inch behind. The sides are flat and approximate below to a sharp keel.
This species is one of many in the collection of W. Reed, Esq. of
York, kindly placed in my hands for the elucidation of those in the
Woodwardian Museum.
X.
Ornithocheirus Fittoni (Owen).
Case. Comp. Tablet. Specimen.
=J= _c_ 14 1, 2
The fragment is 1-1/2 inch long, with two large elliptical
tooth-sockets on each side of the flattened palate, and one pair in
front. The third socket is separated from the fourth by a considerable
interspace. Between the third sockets arises the median palatal ridge,
and from the inner margin of each socket a lateral ridge appears to be
continued. Behind the third socket the jaw measures 11/16ths of an inch
from side to side, and 10/16ths of an inch high. The sides converge
and round convexly into each other. The jaws appear to have been long;
It is only known by upper jaws. The type specimen shows the socket of
another tooth in front of the last one figured by Prof. Owen. It is
directed outward at a greater angle, and separated from the hinder one
by a wall not 1/16th of an inch thick, and the teeth of this pair must
have been parted from each other by a film equally thin. There is no
truncation of the snout as in _O. Woodwardi_.
Another specimen shows some variations. This fragment of a premaxillary
bone is fractured through the third pair of tooth-sockets in front
and through the seventh pair behind. It is about 2-1/8th inches
long; the palate is 11/16ths of an inch wide behind the great tooth,
and maintains the same width. The jaw is 11/16ths of an inch high
behind, and 10/16ths high in front. The sides are gently convex, and
imperceptibly unite to form the well-rounded depressed mesial ridge of
the beak. From the front of the third to the back of the fifth socket
measures 1-3/8ths inch. The sockets are ovate, rather smaller, and
closer together than in the type of _O. Fittoni_; margins elevated.
The variations from types are so many, and often so considerable, as
to suggest the idea that the fossil groups called species may in the
living animals have often been genera.
In all the specimens the end of the palate is a little reflected upward.
XI.
_Ornithocheirus dentatus_ (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Series. Specimen.
=J= _c1_ 9 1
A fragment of premaxillary bone two inches long, fractured behind the
socket for the seventh tooth. It most nearly resembles _O. Sedgwicki_
and _O. Cuvieri_. Behind the second tooth the palate is 1/2 an inch
wide; behind the sixth socket it is 5/8ths of an inch wide; the
distance between these points is nearly 1-1/2 inch. The palate is
flattened, with a sharp slight mesial keel and a wide concave channel
on each side which dies away in front. The first pair of teeth are in
front of the snout, rather small, and look forward. In this specimen
the large third tooth is not developed on the left side. The second and
third sockets are large and close together; the succeeding teeth are
parted from each other by interspaces equal to their own diameter. They
are gibbously elliptical. The sides of the jaw are gently convex from
above downward; they round into each other to form a narrow rostral
keel. Behind the second socket the jaw is 1/2 an inch high; behind the
sixth it is nearly 7/8ths of an inch high.
The grooved and relatively wider palate, and the relatively smaller
teeth, abundantly distinguish this species from _O. Sedgwicki_ (Owen).
The smaller, more circular teeth, placed closer together, distinguish
it from _O. Cuvieri_ (Bowerbank).
XII.
Ornithocheirus scaphorynchus (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Tablet.
=J= _c_ 22
This fragment of premaxillary bone is 1-1/2 inch long. The palate is
1/2 an inch wide behind, and the jaw is rather more than 1/2 an inch
high; behind the second tooth it is nearly 5/8ths of an inch high. The
sides converge superiorly to form a well-rounded keel. The palate is
flattened, with a slightly elevated blunt median keel. There appears to
be a pair of small teeth in front of the snout as usual, and six on the
palate, with an indication of another at the posterior fracture. The
teeth are of moderate size and almost circular. In the form of the bone
it is readily distinguished from all the species enumerated.
XIII.
Ornithocheirus platystomus (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Series. Specimen.
=J= _c6_ 32 1
An ill-preserved fragment fractured in front and behind, yet
indicating a distinct species. The palate is flat, with the faintest
median ridge, and the sides are flat and round into a narrow
rostral keel, which in front approximates rapidly towards the
palate. The first pair of sockets are missing; what appears to be
the second pair are about 1/8th of an inch long, separated from the
pair behind by an interspace of 1/4th of an inch. These are ovate
and less than 1/4th of an inch long, and separated from the next
pair by an interspace of not less than 1/4th of an inch. The height
of the jaw over the first pair of sockets preserved is 9/16ths of an
inch; over the second pair it is 14/16ths of an inch; the space
between these points is 9/16ths of an inch. Behind the second pair
of teeth the palate is nearly 5/8ths of an inch wide.
