Yio ies Sy , ae EE ty Yogi ep os Lae yey o MS an e 1S * 4 ie Uline 2 ae v An bi eee st eee oo) 1) Lanta Pe Bee Cuotsstused Aq ‘ATqyUOW. GOUeIDg aB[ndog wo, ) ‘NVHOO SNOHOVLEYO SVSNVA HHL JO SH TLdadad ‘Cqgsy) snuyovsydirx ‘SOISBPIIO ‘g304SOJOIg ‘sndaivoe4Bi[d ‘snaneso[Ay, ‘SUNnBSOISO[g “SnINBSBSOIW “BULOJSOYJLUIO “BULOJSOUIIULO THE UNIVERSITY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KANSAS. CONDUCTED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. VOES VV: THE ORT } / PALMON TOMOG vy / PART I. UPPER CRETACEOUS. SAMUEL W. WILLISTON, Paleontologist. TOPEKA: J. S. PARKS, STATE PRINTER. 1898. MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. FRANCIS H. SNOW, Chancellor, and ez officio Director. SAMUEL W. WILLISTON, Department of Historical Geology and Paleontology. ERASMUS HAWORTH, Department of Physical Geology and Mineralogy. EDGAR H. S. BAILEY, Department of Chemistry. FOR VOLUME IV. SAMUEL W. WILLISTON, Paleontologist. GEORGE I. ADAMS, Assistant Paleontologist. ERMINIE C, CASE, Assistant Paleontologist. CLARENCE E. McCLUNG, Assistant Paleontologist. WILLIAM N. LOGAN, Assistant Paleontologist. Chancellor F. H. Snow, Ex officio Director of the University Geological Survey: Dear Str—I have the honor herewith to submit to you for your approval the first part of my report upon the Paleontology of Kansas, to constitute a volume of the University Geological Survey of Kansas. That such a work, completed and now in progress, is possible is chiefly due to your zealous wisdom and foresight, whereby the rich material illustrating this field of Kansas geology has been brought together in the museum of Kansas University. I desire, also, to express to you my hearty thanks for the many facilities and constant encouragement that have been afforded me by yourself and the Board of Regents in the prosecution of the work. Respectfully, SAMUEL W. WILLISTON. DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, FEBRUARY 1, 1898. TO THE MEMORY OF PROF. BENJAMIN F. MUDGEE, The first State Geologist of Kansas, AN EXCELLENT TEACHER, A FAITHFUL FRIEND, AN HONEST MAN. CONTENTS. FRONTISPIECE, Reptiles of the Kansas Cretaceous Ocean. PAGE. MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.................50..... 3 TSS ERER GOR) NERANSMISSTONG fiiry i tulebats ae te erat nec rRNA ORNS USUI au Satna Ht a etl d cea nu ts By ERS OUATTONE errs leks e oteccu seo ssetianee Meek en a Ue aR SU OIE TRB TUS an SUT 7 TP-TEADI TY. GROU Beale chair ieee ue ea Vato tnatcaes Ea Cesc EIN accape Gree TPL ats ee meeHE em SURE ES OU ) PART I.—The Upper Cretaceous of Kansas: a Historical Review. By Georce tt FA Garis eyes SNe eo BN ASN c MS EE A MSN od nt tL 13 Mddendawby. Os Wie WalliStony. se aie Le Cee ee ea RU sini 28 Plates 1 to Iv..... BE cies ee OS Le A ces Cr rs PANU av CUNT SONG 33 — 39 mee beh Birds.) Byise Wie Williston: 22 )..0(2 0 eG 0 oy erie aaa NET. a 41 BITS OLeEMOPNTODTATa aso cle pate crs MON ee DIR comes DUAL Nn ae aN Ma 44 Birdvtracks\fromy thes Dakotaawern ssc ae eee ee AVA aA dca 50 Bxplanationlot (latest. anya ce Nan sleriay erie ser eA ine UO NATAL CUA INR 5D TEAR ETSP AY LKO) NIUE Roepe eae AB rs Vea a Er a NPN On oa eleiad rLSHe esa Mo el RTS RPL CA 57 — 63 PR ab Dinosaurs, By SO) Wie Williston 2 kyon sl ele W Ce te 65 EATERIES anh Sepia se cM ee ee aod pad eGR VES ud LaRUA eet cant RENN te 71 PAroe Vi Crocodiles: (BY Saws. WAL Sto er ce Mh NSN wtp ae 73 Pw Vv. Musasaurs., By. We Williston. 720 co aa uN aig Ba, 81 FELT S COTY ess es le iret ose Tee SL ES MIRE PULSE De aR IR OLA AA RIEU CU ESTAN Ua) He ag 83 Rane ang MIStrio Glos peal we cree etek ces edo eaten) cok eee GO 87 Comparative Anatomical Descriptions ieee soo te ss adsl: 100 SyStematle MDeseriphlOnNsn 0 See cia se eee metas alan Unetnraie a ape eae NE 169 Restoration of the Kansas Mosasaurs............. LE et RL 209, 347 LP xplanalony One lALeS ies recs sole) Danaea EN etl a cha kaon naa OEE 217 12) Gi 2Y= (00:00) 10) 1lp.0.6 1 eye peers na a SRE DNL Via ACR Renn EBA Ue 223-347 12d P41 Wed Miah (eS ama aan Mets au te ae lars DoE OER ME on Aneta UT 349 Introduction; By. Se W a WAlliston senile ce els ken tea eA diy 351 Wesmatochelys.. Bye. W. Wallistom! (23 see ae ale ala inion 353 Moxochelys Byki Cr) Cases je cee bo Le Ciene Na aA NU Me Mien Nes en) 370 Pap ANALIOM OL EP TALCS A Mey cr Sate opens nls ted ce eee ea met cee aU 387 Plates GXxiih 10 EXXXLV oes). LS Einiene EMME ae SSA NTE rcpt aU Mia it 389-411 PART VII.