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.Din oscru~~s.
109
BI~ITISII
DIXOSAURS.~
P..\n.r I V : STEGOS~-~C;ZIU,S
PZISCLT,C,
SP. KOY.
By Baron FRANCIS
NOPCSI.
(TVITH NINE ILLUSTRATIONS I N THE TEXT.)
I WCE the O)~cosnurusof the Iiin~eridgeC1:ty lnay still be regarded as
the only well-known European reprosentatire of the Stegosauridce,
it seemed advisable, af terdiscussing in previous papers the Orn~thopodous
I&/psilo21l~odo?2and the Acnnthopliolidici Polncn?2tltus,to examine n represcntntive of this type. I urn therefore greatly indebted t o Dr. A. 8.
~\~ooclmard
for permitting rue t o do so a t the Natural History Ilfusenm,
nud ttlso for putting a t m v disposal a magnificent hitherto undescribed
Stegosaurian discovered hy Mr. Alfred Leeds, F.G.S., in the Oxford
Clay of Fletton, near Peterboroltgh.
On account of the small elevation of the neural arch of the dorsal
yertebrze I propose to name this new Stegosauriali species Stegosnz6l.zls
II.-;1\Tur~s
ON
~'~SCZCS.
bones ; a secoud i u d i ~ i d u a l of
, which the distal end of the pubis.and
some dermal plates have been described by von Huene as Stegosnurua
sp.,' is in the Sedgmick Museum a t Cambridge.
The type-specimen of S t . priscus is rcprcsented by thc following
material: 2 nnterior cervical vertebrs including the axis, 9 dorsal
r e r t e b r s or fragments of such, 15 caudal rertebrse, 1 cervical rib,
fragments of cherron bones, 3 left and 1 right dorsal ribs, the
right humerus and ulna, t h e left feniur and parts of the corresponding
tibia and fibula, carpal bone, astragalus, and calcaneum, fragments of
both ilia, parts of both pubic and ischiac bones, parts of t l ~ cdermal
armour.
FIG.1. a. Axis of St. P T ~ S C U Sseen from the right (most of the neurnl spine
marked in the fossil than it may have been in tho living animal.
The anterior and inferior margins of the centrum show strong
rugosities. On t h e posterior margin two hypapophysial lrnobs are
present. T h c anterior nrticular surfarc of tllu ccntrum is plane, thc
posterior llloderatcly concavc ; both surfaces show a straight superior
and equally rounded lateral and inferior border, having thus the shape
of a circular disc, of which a segment is missing.
T l ~ cnrtici~lnrsurfilccs for thc lirst ccrvical rib arc sitrlntcd on thc
anterior superior part of the centrum, and on tlie middle of tlic arch
immediately above tho ncuro-central suturc. The neural arch is m11c11
mutilated, and only one post-zyg:~popligsisis preserved, which is situntctl
comparutirely high above t h e centrum. I t s articular surface is not
clearly defined, and is directed outward and downward.
With t h e exception of its being a few millimetres shorter, the
second vertebra, of which only the centrum is preserved, has
practically tlre same shape as t h e axis, the chief differences being
the stronger develapnlent of thc hypapophysial ltnobs and the
evidently more elevated pleurapophysis, for no trace of it can bc
found in t h e part preserved. Compared with t h e cervicals of t h e nenr
0.Lewnieri, preserred a t the Havrc Museum, thc description of which
will shortly be published else\vhere, there is a grcat differencc in the
laterally compressed centra of St. prisczrs aud $so in the rectangular
shape of t h e neural platforln (Hullje), which is sandal-shaped in
0. Lennieri, being strongly contracted in the middle. No great
difference between the cerricals of our Stegosaurus and the American
Stegosac~rusis apparent.
It does not seem improbable t h a t t h e left triradiate cervical rib,
represented in Pig. 16, belonged to this or to the following ~ e r t e b r a ,
for the distance of the capitulum. and tuberculum mould correspond
to tlre proportions we slrould cspcct to find i n thcsc rertcbrx if thcy
were complete.
Besides two processes for thc cnpitnlum and tubcrculum and tlre
comparatively short and flattened body of the rib, this b,one shows
on the exterior part a \veil-marked excrescence, which is represented
in most Dinosaursollly by a feeble ridge, but is well developed, though
with altered direction, on tlic cervical rib figured by Marsh as a rib
of Apntosauvus. I n Stegosaurus this excrescence is pointed outward
and forward, ~ n itd may perhaps be best compared with the dilatation.
of tlie cervical ribs in some Lncertilia. It iuay have serred for the
purpose of combining a limited amount of flexibility with strength in
this region of the body. A quite similar, though more ridge-likc
excrescence is also met with on the thoracic ribs of Ste.qosaurus, and
produces therc, together with a similar posterior ridge, t h e obliquc
T-shaped cross-section t h a t has been specially noticed in Stegosnz~rus,
but seems, as far as I am aware, to be present also in other members of
the Orthopodous order.' I t s origin may therefore have to be explained
otherwise than through tlie meight of t h e dermal armour.