The only species which it resembles is _O. brachyrhinus_, but
differs from that in the flatter, narrower palate, which makes a
greater angle with the rostral keel, and in the smaller teeth,
which are separated by wider interspaces.
XIV.
Ornithocheirus nasutus (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Series. Specimen.
=J= _c2_ 11 1
A fragment of a premaxillary bone 6 inches long. It somewhat
resembles _O. Cuvieri_ in the aspect of the palate, but the jaw
is more elongated, and expands from side to side at the anterior
end. The teeth are opposite to each other in front, but become
irregular after the sixth. The palate measures behind the second
pair of sockets 3/4ths of an inch, behind the third pair it is a sixteenth
of an inch wider, behind the ninth pair half an inch, and in the
last two inches it begins to widen again. A sharp keel arises
behind the second pair of sockets and becomes more prominent to
behind the tenth pair, when the channel which accompanies it on
each side seems to disappear. The first pair of teeth, which look
forward, is smaller than the second and third pairs; they are closer
together than those which follow. The third sockets are 7/8ths of
an inch from the tip of the snout. Then follow three smaller,
more circular teeth, which are separated from each other by interspaces
as long as the sockets. The back of the sixth sockets are
2-1/4 inches from the tip of the snout. Then follow two larger
more elliptical sockets; after which the sockets become smaller
and are separated by longer distances, that between the 10th and
11th pairs is nearly 3/4ths of an inch.
The height of the jaw behind the second pair of sockets is 5/8ths
of an inch, behind the sixth sockets 15/16ths, behind the tenth sockets
1-1/4 inch. In front, the nose has the aspect of being compressed
from above downward, and behind it is compressed from side to
side. The sides are flattened and round into a narrow rostral
ridge which is depressed at the anterior end.
XV.
Ornithocheirus polyodon (Seeley),
Case. Comp. Tablet.
=J= _c_ 21
This species is founded on the anterior end of a premaxillary bone;
in form not unlike _O. Fittoni_. It is 5/8ths of an inch wide; the
lateral margins approximate very slowly, and in front it appears to be
truncated. It is an inch and a quarter long, and in that space were
on each side six large round teeth, almost as close together as they
could be, five on the palate and a pair in front. The terminal two
are no wider apart than the rest, and point more forward. A moderate,
sharp, median ridge descends in the flattened palate, making its
lateral halves a little concave. The front termination of the palate is
slightly reflected upward. The jaw, which is 1/2 an inch deep behind,
tapers to its termination more rapidly than does _O. Fittoni_. The flat
sides similarly converge, and form a well-rounded ridge, which does not
get blunter in front. From their close approximation, it results that
the tooth-sockets are entirely above the palatal surface, so that they
are better seen from the side of the jaw than from the palate.
It is a clearly marked species, as well distinguished from _O. Fittoni_
by the closeness of its teeth, as _O. Sedgwicki_ is from _O. Cuvieri_.
XVI.
Ornithocheirus denticulatus (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Series. Tablet.
=J= _c5_ 28 1
This is a species which can only be confounded with O. polyodon. It
is a fragment of premaxillary bone 1-3/4 inch long, fractured through
the seventh socket. It differs from O. polyodon in having larger
teeth, which are wider apart, look more downward, have a narrower
palatal interspace between each pair, and a rostral keel, which is more
compressed from side to side behind and from above downward in front,
and makes a greater angle with the palate.
The sockets are more uniform in size and closer together than usual,
the second and third pairs being but slightly larger than the others;
all are broadly elliptical. The palatal keel becomes sharp and
prominent behind the fourth sockets. Behind the second pair of sockets
the height of the jaw is nearly 7/16ths of an inch, behind the fourth
sockets the height is 10/16ths of an inch; the distance between these
points is about 10/16ths of an inch.
XVII.
Ornithocheirus crassidens (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Series. Tablet.
