tail of an ordinary mammalian, these creatures 

 present an anomaly of structure as unlike their fossil con- 

 temporaries, as is the duck-billed Platypus, or Ornitho- 

 rhyncus of Australia, to existing animals. The skull is 

 small, with very long beaks, which are furnished with 

 upwards of sixty sharp-pointed teeth ; the size of the 

 orbit denotes a large eye, and it is therefore probable that 

 these creatures, like other Insectivora, were nocturnal. 

 The forefinger is immensely elongated for the support 

 of a membraneous expansion, as in the Bat ; impressions 

 of this membrane are seen in some specimens (Lign. 

 130).* The fingers terminate in long hooks, like the 

 curved claws of the Bat. The size and form of the foot, leg, 

 and thigh, show that the Pterodactyles were capable of perch- 

 ing on trees, and of standing firmly on the ground, where, 

 with their wings folded, they might walk or hop like a bird.t 

 Sixteen species of these extraordinary creatures have 

 been discovered, and these vary in size from that of a Snipe 

 to a Cormorant. Of these, twelve have been found in the 

 lithographic stone at Solenhofen, where the bones of Ptero- 

 dactyles are associated with the remains of Dragon-flies ;J 

 in the Stonesfield Slate they are collocated with the elytra, 



* The wing of the bat is not merely an instrument for flight, but its 

 structure is so exquisite, and the web so abundantly furnished with 

 nerves, that the organ seems to possess a peculiar sensation, by which 

 the creature, although moving with the utmost rapidity, is enabled to 

 avoid objects in its flight. 



+ See Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Essay. Mr. Martin has introduced 

 a restored figure of a Pterodactyle in the foreground of the Frontispiece 

 of Vol. I. of this work. 



i Goldfuss. 