The dorsal vcrtebrz of St. yl-iscics (Pig. I c ) approximate in gcneral
I would suggest tlint tlio Dinosnuriy.ns represent a distinct super-order,
which may be divided into two orders, Saurischia (Seeley) and Orthopoda.
Stegosaurzn ~ J ) - ~ s c zsp.
~ s ,I ~ O C
113
.to Totheillustrate
this the diagrams Fig. 2a and 2b were drawn according
evidence affordcd by 0. armatzcs and S t . u?zgulattcs. By breaking
'
FIG. 3. a. First (?) caudal of St. prkcus. b. Proximal caudal of the same.
c. Anterior view of distal caudal. d. Lateral view of the same.
moderately short centra of these vertebrse are concave a t both ends,
more so posteriorly than i n front; the sides are flat, the bottom keeled,
t h e articular sal-faccs for the chcvron bones largo, equally dcvelopcd
a t both ends, and nearly touching each other on the basal ridgc. Tiley ,
are not easily distinguishable from the rugosities t h a t occur round the
I;: R. C. Reed-New
'
&.tcstucea, Isle of
Wight.
,116
.
.
margin of the articular ends of the centra. The costoids in the middle
of the tail are rod-like elements, decreasing rapid17 in size backwards.
There is a great resemblance to the middle caudal vertebrs in
St. ungulatus.
The distal cauclals in SL. priscz1s, as shown in Pigs. 3c, G?, are still
more elongate thnn the middle ones. The centrum is laterally
compressed, as F I ~3c. shoms, and exhibits a pentagonal section, with
the point of the pentagon turned downn~ards. The articular surface
for the chevrou bone on these vertebrs is only developed a t the
posterior end. The concavity of the articular surface is also more
marked a t this end than at the other. The neural arch in these
vertebm, as in all the anterior ones, covers nenrly the whole of the
neural canal ; the elongate rod-like prezygapophyses are comparatively
feeble, their articular facets are directed as in the middle dorsnl<.
The narrow neural spine (Fig. 3d) rises in a rcnlnrkable manner
straight upwards; i t is blade-like, tapering towards its summit, and,
like the rest of this vertebra, i t is characterized by the complete
want of rugosities, thus indicating clearly that on this bone no great
mass of firmly adhering tissue mas present during life. This latter
observation will prove to bc of the utmost importance whcn we discuss
the dermal armour of St. priscus.
The distal caudal in St.priscus differs from that of St. zing~ilcttc~
and Dirncodon by the feeble development of the neural spine, and still
more by the development of elongate post-zygapophpses, for these are
quite short and nearly sessile on the blade of the neural spine in
St. ungzclatus, Diracodo7t, and many other Dinosaurs, though not in
Polacanthus. Tlle development of the neural spine and the postzygapophyses in St. priseus are features so strange for a posterior
ca~ldalthat if tho shnpe of the centra did not prove beyond all doubt
the contrary, one might hesitate to refer this vertebra to an Omosaurzcs.
Tlie biconcave nature of all the caudals of our Slegosazirus, and the
neural spines overlapping each other, do not imply great flexibility of
this organ.
(Tobe co~uludedirc OUT next Nzcmber.)
I~I.--SED(~\VICK
~ U S Y U YKO'~'YS.
NEW CRUSTACI-:A
PRO31 THE LOWER
GREENSAND
O F THE ISLEO F W ~ G H T .
AMoh
G1ICOLOGICA.L MAGA % I N E .
NEW SERIES.
DECADE V.
NO. IV.-APRIL,
VOL.
Vill.
1911.
ORIGINAL
ARTICLES-
-*--
By Baron FRANCIS
NOPCSA.
(WITH NINE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.)
(Colzcluded from the March Number, p. 115.)
FIG. 4,.
DECADE V.-T70L.
VII1.-NO.
IV.
10
147
'
148
knees sometimes for more than 90 degrees, while as shaped in the fossil
t h e tibia would become dislocated if forced to make an angle of
wore than 45 degrees with the femur. This tends to show that the
cartilage on the distal end of thc fcmnr n i ~ ~have
s t been a t least 4 cm.
thick, and this is certainly not too much when we consider that the
distal femoral cartilage of the macertlted Gollus figured above had
a thiclrness of 4 5 mm., while the femur itself measured 94 mm. in
length. It becomes evident that just as we could never try to bring
the macerated femur of Gallzcs into correct juxtaposition to the
acetabulum without allowing for a great amount of cartiluge, so we
cannot base any conclusion a s to the position or direction of the femur
in Ste,qosnurlcs exclusively on the shape of its articular surface ; and this
must be emphasized all the more since such an attempt has recently
been made by Tornier in regard to the similarly-shaped femur of
Diplodocus. The reason why the discussion of the femoral cartilage
caps of Omosazc~usneeds to be so detailed is, t h a t Tornier has recently
expressed the belief that the similarly-shaped femur of Diplodocrcs was
only covered with a few millimetres of cartilage.