—Microscopic Organisms of the Upper Cretaceous. By Se De Wi Wel Gy Naya eas RO Se Oe le ate a ate OE De AU ecu t On see OIG UE a 413 LEARY He) 50p-o.0-41; RN eet ap rn pica Weaee Mie MDT SU Ne wR OHGa SN SAL R Uk AUC URN a 429 PART VIII.—The Invertebrates of the Benton, Niobrara and Ft. Pierre E@retaccous: By WN. Hogans 2 22a ake ee a a ee 431 STEGER CEA ORNey se e soe assis Fishes Ada tal Senate Uke Lapa See ede pone a Ud 433 EO SCHEME EV AUII A eis he te ea ANTE EMG neu eR el SAMI 441 Iptolapernee) VME GN av A es oe le ioe BA ub TUN AMIS UL Da uu HI nn ECA 480 IROrPibierre phan: tae me onesie MabMirionany, (tag Vn ee Diines yas A IM 502 Explanation of lates) 715508 Gules isin See Tee he he ee Aer 515 IPIALCAU SOON NIE LO) Oates eee On NM Carle alate .... 019-583 AE TONP IETS Shy wT Rego ey re ett de Ue are Se ue ES ustoie, amend acu AL A ea OMA . 587 PREFACE. THE science of Fossils, or Paleontology, is that upon which the geological history of the earth mainly rests. Without it, geology would be but a fragmentary science, a science of the structure of the earth only. By the aid of fossils, the succes- sion of rocks, their distribution and relations are determined. They are the key which unlocks the most difficult problems of stratification. Upon them the seeker after the economic sub- stances of the earth must mainly depend. Until the paleon- tologist has deciphered the records, the geologist can only grope blindly. The study of fossils, then, needs no apology from the economist. As a pure science, paleontology is inextricably united with the science of biology, the science of living things ; as an applied science, it is equally intimately related to the structure and history of the earth. In the tracing of the rocks’ strata, physical characters are often deceptive and unreliable ; paleontological characters are decisive and incontrovertible. Kansas has long been a famous region for the paleontologist. Perhaps no equal area in the United States presents such varied and remarkable fossil records as does Kansas. The fame of her fossils is world-wide. The pages she has added to the geo- logical history of the earth are already classic. But, while the state has furnished so much of interest and of value to the sciences of geology and paleontology, the published accounts, what there are of them, have been accessible only to the specialist in scattered and abstruse papers. Constantly is the writer in receipt of inquiries from citi- zens of our state, especially teachers, seeking information re- garding its fossils. Invariably he has been compelled to reply that such information is accessible only to the specialist and in- vestigator. Specimens are often sent for identification, which the senders might easily determine for themselves if only they 2—1v (9) IQ) University of Kansas Geological Survey. knew where to find the information. Nothing whatever has ,been published by the state that will aid the student in his re- searches. Many of the fossils of our state have been described in scattered and voluminous reports, that can be found only in those libraries that especially collect such works. For several years past the writer has been gathering the literature concern- ing Kansas paleontology, either in his own private library or in the library of the University. The value of the literature consulted in the preparation of the present volume is at least $1000. No better reason can be given for the need of such re- ports as the present. More important still is the fact that a large part of the present volume is composed of information here published for the first time, and which must necessarily be © otherwise accessible only to the investigator who has the dis- position and time