Fossils. 
147 
will yet be discovered, for the Ichthyosaurus and the 
Plesiosaurus have been found in the succeeding rocks 
(Cretaceous) west of the Dividing Range. 
We shall now give a short description of the more 
remarkable Triassic and Jurassic giant reptiles that 
were contemporaries of, and whose remains are found 
associated with, our own labyrinthodont in more than 
one quarter of the globe. In our descriptions we will 
follow, for the most part, the succinct account given by 
Dr. Dorman Steel. 1 
(1) The Ichthyosaurus (fish-lizard) is a striking 
illustration of a comprehensive type, having the general 
contour of a dolphin, the snout of a porpoise, the head 
of a lizard, the jaws and teeth of a crocodile, the verte- 
bra of a fish, the sternal arch of the water-mole, the 
paddles of a whale, and the trunk of a quad- 
ruped. Its habits were doubtless aquatic, while, like 
the whale, it breathed atmospheric air, and was thus 
compelled to come frequently to the surface of the 
water. Its neck was short and thick, its head large, 
and its body twenty or thirty feet long. Its jaws had 
an enormous opening, some having been found with 
160 teeth, which could be renewed many times, as above 
each tooth was always the bony germ of a new one 
The eyes were often two feet in diameter. Surround- 
ing the pupil of each was a circular series of thin bony 
plates. The fossil excrements of the Ichthyosaur are 
styled coprolites, and when polished are sold as jewellery. 
1 *' Popular Geology,” by J. Dorman Steel, New York 1877. 
