On the fossil remains of reptiles, and on chelonian foot-tracks, from the Devonian strata of Morayshire / by Lambart Brickenden and Gideon Algernon Mantell.

  • Brickenden, Lambart.
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the fossil remains of reptiles, and on chelonian foot-tracks, from the Devonian strata of Morayshire / by Lambart Brickenden and Gideon Algernon Mantell. 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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    Description of the Telerpeton Elginense, a Fossil Reptile recently discovered in the Old Red Sandstone o/Moray; with Observations on supposed Fossil Ova of Batrachians in the Lower Devonian Strata of Forfarshire. By Gideon Algernon Mantell, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S., G.S., Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, President of the West London Medical Society, &c. The highly interesting fossils from the Devonian rocks of Morayshire, which Mr. Patrick Duff of Elgin has with great courtesy allowed my friend Captain Brickenden to transmit to me, with a request that I would examine and describe them, and lay the results before the Geo- logical Society of London, consist of the remains and impressions of nearly the entire skeleton of a lacertian reptile, inches in length, in a block of crystalline sandstone broken into three pieces. On the largest fragment, PI. IV. 9, the spinal column with the ribs, from near the occiput to the sacrum, is distinctly shown; the pelvis is but obscurely indicated; the caudal vertebrae with their apophyses, comprising apparently two-thirds of the entire tail, are manifest. There are no traces of the bones of the pectoral arch, nor of those of the feet. Of the left anterior extremity, impressions of the distal half of the humerus, and of the proximal portions of the radius and ulna are the only vestiges ; the right arm is indicated solely by a hollow left by the humerus. The forms of the bones of the hinder limbs are demonstrated by the deep imprints of the femora and tibiae, and less distinct traces of the fibulae. The piece of sandstone, PI. IV. 8, that has been broken from the upper part of the block, PI. IV. 9, nearly parallel with the plane of the spine, displays the corresponding impressions of the vertebral column and ribs, pelvis, bones of the hinder limbs, and tail. The third portion of stone, PI. IV. 4 *, 4, has been detached from the anterior part of PI. IV. 9 ; it contains the cranium in a very muti- lated state, and in a great measure concealed by the investing matrix. The removal of the surrounding sandstone would probably disclose Characters that might assist in determining the natural affinities of the original animal, but as this unique and most important relic was entrusted to me for description only, I have not ventured to attempt its more complete development; in fact, the extreme fragility of the specimen would render such an operation very hazardous. With the exception of the imbedded skull, scarcely any vestige of the osseous substance remains ; impressions, more or less distinct, of the spinal column, pelvis, and extremities, and replacements or casts of a considerable number of the vertebrae by the investing rock, are the only indications of the form and structure of the Devonian reptile which the researches of Mr. Duff have brought to light. In the largest block (PI. IV. 9) the dorsal aspect, or upper part, of the skeleton is exposed. The vertebral column and ribs are almost in a normal position ; the cranium is somewhat displaced, and lies on