=J= _c1_ 2 2
This is a fragment of a ?premaxillary bone, fractured behind through
the socket for the fourth tooth. It approximates to O. colorhinus,
but differs chiefly in the nose not extending in front of the first
pair of teeth; in there not being any lunate area above the first pair
of teeth; in there being but one tooth in front, which is relatively
large; in the socket for the fourth tooth being quite close to that for
the third tooth, and in the palatal sockets looking much more outward.
The nose also appears to be better rounded.
The fragment is 1-7/8 inch long. The second and third sockets, with
their interspace, measure 1-1/8 inch. On the opposite side the first
socket is intermediate in position between the first and second.
Though not likely, it is just possible that this might be the
premaxillary bone of O. eurygnathus.
XVIII.
Ornithocheirus brachyrhinus (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Tablet.
=J= _c_ 24
This fragment of a premaxillaiy bone is fractured behind the sockets
for the third pair of teeth. It is 1-1/8 inch long, and shows one pair
of small teeth in front and two pairs of large ovate teeth on the
palate. The first pair are divided from each other and from the second
pair by films of bone; and the second pair are separated from the
third by rather more than half the length, of the third socket. Behind
the third pair of sockets the palate is 5/8ths of an inch wide; it is
flattened, and has a blunt moderately elevated mesial ridge. Behind
the second pair of sockets the jaw is 5/8ths of an inch high; behind
the third pair of sockets it is 3/4ths of an inch high; the distance
between the places of measurement is 1/2 an inch. The sides are flat
and converge to a rounded nose. The jaw is rounded from side to side
in front, and the outline of the top of the nose rounds over the blunt
termination of the snout above the teeth on to the palate.
In the shortness of the nose it somewhat resembles the _?P. giganteus_
(Bowerbank), but the jaw attenuates less rapidly, is truncated, and has
larger teeth.
XIX.
Ornithocheirus enchorhynchus (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Tablet.
=J= _c_ 25
This species nearly resembles _O. brachyrhinus,_ from which it differs
in larger size, with a relatively wider palate, which is without a
keel, and in a larger front pair of teeth. It approximates towards
_O, colorhinus_, but is smaller, and wants the rugose lunate area
over the front pair of teeth characteristic of that species. There
are many varieties or species nearly related to this type, but from
their imperfect preservation and the small part of the head which they
represent, it is not possible to give descriptions of them.
XX.
Ornithocheirus eurygnathus (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Series. Tablet.
=J= _c3_ 16 1
A fragment of a ?dentary bone, fractured behind through the socket for
the third tooth. The sockets are nearly circular. It measures about an
inch long,, and behind the socket for the second tooth 1-3/4 inch high.
The sides of the jaw are gently concave from above downward, having
a pinched aspect and approximating; they round into a narrow rostral
ridge, which widens towards the tip of the snout and is truncated by
a small sub-circular [or sub-pentagonal] rugose area at right angles
with the part of the palate behind the first pair of sockets. The first
pair of sockets are nearly as large as the second, and from the steep
incline of the jaw look more than usually upward; they are 7/16ths of
an inch long, are separated from each other by an interspace of 6/16
ths, and from the second sockets by an interspace of more than 1/8th of
an inch, while the second socket is separated from the third by about
1/4th of an inch. The palatal space between the second pair is about
3/4ths of an inch.
XXI.
Ornithocheirus colorhinus (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Tablet. Specimen.
=J= _c_ 17 1, 2
Fragments of premaxillary bones. The largest portion is 2-1/2 inches
long, and is fractured behind the socket for the fourth tooth, and the
upper part of the nose is also broken away. The palate is flattened,
with the median part slightly convex. The sides of the jaw converge
upward, but not rapidly; in front they round into each other, but there
is a slight mesial depression. The front pair of teeth are large,
separated from each other and from the second pair by films of bone.
Above the first pair of sockets, so as to look downward and forward, is
an impressed lunate area 9/16ths of an inch wide and 5/16ths of an inch
high, to which a soft lip may have been attached. This area is in the
same plane with the first pair of teeth and at right angles with the
upper outline of the nose. The sockets of the first pair of teeth are a
little smaller than the second pair; they are both about half an inch
in diameter and nearly circular. An interspace of 3/16ths of an inch
separates the second socket from the third. The tooth is elliptical,
the socket being narrower and longer than that of the second. The
palatal interspace between the third pair is more than 3/4ths of an
inch. The interspace between the third and fourth sockets is about
3/8ths of an inch. The diameter of the nearly circular fourth socket is
1/4th of an inch.
