The Mesosauria of South Africa / by H.G. Seeley.

  • Harry Govier Seeley
Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Mesosauria of South Africa / by H.G. Seeley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    makes a resemblance to Stereosternum. It is possible that the suborder Mesosauria may be enlarged hereafter, but at present it seems to me convenient to include in it two divisions, the Proganosauria of Baur and the Neusticosauria. These groups may be defined in the following classification:— § 6. Classification of the Mesosauria. General Characters :—Palate closed in the median line. Teeth slender, prehensile. Cervical ribs with a single articulation. Dorsal ribs articulated to the anterior face of the neural arch. The shoulder-girdle formed of scapular and clavicular arches. Humerus expanded distally with an ent-epicondylar foramen. Digits ter- minating in claws. Division I. Proganosauria. Articular faces of centrum conically cupped. Coracoid and scapula anchylosed. A large clavicle [or separate episcapulce]. A sacrum of four vertebra?. A foramen in the pubis. Five bones in the distal row of the tarsus. Neck short; tail long. South Africa; South America. Division II. Neusticosauria. Articular faces of centrum flat. Coracoid and scapula separate. Clavicles relatively small [no separate episcapula]. Sacrum unknown. A notch instead of a foramen in the pubis. Neck long; tail short. Europe. I wish in conclusion to express my thanks, for the loan of speci- mens and for facilities in making these observations, to the Trustees of the South African Museum, Cape Town ; to the Committee of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown; to Dr. Henry Woodward, F.R.S., and the Officers of the Geological Department of the British Museum (Natural History); and to the Government Grant Committee of the Iloyal Society for assistance. EXPLANATION OP PLATE XVIII. Fig. 1. Dorsal aspect of dorsal vertebrse and ribs of Mesosaurus •plcurogaster (Brit. Mus., Nat. Hist.); n = neural arch; a = transverse process; c = centrum. 2. Portion of ventral armour of the same specimen. |. 3. Ventral aspect of a specimen showing abdominal ribs. 4. Impressions of early caudal vertebrse; and hind foot of the same animal. 5. Ventral aspect of the anterior part of the skeleton of Mesosaurus tenuir dens (South Afr. Mus., Cape Town).
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