to devote years of study to the work. Very many high schools and other institutions of the state have speci- mens or collections of fossils, whose value at the present time is very slight, since a very incomplete knowledge or total ignorance of what they are prevents their use as means of education or instruction ; and it is one of the chief hopes of the writer that the present work will stimulate many of the young people of our state to an intelligent interest in its geology as based upon the study of its fossils. The material treated in the present work is believed to be fairly complete. The work is in no sense a preliminary one, but one that is hoped will not need revision for many years to come. The reader may find accessible in the preceding volumes of this series much of interest and value regarding the physical features of the state. The different formations have been mapped out, so far as the paleontologist has definedthem. The formations and localities of the economic products have been, so far as possible, made known. But the general student wishes also to learn something himself of the facts upon which these results are largely based. . The writer has been engaged for the larger part of twelve years in the study of the geology and paleontology of the state. Preface. aL His first studies began in 1874, since which time he has spent over three years in camp in field exploration ‘within the state. For the past eight years he has been collecting the material to serve for the present work. The splendid collections of fossils made by Prof. F. H. Snow and Judge E. P. West have been so supplemented that now it is possible to give a fairly good review of the very diverse and extensive field of Kansas paleontology. As an example, it may be stated that all the material figured and described, with hardly an exception, in the present work is now the property of the University of Kansas. From this material it has been possible to add very much that is new to what had previously been known concerning the animals de- scribed. The present work deals with the fossils of the western part of state solely for the reason that more preparatory work has been done upon them in the University in recent years. At present, Mr. J. W. Beede, a graduate student of the department of Pa- leontology of the University, has far advanced toward publication a work upon the Invertebrate Fossils of the eastern part of the state, and his report will form a part of the next volume of this series. The remainder of the fauna of the Upper Cretaceous is also nearly ready for publication, the Plesiosaurs and Pterodac- tyls by the writer; the Fishes by Mr. Alban Stewart( K.U.’96), a graduate student of the department. Other work is already in preparation for publication, includ- ing the vertebrate and invertebrate faunas of the Lower Creta- ceous, the Dakota, and the Tertiary, based upon large and valuable collections now in the University museum. It is the aim in the present and following volumes to so pic- ture and describe the fossils of the state that they may be un- derstood by the ordinary reader of intelligence. But, at the same time, it is imperatively necessary that the descriptions should be accurate, and accuracy can only be obtained by the use of scientific language. ‘The general reader will find in the introductory parts of the different chapters those portions of more general interest. The student or observer with the actual fossils in his hands will be able to follow by the aid of the figures 12 University of Kansas Geological Survey. the strictly scientific descriptions. For extended description of the Upper Cretaceous horizons, the reader is referred to papers by Mr. W. N. Logan and the writer in the second volume of this Survey reports. The writer desires here to express his warmest thanks to Prof. EK. C. Case (K. U.’93), of the Wisconsin Normal School, for the preparation of his part on the Turtles; to Dr. George I. Ad- ams (K.U. ’93) for the chapter on the Upper Cretaceous; to Mr. C. E. McClung (K. U. ’96), instructor in Zoology in the