308 HISTORICAL PALEONTOLOGY. 



Birds of Prey (Raptores} are represented by Vultures, Owls, 

 and Hawks. The toothed Birds of the Upper Cretaceous 

 are no longer known to exist ; but professor Owen has 

 recently described from the London Clay the skull of a very 

 remarkable Bird, in which there is, at any rate, an approxi- 

 mation to the structure of Ichthyornis and Hesperornis. The 

 bird in question has been named the Odontopteryx toliapicus, 

 its generic title being derived from the very remarkable char- 

 acters of its jaws. In this singular form (fig. 227) the margins 

 of both jaws are furnished with tooth-like denticulations, which 

 differ from true teeth in being actually portions of the bony 



Fig. 227. Skull of Odontopteryx toliapicus, restored. ( After Owen. ) 



substance of the jaw itself, with which they are continuous, 

 and which were probably encased by extensions of the horny 

 sheath of the bill. These tooth-like processes are of two 

 sizes, the larger ones being comparable to canines ; and they 

 are all directed forwards, and have a triangular or compressed 

 conical form. From a careful consideration of all the dis- 

 covered remains of this bird, Professor Ow-n concludes that 

 " Odontopteryx was a warm-blooded feathered biped, with 

 wings ; and further, that it was web-footed and a fish-eater, 

 and that in the catching of its slippery prey it was assisted by 

 this Pterosauroid armature of its jaws. " Upon the whole, 

 Odontopteryx would appear to be most nearly related to the 

 family of the Geese (Anserince) or Ducks (Anatidcu) ; but the 

 extension of the bony substance of the jaws into tooth-like 

 processes is an entirely unique character, in which it stands 

 quite alone. 



The known Mammals of the Mesozoic period, as we have 

 seen, are all of small size ; and with one not unequivocal 

 exception, they appear to be referable to the order of the 



