Geological Series Volume 2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907 Excerpt: ... from a specimen of Pteranodon Marsh, or Ornithostoma Seeley, as the genus was then called. It is therefore fair to infer that the apparent similarity of the two genera led Williston to draw inadvertently upon the characters of Nyctodactylus in making his restoration of Pteranodon." Had Mr. Eaton done me the honor to have read more attentively the article which he quotes; or had he examined the extended article on the skull of Nyctodactylus with plates, published in the Journal of Geology for August, 1902; or even had he examined the figure of the skull in Zittel's text-book of Paleontology, published last autumn, of all of which he seems strangely ignorant, he would have learned that Nyctodactylus has no crest whatever, not even a vestige of one It is very evident, therefore, that Mr. Eaton has made the very error which he so freely suggests I have made, and that his specimen is in reality a Pteranodon I am pleased to learn that its "apparently entire" "crest" compares favorably with that which I have assigned to the same genus. Now, since his own observations show that Pteranodon may have a short crest, very much as I have figured it, it will be of interest to learn more fully his reasons for attaching the elongated crest he has to the skull as shown in Mr. Lucas's figure. I furthermore note that Mr. Eaton continues, in his "restoration" of the skull of Pteranodon, the gravest of the inaccuracies of the original figures, the absence of the supratemporal fossa and arch. If he is correct in this, the original reference of the genus to a distinct order of reptiles was justified. But we will await further evidence before assuming that he is, and meanwhile, it will be unfortunate if his restoration finds currency. Inasmuch ...