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ERIK A: SON STENSIO 
the dorsal part of the posterior pterygoid limb from the lateral side. One can distinguish 
a dorsal, an anterior, a ventral, and a caudal margin, of which the two first named 
are slightly concave, the two last-mentioned being, on the contrary, greatly con¬ 
vex. The antero-dorsal corner is pointed and rather drawn out, although not so 
much as in W. sinuosa ; the antero-ventral and the postero-dorsal ones, on the 
contrary, are both sharp and almost right-angled, and the postero-ventral one is 
well rounded off, so that the caudal and ventral margins merge into each other with 
out any distinct boundary. The centre of ossification is plainly seen and is situated 
in the vicinity of the dorsal margin towards the antero-dorsal corner. As is the 
case in 11'. sinuosa, the bone in question has been united firmly to the pterygoid 
by means of its anterior margin; we shall find the same relation existing in the 
majority of the Coelacanthids. 
It is plain that the posterior and ventral margin of the metapterygoid were joined 
to cartilage, and, as I have emphasized abbve, this was also the case with the dorsal 
end of the quadrate. It is an obvious supposition that the bones in question were 
mutually joined by a continuous piece of cartilage and this supposition is strengthened 
by the fact that the quadrate must have been connected dorsally with an especially 
thick cartilage, which undoubtedly was of considerable extent in a dorsal direction. The 
metapterygoid too, by reason of its function, requires a more fixed union ventrally 
than the suture with the pterygoid affords it. In other words, a firm connection ventrally 
is a necessity if the metapterygoid is to be the means by which the palatoquadrate 
articulates with the neurocranium, and such a connection is in this case only conceivable 
by means of cartilage continuously joining the metapterygoid and the quadrate. As far 
as one can judge, the palato-quadrate cartilage has thus persisted in its posterior part to 
a rather large extent. Whether this was also the case with its anterior parts cannot, 
on the contrary, be decided. In text fig. 45 B I have tried to make clear how the 
cartilage in question may have appeared. 
The pterygoid ■( Pt, text figs. 45 A, B; Pis. 11 — 13 ; PI. 15, figs. 1, 2) is large and 
considerably thicker and stronger than in any of the species known before. The centre 
of ossification lies, as usual, on the boundary between the two limbs but considerably 
higher than in W. sinuosa, and is not covered, as in that species, by the quadrate, but 
can be seen plainly anteriorly of the dorsal part of that bone. The limbs occupy the 
usual position in relation to each other. 
The posterior limb is strikingly broad. Its posterior margin is slightly convex, 
partly even rather straight. Its dorsal margin has a deep and broad acute-angled 
sinus, that stretches downwards almost so far that it corresponds to the antero- 
ventral corner of the metapterygoid (text fig. 47). The antero-dorsal as well as the postero- 
dorsal corner is acute-angled, although it is more so in the latter, and on account 
of the deep sinus lying between them, they appear to some extent as dorsally directed 
processes, of which the posterior one is broader and also somewhat higher than the 
other. Towards the ventral end the limb in question narrows a little and its ventral 
corner is rounded off. A decided ridge runs from its antero-dorsal corner, downwards 
and somewhat backwards across its lateral surface; the metapterygoid is connected with 
this ridge in the same way as in 11*. sinuosa. 
