12 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



" would agree with that of the animal which has left 

 " impressions in the sandstone." 



Although several kinds of footprints have been 

 noticed in the Grinshill quarry, there is one form which is 

 far more common than the rest, and is no doubt the one 

 alluded to by Owen. Since that time much more material 

 has been discovered ; and Huxley has described and 

 figured further specimens in Q.J.O.S., vol. 43, p. 689, 

 where the extremities are well shown, and they are found 

 to entirely confirm Owen's 'suggestion. Numerous other 

 finds have been made at Grinshill (and a few elsewhere), 

 and as these footprints are also among the most common 

 ones found here, I think we may without hesitation take 

 it as a fact that Rliynchosaurus was present here in 

 Lower Keuper times. 



The Rhynchosaurus, besides being interesting to us 

 as having belonged to the local fauna, has much wider 

 interest from the position of the Rhynchoeephalidse in the 

 zoological series ; and the fact that a representative of the 

 family still survives in Sphenodon punctata in some of the 

 small islands off the coast of New Zealand. This not only 

 gives some hints as to the probable habits of Rhyncho- 

 saurus, but also very materially assists in dealing with 

 the imperfections that occur in almost all fossil remains. 

 Although very lizard-like in outward form, the Rhyncho- 

 cephalidse, including Sphenodon and Hyperodapedon 

 differ greatly from the lizards both in their bony structure 

 and the anatomy of their soft parts. 



They are linked through Palseohatteria, which made 

 its appearance in Permian times, with the Amphibians, 

 but are truly reptilian and possess a single occipital 

 condyle. As the name implies, they were provided with 

 a horny beak, but were not edentulus, Rhynchosaurus 

 having a row of acrodont teeth anchylosed to the palate, 



