1895.] Geology and Paleontology. 1001 
are determined in all the Reptilia. But the Crocodilia, Lacertilia 
Ophidia, differ from the turtle and Chelonia generally, in that their 
. mastoid (paroccipital) is, as in the bird, anchylosed with the exoccipital.”’ 
The matter is so simple and clear, that it can be demonstrated to any 
student who begins his work in Osteology. - 
Prof. Cope also states, that he has been hitherto alone in the opinion 
that the suspensorium of the quadrate of the Ophidia is the squamosum 
of the Lacertilia, but he forgets that this opinion was held already by 
Spix® in 1815. who has given excellent figures of these conditions in 
Lizards and Snakes; by Hallmann, Troschel, Gegenbaur and many 
others before 1870, when Cope read his paper. 
Prof. Cope believes that the squamosal (his paroccipital) in the 
Squamate can not be homologous with the squamosal in the Ichthyos- 
auria, Colylosauria and Stegecephalia, with which it is identified by 
me, since it is a brain-case bone, while the latter is a temporal roof- 
bone, a fundamental difference, as he says. I never knew that the 
squamosal (paroccipital, Cope) of the Squamata is a brain-case bone, 
it is certainly not in the many skulls I have examined, but is 
homologuous to the squamosum of the Stegocephalia and Ichthyosauria 
is shown by Saphewosaurus which bridges over Sphenodon with Ichthyo- 
saurus. In regard to the homologies and nomenclature given in my 
paper in the Anat. Anz. I have not to change a single point. 
2. The systematic Position of the Mosasauride. 
“ Like Owen, Marsh and Dotto, he [Baur] does not perceive that 
this group (Mosasauridse) is essentially distinct from the Latertilia, and 
concludes with them that I have erred in alleging it to present affinities 
to the Ophidia.” Cope, p. 857. 
In order to determine this matter, Prof. Cope, thinks it necessary to 
know, what the characters are that distinguish snakes from Lizards. 
The first character, the descending of the parietal and frontal bones to 
the basicranial as is in the Ophidia is as he admits himself, not 
constant, being found also in the Amphisbzenians and Anniella.’ 
As a second character he mentions, that the prosquamosal (supra- 
temporal) is present in the Lacertilia, but absent in the Ophidia, stat- 
Spix J. Baptista, Cephalogenesis, sive capitis ossei structura. gr. fol. Mona- 
chii, 1815. 
TI may mention here the interesting fact that in some Amphisbenians, the 
parietals and frontals are connected by a especial element with the basisphenoid, 
in other genera they unite with this element. The basisphenoid of snakes is also 
a composite of this bone and the basisphenoid proper. 
