120 
EXTINCT MONSTERS 
A model or cast of this delicate fossil is to be seen in the 
Natural History Museum. Unfortunately, the head is not pre- 
served. Dr. Mantell considered Telerpeton to be partly amphibian 
and partly saurian. But, some years later, Professor Huxley 
came to the rescue, and threw more light on the subject. In 
a paper read before the Geological Society,^ he described a new 
specimen, which showed the skull. This specimen, the property 
of Mr. James Grant, of Lossiemouth, was sent to him by that 
veteran geologist, the late Eev. Dr. Gordon, of Birnie, by Elgin, 
who, for fifty years or more, had taken a deep interest in the 
geology of the district. It is larger, being ten to twelve inches 
Fig. 36. — Skull of Rhyncliosaurus ariiceps from the Trias, from the New Eed 
Sandstone near Shrewsbury ; ^ natural size. 2. Upper aspect of a dorsal vertebra ; 
natural size. (After Mantell.) 
in length. As is usual with fossils from the Elgin sandstone, 
the bones are represented by casts, but these were well defined. 
Professor Huxley was able to show that Telerpeton has no 
relationship with amphibians. In all its characters it is a true 
lizard. Instead of being a low, or ‘"generalised” form, it is 
somewhat “ specialised,” or highly developed. 
The second example of the reptilian order now under considera- 
tion is the Ehynchosaurus, discovered by Dr. 0. Ward, in a quarry 
in the New Eed Sandstone, at Grinsill, near Shrewsbury. His 
discovery comprised the skull and a considerable portion of the 
skeleton (see Fig. 36). Professor Owen also found some remains 
of the same animal in this quarry. 
^ Published in the Journal of 1867, vol. xxiii. p. 77. 
