FLYING DRAGONS 
209 
feet.^ Plate XXXIIL, shows a restoration of the largest known 
form, viz. Pteranodon, which has been described by Dr. S. W. 
Williston of the Chicago University. Its wing was nine feet 
long, and the skull, which is principally beak, was nearly four feet 
long, the beak being very long, pointed, and quite toothless, which 
suggests that this Pterodactyl dived after fishes. 
Whether Pterodactyls were cold-blooded or warm-blooded is 
a question on which the authorities are not agreed. Professor 
Owen argued from the absence of feathers that they could not 
have been warm-blooded. But, in spite of this great authority, 
who has defended his opinion somewhat strongly, there are others 
who argue that the amount of work involved in sustaining a 
Pterodactyl in the air makes it highly probable that it was warm- 
blooded. 'Such, at least, is the view of the late Professor H. G. 
Seeley, who says of the Cambridge specimens : ‘‘ That they lived 
exclusively upon land and in air is improbable, considering the 
circumstances under which their remains are found. It is likely 
that they haunted the sea-shores, and, while sometimes rowing 
themselves over the water with their powerful wings, used the 
wing-membranes, as the bat does, to enclose their prey and bring 
it to the mouth. 
“The large Cambridge Pterodactyls probably pursued a more 
substantial prey than dragon-flies. Their teeth are well suited 
for fish, but probably fowl and small mammals, and even fruits, 
made a variety in their food. As lord of the cliff, it may be 
presumed to have taken toll of all animals that could be conquered 
with tooth and nail. From its brain it might be regarded as an 
intelligent animal. The jaws present indications of having been 
sheathed with a horny covering.” 
1 Certain books stiU repeat the over-estimate of Marsh and state that the 
length from tip to tip was twenty-five feet. This is wrong. 
P 