Even by those who hold the contrary view t h e amount of cartilage
in Biplodoczis is thought to be correlated with the aquatic habits of
this monster, but this theory cannot apply to the heavily armoured
Stegosaurs. I quite believe t h a t the feeble ossification of the sternal
apparatus and the low degree of ossification of the distal carpals and
tarsals in most Dinosaurs are much more likely to explain the great
cartilage caps on the femora of the Stegosaurids and similar animals
than the hypothetical aquatic habits. These features and the coarse
structure of the bones indicate a low degree of ossification in the whole
body, and the great masses of cartilage were probably needed to ensure
the continuous increase of sire throughout life. Perhaps this was one
of the causes for the rapid extinction of the Sauropoda.
Besides the development of the so-called articular surfaces, the feeble
development of the fourth trochanter is an interesting feature in the
femur of our new Stegosaurzcs. According to Marsh's description the
femur of the American Stegosazcrus shows no madred fourth trochanter,
while S t . durobriwnsis bears this process. The femur of the typespecimen of 0.armatus is too badly crnshed to show this feature ; on
0 . vetustus, according to F. yon Huene, there is no such process.
0.Lennieri shows a rounded but marked swelling with a rugose
surface that can well be called a distinct fourth trochanter, and
S t . priscus bears on t h e interior posterior surface, rather high u p on
the shaft of the bone, an obtuse swelling, which dies out very rapidly
both upwards and downwards, and must be considered as the last
trace of this trochanter. It may be concluded thut the variable
developlnent of the fourth trochanter affords a good character for
distinguishing the different species of Omosaurs and Stegosaurs.
The tibia and fibula (Fig. 7 ) are represented by more than half of
each bone in S t . princus. Like in the Ceratopsidze mid St. ungulatus,
t l ~ cstrong tibia is distally enlarged and flatterled on the antcroexterior borcler for the recoption of the fibula. B o t l ~bones are so
closely applied agninst each other and to the fused calcaneum and
astrilgalus that this part of the foot formed one inflexible piece.
.,
'
['
149
Sfeyosrrllr*ttapriscz~a,.y. lot..
151
Fig. 9d, very obliquelv from the body, or else th:it the curve t o which
it was attached mustdhuve had a t least a diameter of 80 cru., if not
much more.
As the lack of rugosities and the small size of the later ccudals
show that the end of the tail of S t . yriscus was not coveretl by
powerful muscl(>sand can scarcely have attained a diaketer of 40 crn.",
i t is evident that these two particular spines of St. yriscus cannot
have been situated on the tip of the tail, but must hare been on some
other part of the body. Leaving the shape of the spines entirely out
of consideration, and judging only from the evidence afforded by the
other armoured European Dinosaurs, notably Scelidbsazcrus and also
Hyl~osaurusand Pokccanthzcs, one would never be induced to place
the dermal spines on the tail of our Stegosaurinn, but on the scapular
region. This determination is apparently supported by the shape of
the actual surfaces of attachment of the bones i n question.
By H . M. BRYDONE,
F.G.S.
(Co?tti?zz~ed
front Decade V , Vol. VII, p. 463, 1910.)
P . ~ ~ O L U N U LSCA~DI<NS,
IKES
sp. ]lor. P1. 1X, Figs. 1-4.
Zonriuna free, unilaminttte, the baclc diiided by somewhat wavy,
shallo\r-, slightly diverging fol-rows into long narrow strips nll~icll
.correspond wit11 the lines .of zomcia; these strips arc occasionallv
. C ~ O S Sby
~ ~rery shallow depressior~s0;. furrows c;rresponding to t h i
boundaries of indivi(lua1 zoacia.
Z o ~ c i nclispoeed in gently diverging and out~ard-curvinglines,
which are i n some places confluent and in others separated by
~ibracularia; they are short and broad, with bulging sitles, but
very variable in size anci ontline, average length .55--6 inm., breadth
(~~laxinnum)
-6 111111. ; the baclc wall w r y soon leares the back of the
zoariuru and rises gently but steadilv u p to the let-el of thc front
wall a t the 11ead of the zomcium, and the succeeding zoceciurn
grows out fro111 beneath i t ; in the shallow part of the b:tck
lvall mar sometimes be obschrsed a pair of large foramina ; the
aperture dis terminal and large, oecnl,jing the upper two-thirds
of the area, irregular in size and shape, but r a r ~ i n ground n type
which is long, broad, and'nearly rectangular, with rounded corners,
rather wider a t the foot than the 1ie:td and with a slight inflexion
of the sides ; a t tlie head the outline often beconles indistinct ;
a fairly typical length of aperture would be -35--4 mm., and breadth
'25--27 m m .
O ~ c i asmall, inconspicuous swellings a t the head of the zocecium;