The overhanging lunate lip space, with the size of the teeth and width
of the palate, abundantly distinguish this species.
XXII.
Ornithocheirus woodwardi (Owen).
Case. Comp. Tablet. Specimen.
=J= _c_ 18 1-4
I regard the fragment on which this species was founded as being the
terminal end, and not a section of a jaw; partly from the rounding of
the lateral surfaces to the front, and chiefly from the snapped off
teeth in the middle of the truncated anterior end, for they are smaller
than the pair behind them, and look forward at a greater angle, so that
the converging sockets of both pairs meet behind. These characters are
well shown in Mr Dinkel's excellent figure, Pl. II. fig. 3_a_. Second
Sup. Palæont. The palate is destroyed, and gives no clue to the bone
being either lower or upper.
Another specimen, rather smaller, shows the rostrum well rounded; the
front is truncated at right angles to it: there is the same rounding
of its lower part into the sides, and the stumps of the front pair of
teeth are visible though they are again worn level with the rugose
front of the snout.
But the finest fragment of this species is a rostral end, (perhaps of
the upper jaw) three inches long, two inches deep, and with the palate
as wide. It indicates 5 teeth on a side: the front pair small, 2nd and
3rd much larger, and two pairs behind, which are smaller. The palate
is flat, and attains its greatest width at the third tooth, behind
which it contracts noticeably. The third tooth is more than half an
inch in diameter, the fourth is 5/16ths of an inch long. The spaces
between teeth seem equal to the long diameter of the sockets, which
are oval and straight. The sides round into the front of the muzzle
more gradually in this specimen than in the others. An impressed line
runs along the median ridge of the upper surface. Just as the jaw gets
narrower behind, so the well-rounded upper surface becomes more acute
behind.
Behind the third socket the palate measures 1-7/8 inch from side to
side, and the jaw is there nearly 2 inches high.
This is the most massive Pterodactyle jaw known. In the recent state
it may have indicated a creature sufficiently distinguished from
those to which the smaller fossils belonged, but now the divergence of
characters is so slight as to be for zoological purposes of no value.
It is related to O. Fittoni; the chief points of difference being the
truncated muzzle, the compression behind the third tooth, the much
sharper (?) dorsal ridge, and the large size of the head.
XXIII.
Ornithocheirus capito (Seeley).
Case. Comp. Series. Tablet.
=J= _c3_ 14 1
A fragment of premaxillary bone, well distinguished from every other
specimen, except one in the collection of Mr Reed of York, which is
here named _O. Reedi_. It is a large head, with larger teeth than any
known species. The jaw is truncated in front, with a rugose vertical
area in front reaching 1-3/4 inch high from the palate, on which the
usual front pair of teeth are not seen. At the angle of this front area
with the palate is a large elliptical tooth 9/16ths of an inch wide,
and behind it, with an interspace of 3/16ths of an inch, is a socket
measuring 10/16ths of an inch in length; the next interspace is about
1/8th of an inch, and the next nearly circular socket is 5/16ths long;
then another interspace of 1/8th of an inch, and another and a smaller
tooth. The palate appears to have been channelled. The sides of the
jaw are flat, or slightly concave, and where fractured above, are 3
inches high. Above the rugose vertical area of the snout, is an area,
concave from back to front, reaching up to the rostral keel; it is flat
from side to side behind, and convex from side to side in front. So
much as is preserved measures 1-3/4 inch in length, and appears to be
relatively narrower than in O. Reedi.
XXIV.
Ornithocheirus Reedi (Seeley).
The anterior part of an upper jaw has flattened slightly concave sides,
which converge above so as to form boundaries of (1) a flat triangular
area which looks anteriorly, and of (2) an oblong area, traversed by
a mesial groove, which looks upward and forward and is concave from
back to front. In the lower half of the truncated triangular anterior
termination are the remains of the stumps of the two anterior teeth;
they are oval in outline, 9/16ths of an inch high, and 7/16ths of an
inch wide; they are parted by an interspace nearly 1/4 of an inch
wide, which becomes concave vertically as it rounds on to the palatal
surface. All the front triangular surface above the teeth is rough: its
entire height is about 1-1/4 inch, and is nearly as wide across the
base. The side rounds a little into the concave median upper surface,
and into the triangular front; so much as is preserved measures 2-1/2
inches high, and 1-3/8 inch long. The palatal surface, which is very
small and badly preserved, is 1-3/4 inch wide behind, but gives no
indication of further widening. On its outer border are seen two large
circular teeth 5/8ths of an inch in diameter; they are separated by a
median palatal interspace of 7/8ths of an inch. Where it is fractured
behind, the specimen shows the sockets of another pair of teeth behind
these, with an interspace of 1/4 of an inch in the antero-posterior
direction. The palate is convex.
