Moodie, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 37, p. 22, 1909 (describes pectoral girdle).
Type: Specimen No. 12,315, University of Chicago, Walker Museum.
Horizon and locality: Cannelton slates, Pennsylvania (Upper Freeport). ([PLATE 18.])
There is preserved in the collections of Walker Museum of the University of Chicago a small amphibian skull pressed flat on a slab of slate from Cannelton, Pennsylvania. It formed part of the Hall collection acquired by the University of Chicago in 1908.
The specimen presents only a portion of the skull and fragmentary pectoral plates. The skull is wider than long and the muzzle is broadly rounded. The orbits are narrow ovals and their posterior border falls on the transverse line dividing the skull equally. The interorbital width is slightly greater than the width of the orbits and about equal to their length. The posterior outline of the skull is somewhat truncate, as in E. tabulatus Cope and other species of the genus. The distal extremities of the quadrates do not project as far backward as do the supraoccipitals. The skull roof is formed of the regular elements, except that a quadrate seems to be indicated by a scale of bone on the posterior angle. The nostrils are oval and the pineal opening is small.
The premaxillæ are apparently relatively large elements, though their boundaries are not definite. The nasal is of an oblong shape and borders the frontal anteriorly. The frontal forms the whole of the interior border of the orbit and borders the parietal broadly behind. The parietal is a large element and the pineal foramen is inclosed in the median suture about midway of the parietals. The postparietal is wider than long and with the tabulare forms the greater part of the posterior border of the skull. The prefrontal ([plate 18, fig. 1]) apparently forms the entire anterior border of the orbit and sends an acuminate projection to the side of it. The maxilla is excluded from the orbit and is an elongate element with sharp conical teeth, of which there are 4 preserved. These measure about 1 mm. in length. The jugal lies along the lateral border of the orbit and it is acuminate both anteriorly and posteriorly. It borders the supratemporal broadly. The postfrontal forms the greater part of the posterior boundary of the orbit. It is triangular and acuminate behind, and is bordered broadly by the parietal and supratemporal. The supratemporal is also triangular and it borders the parietal broadly. The squamosal is evidently the largest element in the skull and on its posterior corner there is a flake of bone which may represent the quadrate, though this is by no means certain. The quadrate has not been detected in any of the Carboniferous Microsauria so far studied. The tabulare is an elongate element in the transverse line of the skull. Its entire boundary is uncertain, though part of the sutures are present. The quadratojugal is elongate and lies posterior to the maxilla and with that element forms the lateral boundary of the skull.
The canals of the lateral-line system have not been detected on the skull. The sculpturing of the cranial elements consists of grooves and ridges which radiate from a center. They are more prominent on the parietals than elsewhere, although the other skull elements present a strong sculpturing.
There are also preserved on the slab of slate, about 10 mm. posterior to the skull, fragments of the pectoral plates, probably representing the clavicles and the interclavicle. They are so badly fractured that their form can not be determined. No limbs or vertebræ have been observed.
| Measurements of the Type of Erpetosaurus sculptilis Moodie. | |
| mm. | |
| Length of skull in median line | 20 |
| Width of skull at posterior border (estimated) | 24 |
| Diameter of orbit | 3 |
| Length of orbit | 4 |
| Interorbital space | 4 |
| Diameter of nostril | -1 |
| Pineal foramen, diameter | .50 |
Pectoral Girdle Provisionally Associated
With Erpetosaurus sculptilis Moodie.