Fig. 119.—Ramphorynchus restored. One-quarter natural size.
Another reptile allied to the Pterodactyle lived in this epoch—the Ramphorynchus, distinguished from the Pterodactyle by a long tail. The imprints which this curious animal has left upon the sandstone of the period are impressions of its feet and the linear furrow made by its tail. Like the Pterodactyle, the Ramphorynchus, which was about the size of a crow, could not precisely fly, but, aided by the wing (a sort of natural parachute formed by the membrane connecting the fingers with the body), it could throw itself from a height upon its prey. [Fig. 119] represents a restoration of this animal. The footprints in the soil are in imitation of those which accompany the remains of the Ramphorynchus in the Oolitic rocks, and they show the imprints of the anterior and posterior feet and also the marks made by the tail.
This tail was very long, far surpassing in length the rest of the vertebral column, and consisting of more than thirty vertebræ—which were at first short, but rapidly elongate, retain their length for a considerable distance, and then gradually diminish in size.
XVIII.—Ideal landscape of the Middle Oolitic Period.