1221 



CHAPTER LVII. 



CLASS AVES. 



Orders Saurur^e, Ratit^, and Carinatte. 



Order I. Saurur/e. — This extinct order is represented only by 

 Archceopteryx, and may be characterised by the metacarpals being 

 separate, and by the tail being longer than the body, and not 

 terminating in a pygostyle. 



Family Arch;EOpterygid,e. — Archceopteryx, including birds of 

 about the size of the common Rook, is found in the lithographic 

 limestones of Solenhofen, near Pappenheim, in Bavaria, which are 

 the representatives of the lower part of the English Kimeridge Clay. 

 This genus was first made known by the impression of a single feather, 

 to which the late Professor H. von Meyer gave the name A. litho- 

 graphica. Subsequently the greater part of a skeleton, with im- 

 pressions of the feathers of the wings and tail (fig. mo), was 

 obtained, which Sir R. Owen named A. macrura ; while recently 

 a second skeleton has been found which some writers regard as 

 indicating a distinct species from the first. Of these two skeletons 

 the former is preserved in the British and the latter in the Berlin 

 Museum. Professor Carl Vogt, who first described the Berlin 

 specimen, regarded Archceopteryx as a Reptile ; but there can be 

 no hesitation in classing it among the Birds. The jaws were fur- 

 nished with teeth ; the vertebrae were biconcave ; and there was a 

 well-ossified sternum, of considerable breadth, and probably pro- 

 vided with a carina. In the manus the three metacarpals remained 

 distinct ; and there were also three separate digits, each of which 

 was terminated by a claw. In the pelvis the three component 

 elements exhibit the Reptilian character of remaining distinct 

 throughout life ; and it is thought probable that the ischia united 

 in a ventral symphysis. The distal portion of the fibula is placed 

 in front of the tibia; and the metatarsals were either separate or 

 but very imperfectly united together. The tail, again (fig. mo), 



