The treasury of natural history, or, A popular dictionary of zoology / by Samuel Maunder.
- Maunder, Samuel, 1785-1849.
- Date:
- 1870
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The treasury of natural history, or, A popular dictionary of zoology / by Samuel Maunder. Source: Wellcome Collection.
800/856 (page 778)
![ODONTOSAUItUS. The generic title applied by Hermann Von Meyer to an ex- tinct species of labyrinthodont reptile (0. Voltzii), whose fossil remains were found in the hunter sandstone of Soulz-les-Bains. ORNITIIICNITES. A term originally employed by Prof. Hitchcock of America, to denote a genus of gigantic birds, the impres- sions of whose feet occur in the sandstones of Connecticut. [See Brontozoum.] This term, however, is more properly employed in a less restricted sense, to the impression of extinct birds’ feet in general, in whatever geological formation they may be found. OUDENODON BAINII. The generic and specific title given to an extinct crypto- dont reptile, whose fossil remains were discovered in an argillaceous limestone in Southern Africa. These organic relics have been added to the vast palasontological treasures of the British Museum, and are described in Prof. Owen's recent Summary of Extinct Animals. The cryptodouts are those reptiles in which the teeth are either conceuled or altogether absent. OXYURIS. (Thread-worms.) A group of nematode Entozoa whose species have pointed tails ; hence the generic name given by Deslongchamps. The different species are small, varying from l-4th to an entire inch in length. The form most commonly known is the little 0. vermicularis, which infests the lower bowel of children and often proves exceedingly troublesome, giving rise to disagreeable symptoms, if it be not got rid of by suitable aperients. The body is white, filiform, attenuated at either ex- tremity, the head being furnished with three lobes similar to those of Ascaris. The re- cent researches of Dr. George Walter prove the Oxyurides to be possessed of an extra- ordinarily developed nervous system. They are unisexual, and are usually found crowded together by thousands, the females being nearly twice as numerous as the males. The j history of the development of these creatures j is not yet thoroughly understood, i PALAPTERIX. The generic name ap ! plied by Prof. Owen to certain extinct ' struthious birds, whose skeletal remains are found in the caverns, turbaries, and recent I pleistocene deposits of New Zealand. The species have been included under the above title in consequence of their close affinity 1 with the existing Apterix, inhabiting the 1 same islands. The gigantic Dinornis dis- ! played a very similar anatomical structure. PAL.2E0PHIS. A genus of extinct ophidian reptiles, chiefly interesting from the circumstance that its members form the earliest record of this ordinal type upon our planet. Their fossil remains have been found in the eocene beds at Shcppey and Bracklesham, and it appears probable that some of the species attained a length of twenty feet. PALiEOPHRYNOS. The generic name given to certain extinct tailless Batrachians or Toads, evidences of whose former existence occur in the tertiary strata at (Eriingen. | Fossil remains of their closely allied friends, 1 the frogs, are still more numerous in tl*e 1 eocene and pliocene formations of the European continent, and Prof. Owen indicated one species of the latter group in the tertiary shales of Bombay. PAL^EOSAURUS. A genus of theco- dont reptiles, whose fossil teeth were first described by Messrs. Riley and Stutchbury, and were obtained ** from the dolomitie conglomerate at Kedland, near Bristol,** which deposit seems to be referable to the early triassic period. Associated with these remains were others which Prof. Owen has referred to a distinct genus, under the title of ThecodontosauruA. In regard to relations and other points of interest connected with the anatomy of these genera. Prof. Owen observes, that ** the following conclusions may be drawn from the knowledge at present possessed of the osteology of the Thecodontosaurus and Pal secs »urus; in their thecodont type of dentition, biconcave ver- l tebrae, double-jointed ribs, and proportionate size of the bones of the extremities, they agree with the amphicselian crocodiles ; but they combine a dinosaurian femur, a lacer- tian form of tooth, and a lacertian structure of the pectoral and probably pelvic arch with these crocodilian characters : and they have distinctive modifications, such as the moni- liform spinal canal, in which, however, the almost contemporary Rhyncosaur partici- pates. It would be interesting to ascertain whether the caudal vertebrae are charac- terised, as in the Thuringian Prutosaur, by double diverging 6pinous processes-** The fossil remains of the Rhtsucasaw-us. just alluded to, occur in the new red sandstone triassic beds of Shropshire, having been excavated at the Grinsill quarries, near Shrewsbury. The bones were accompanied by footprints probably referable to the same reptile. Respecting the remains of this animal, our distinguished palaeontologist also remarks that ** the resemblance of the mouth to the compressed beak of certain 6ea-birds, the bending down of the curved and elongated premaxillaries, so as to be opposed to the deep 6ymphysial extremity of the lower javr, are further indications that the ancient Rhynchosaur may have had its jaws encased by a bony sheath, as in birds and turtles, the dentinal ends of the pre- maxillaries projecting from or forming the deflected end of the upper mandible. There are few genera of extinct reptiles of which it is more desirable to obtain the means of determining the precise modifications of the locomotive extremities than the Rhyn- cosaurus. The fortunate preservation of the skull has brought to light modifications of the lacertine structure leading towards Chelonia, and birds which were before unknown; the vertebne likewise exhibit very interesting deviations from the lacertian type. The entire reconstruction of the skeleton of the Rhi/nefiosaurus may be ul- timately accomplished, if due interest is tuken in the collection and preservation of the fossils of the Grinsell quarries.” The](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24864201_0800.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