University, for the chapter on the Microscopic Organisms of the Cretaceous; and especially to Mr. W. N. Logan (K. U. ’96), now fellow of Chicago University, for the extensive work on the Invertebrates. Messrs.Case, Adams and Logan were former students in the department of Paleontology of the University ; Mr. McClung, the writer’s former assistant in Microscopic Anatomy. They have all given their careful and skilled labor wholly without remuneration from the state, and with but very slight expense. All the drawings illustrating the vertebrates, save the first five plates, have been made for this work under the writer’s imme- diate and constant supervision. For their accuracy he is alone responsible. Most of those of the Mosasaurs and part of those of the Turtles have been made by Mr. Sydney Prentice (K. U. ’96), and thanks are due him for the fidelity, skill and zeal that he has shown in their production. The plates upon the skull, especially, have required an unlimited amount of patience on his part to insure their accuracy. The larger part of the figures illustrating the Turtles were made by Miss Mary Wellman (K. U.’92), and do not need commendation. All of the photographs used in the yolume have been made either by the writer or under his immediate direction. The illus- trations for the Invertebrates have been largely copied or re- drawn from previous authors. . S. W. WILLISTON. PART I. THE UPPER CRETACEOUS OF KANSAS: A HISTORICAL REVIEW. By GEORGE I. ADAMS. ADDENDA. By S. W. WILLISTON. Plates I-LV. H wi 1 il HH] lV nn 3 mw ee == i i | I! H | Mu hs | o il ete y) iil E we 5) ; ee canoe > a Y AT GAA Hl HAI ZZ Ha TL | NS A a =] ea: et i alt ae : | l Mii Dei MiOBRAKA uC |e BEnTON & f | i} AtaaRA i Hi + Fi i | = ae il he és Hagen LHL | cf fi RED -BEDS ol l mt Hi == billie t Ul We PERMIAN li i NSH ART TL HK 1 ONT RY t . Bip fA f ti HH RAAT HATA iy Hah il byt Fic. 1. MAP OF THE CRETACEOUS OF KANSAS. THE UPPER CRETACEOUS. By GEORGE I. ADAMS. In 1853 Congress authorized the exploration of several lines across the western portion of the continent, for the purpose of selecting a route for a transcontinental railway. Hach expedi- tion was accompanied by a geologist. The results of their ob- servations were published in the Pacific Railroad Reports. Among those who pushed into the western territory was Pro- fessor Hall, the veteran geologist of the New York survey. His official duties requiring his time in New York state, he employed Meek and Hayden to explore a part of the upper Mis- souri river region. The results of this work, mainly paleon- tological, were published jointly by Professors Hall and Meek.’ This work was the beginning of long-continuing labors which they pursued jointly and separately. Their section of the Cre- taceous along the Missouri river, known as the Meek and Hayden section,” has served as a basis for much subsequent work. The Cretaceous formation of Kansas lies within the south in- terior region of the Cretaceous area of North America, as di- vided by White’ for the purpose of discussion and correlation. The Missouri river section by Meek and Hayden has been used as a standard for reference in the study of this area, and is sub- stantially still so used. It includes only formations which are referred to the Upper Cretaceous. A later nomenclature and grouping of these divisions, which was proposed by Eldridge,* was adopted by White. His table showing the relation of the section is given on next page. 1. Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sci., 1856, & Proceedings Amer. Phil. Soc., 1856. . Bulletin No. 82, U. S. G. S., Correlation of the Cretaceous, He 4. American Jour. Sci. XXXVIII, 313-321, 1862. (15) 16 University of Kansas Geological Survey. Upper Missouri Section of Meek and Hayden. ELDRIDGE. INO GEC COST ZEAE sag ee Sele oe oy Seton ray citi: ti et Alera Laramie formation. 