Image from page 109 of "Water reptiles of the past and present" (1914) (14773011995)

Identifier: waterreptilesofp1914will

Title: Water reptiles of the past and present

Year: 1914 (1910s)

Authors: Williston, Samuel Wendell, 1851-1918

Subjects: Aquatic reptiles

Publisher: Chicago, Ill., The University of Chicago Press

Contributing Library: Boston Public Library

Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Public Library

Text Appearing Before Image:

Fig. 45.—Head and neck of Nothosaurus; photograph of specimen in the Sencken-berg Museum, from Dr. Dreverman. England, a man of deep learning, having an extensive knowledgeof comparative anatomy, and being thorough and critical in hiswork. His descriptions and illustrations of these rich collectionsmade by von Miinster are masterpieces of scientific thoroughness.He recognized in Nothosaurus and other allied forms from theBavarian Triassic a distinct group of semiaquatic reptiles allied tothe plesiosaurs, and his conclusions have never been gainsaid. Inmore recent years additional remains of these animals from Bavariaand other places in Europe have been described, but none areknown from other parts of the earth, or from other than Triassicrocks. Altogether about ten genera and about twice as manyspecies have been described, probably all belonging in one family,and all by common consent now classified with the Sauropterygia. 98 WATER REPTILES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT

Text Appearing After Image:

Fig. 46.—Pectoral girdle of Nothosaurus, fromphotograph by E. Fraas: id, interclavicle; d,clavicle; sc, scapula; cor, coracoid. The Nothosauria were much smaller reptiles than the plesio-saurs, none of them perhaps exceeding the size of the smallest knownplesiosaurs. They were semiaquatic in habit, with many curious resemblances to othersemiaquatic reptiles ofa later time known, asthe dolichosaurs. Theneck is more or lesselongated, having abouttwenty vertebrae in thelongest-necked forms;the body is moderatelylong, and broad, andthe tail is relativelyshort. The vertebraeand ribs are quite likethose of the plesiosaurs,that is, the vertebraeare gently concave ateach end, and the dorsal ribs are attached by a single head to thetransverse process high up on the arch; the cervical ribs are double-headed, precisely like those of the older plesiosaurs, one of the char-acters which insistently provesthe relationships of the twogroups. The bones of the shoul-ders (Fig. 46) also have manyresem

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Image from page 109 of "Water reptiles of the past and present" (1914)

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