The superior oblong area is concave in length as well as transversely.
It makes a great angle with the triangular front of which it is the
upward continuation; so much as is preserved extends 1-1/2 inch in
length; it is about 1/2 an inch wide.
I am indebted to W. Reed, Esq. of York, for the opportunity of making a
notice of this species, which closely resembles _O. capito_.
* * * * *
The species which follow were separated in the "Index to the
Ornithosauria," &c. as a different genus. That proposal might
still be sustained, for these massive truncated jaws are unlike
the spear-shaped jaws of many of the species. And to the minds of
some readers the forms already described will arrange themselves in
groups which not improbably indicate genera. But a re-examination of
the type _Pterodactylus simus_ (Owen) has convinced me that it is a
_lower jaw_, and therefore it affords no evidence of the presence or
absence of the peculiar front premaxillary teeth which characterize
nearly all the Cretaceous species.
XXV.
Ornithocheirus simus (Owen).
Case. Comp. Specimen.
=J= _c_ 16
The palate is 2-3/4 inches long, and at the second pair of teeth
about 7/8ths of an inch wide. It is fractured at the end through
the fifth socket, and at the side along the palatal groove. The
first pair of teeth is smaller and closer together than the others.
The palatal interspace between the second pair is 3/8ths of an inch;
between the third pair, which are large teeth, it is 1/2 an inch.
The sockets are sub-circular, and are not separated from each
other by wider interspaces than their own length. In front is a
long triangular rugose area, convex from above downward, a distance
of 1-1/2 inch; and concave from side to side, a width above of
rather more than 1/2 an inch. Below this the flattened sides converge
to a blunt keel; where, fractured, the jaw is 2-1/2 inches deep.
There are several fragments of species allied to the last; one
has the triangular area in front very small, only half as high as
in the type and very narrow, for the sides are gently rounded
into it. It is marked by short longitudinal furrows, impressed
vessels I think, while in O. simus the surface is irregularly rough.
The first pair of teeth are much larger than in O. simus; they
are longer, more conical, and circular, and separated by as wide a
space as the second pair. There is not much to found a species on,
but as it appears to be quite distinct from O. simus, it is named
_O. Carteri_. Another fragment, with the area very long, is marked
_O. platyrhinus_. But a sufficiency of species has been indicated to
make known the Ornithosaurian fauna of the Cambridge Greensand.
And the detailed description of critical types and of the
other parts of the skeletons is beyond the general osteology of the
tribe, and will rather belong to a memoir in which this flock of
Pterodactyles will be restored to their living forms.
* * * * *
A fragment of the lower jaw of a large Ornithocheirus has been
obtained from an outlier of the Upper Greensand at Rocken End in
the Isle of Wight. It appears to indicate a distinct species. It is
2-1/2 inches long, and shows three large teeth still preserved in
their sockets. The extreme width outside the third pair of sockets
is nearly 2 inches. The sides, which are slightly concave from above
downward, converge so as to give the broken end a triangular outline.
In front is a small sub-triangular area, deeply scored with vascular
markings; below this the outline slopes obliquely backward, and the
two sides there round convexly into each other. The first socket is
7/16ths of an inch long, the tooth coarsely striated, and like the
others elliptical; the interspace between the first and the second
teeth is 5/16ths of an inch. The second tooth, probably immature, is
an inch in length, smooth, and like the third traversed in front and
behind by a slight lateral ridge; at the base it measures 5/16ths
of an inch from front to back. The third tooth is rather less than
5/8ths of an inch from front to back. The interspace between the
first and second _sockets_, which the teeth do not entirely fill,
is more than 1/4 of an inch. The posterior margin of each socket is
elevated into a sort of collar.
APPENDIX.
_Enumeration of some of the principal writings on the Ornithosauria
(selected chiefly from Von Meyer's Reptilien aus dem
Lithographischen Schiefer), with references to the shelves in the
Cambridge University Library, where the books may be consulted._