5 Bs Hills group..... : Ne: ii Bee ees ac FARE aL Sa ETE eee Montana formation. No. 3, Niobrara group ..... Reatenele Mate Ee ee eR oR Bintale Colorado formation No. 2, Fort Benton group.. : INO MED ao tal vereerciatnce cu stsste tsteg soi cies ead Shee a ean Ne eee Dakota formation. This table does not include the Lower Cretaceous, of which the Comanche series’ is now recognized ; but, as it is the pur- pose of this paper to deal only with the Upper Cretaceous, the section of Meek and Hayden is wholly adequate, since the de- velopment of our knowledge of it in Kansas is largely the result of attempts to identify the members of the Missouri river sec- tion in the territory along the Smoky Hill river. The following sketch gives in chronological order abstracts of the more impor- tant papers: ° 1855 — Doctor Schiel’s Report. The series of limestones from Westport, Mo., to the Little Arkansas he considered to belong to the same formation. There he found ‘‘a white, fine- grained, non-fossiliferous limestone, and a red, ferruginous sandstone, out of which Pawnee Rock is formed. ‘The latter was also found on Coon creek, and, from specimens brought by Captain Gunnison, he concludes that it extends up the Repub- lican fork of the Kansas river. It supports a loose conglomer- ate of quartzose rock, which is seen to extend some thirty miles along the Arkansas west of Fort Atkinson. It is prob- able that these strata belong to the chalk formation, which, going westward, we find distinctly represented. About thirty miles further west we meet with another limestone of the Cre- taceous period.”’ 1856 — Engleman’s Report.’ This gives a general description to Fort Riley. He describes a sandstone along the Republican from above Fort Riley for forty-eight miles, that is, to eighty miles from the fort. He is inclined to think that it cannot exceed 200 or 300 feet in thickness. From Professor Hall’s 5. Vide Prosser, vol. 11, Kans. Univ. Geol. Surv. 1897, for historical summary. 6. For bibliography of Kansas Geology, see Hay, Trans. Kans. Acad. Sci. 1893-94. 7. Geol. Ex. from Ft. Leavenworth to Bryan’s Pass, 35th Cong., 1st ses., Sen. Ex. Docs. 2, pp. 489-520, Washington, 1856. ADAMS. | The Upper Cretaceous. ile description of the route west of the Missouri in Sternberg’s report, he thinks the beds may be Cretaceous. He next de- scribes the Cretaceous formation, which was first observed seventy-four miles from Fort Riley, which is made up of chalky limestones, marls, slates, and shales. This formation extends beyond the borders of the state. He mentions some fossils. A list of fossils by Shumard accompanies the report. 1857 — Hayden.* This article on the country bordering the Missouri river has a map accompanying it, showing the geol- ogy of northeastern Kansas, colored from information furnished by Major Hawn. Ina paper immediately following, he gives a section of the rocks of northeastern Kansas above the coal measures, by Major Hawn. These beds were not seen at any one place, but their thickness and order of succession were deter- mined in the region east of the sixth principal meridian by Major Hawn, while carrying on the lineal survey. The beds are cor- related by Hayden with the New Jersey section, the Alabama section, and the Triassic and Jurassic of Marcou, from his sec- tion of Pyramid Mountain, New Mexico. The article concludes for Kansas that there is at the base of the Cretaceous series a series of beds concerning which evidence is lacking that they are not older than any portion of the Cretaceous. The section is correlated with Cretaceous, No. 1, No. 2(?), and the lower part of No. 3. 1859— Meck and Hayden.’ In this article it was stated that No. 1 was carried too low in a previous paper ( Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1857). A paper by Hawn (Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis, 1, 171) is cited in which the formation in Kansas is placed on a parallel with No. 1, but the whole is referred to the Trias. These beds were examined with care, and dicotyledonous leaves were found, proving their identity with No. 1 of the Nebraska section. Doctor Newberry is referred to as authority in the paleobotany. Between No. 1 and the beds containing Permian fossils there is a series of beds which the writer states may be Jurassic or Triassic, or both, but more probably the former, 8. Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil. 1857. 9, American Jour. Sci., 1859. 18 University of Kansas Geological Survey. though as yet there is no paleontological evidence. An article in the Proc. Academy of Natural Science, Philadelphia, 1859, was also published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 1863 (read 1861). The latter is accompanied by a map. These articles contain the following points of interest here: Cer- tain beds between No. 5 of the Coal Measures and the Cretaceous are suspected of being of Jurassic or Triassic age, probably Ju- rassic. Reference is made to his previous discoveries of the Cretaceous age of the higher beds. Nos. 1, 2 and 5 are consid- ered the equivalents of the Cretaceous of Nebraska, as found by Mr. Engleman. (Vide Rep. Sec. War, Dec. 5, 1857, p. 497.) 1866— Mudge. The First Annual Report of the Geology of Kansas, by B. F. Mudge, contains the following concerning the Cretaceous: ‘‘ No unconformability has been observed from the Coal Measures to the Cretaceous. This formation, which is represented rather largely, has not been definitely studied, since it lies beyond the settlements. Chalk is said to be found in it. So far as known, it appears to have a resemblance to the Creta- ceous of England.’’ Under his division Triassic, he describes fossil footprints of birds” found in the sandstone northwest of Fort Riley. A few miles distant, in what appeared to be the same horizon, he discovered dicotyledonous leaves. He is in- clined to place the deposits in the Lias. 1S866— Swallow. In his Preliminary Report of the Geological Survey of Kansas, Swallow refers No. 1 of his section, 295 feet of brown ferruginous sandstone, to the Cretaceous, but states that he saw no proofs of its age. Nos. 2 and 3, which are simi- lar in character, he refers to the Triassic(?). 1867 — Hayden." This article refers to the report by Swallow, and states concerning the beds referred to the Triassic with a question, that they may be Permian, or even Jurassic, so far as any evidence yet obtained goes. He is inclined to think that they belong to the Trias. 1869— Hayden.” In speaking of the Cretaceous rocks (p.13), 10. See article on Cretaceous Birds, this volume. 11. Notes on Kansas Geology, Amer Jour. Sci., 1867. 12. Preliminary Rep. U.S. G. S. of the Ters., 1869. ADAMS. | The Upper Cretaceous. 19 he says that they show five well-marked divisions, Nos. 1, 2,5, 4, and 5, or Dakota, Benton, Niobrara, Fort Pierre, and Fox Hills. In discussing their characters, he refers briefly to the Cretaceous of Kansas at Hays City and Fort Wallace. 1872— Hayden.*® Part I, chapter IV, by Hayden, gives a sketch of the geological formation along the Union Pacific rail- road to Fort Wallace. The formation west nearly to Salina he refers to the Permo-Carboniferous series. At the 155th mile-post he says he reached the beds of doubtful age, intermediate be- tween the Permian and the well-known Cretaceous No. 1, or those which include the rusty sandstones of the Dakota. He mentions the Dakota as occurring near Salina, at Fort Ellsworth, and as far west as Fort Harker. At Wilson he saw ‘‘ the chalky limestones of the Niobrara filled with Inoceramus problematicus.’’ At the 280th mile-post he reported indications of the Tertiary. At Hays City massive rocks of No. 5 were seen sawed into blocks and used in buildings. At eight miles west of Fort Hays an exposure in a cut showed sixty feet of shale of No. 2, the Benton group, filled with concretions. On the summit of the hill he observed massive layers of yellowchalk. Inconcluding he says: ‘« We have, therefore, between Salina and Fort Wallace, expo- sures of Cretaceous beds Nos. 1, 2, and 3. In No. 1 are well- preserved impressions of dicotyledonous leaves; in No. 2, not far from Fort Wallace, remains of gigantic reptiles have been found; while No. 3 contains invertebrates and fragments of the remains of fishes.”’ 1876— Mudge.“ Concerning the Cretaceous, he says that the Fort Pierre and Fox Hills groups are wanting, and that the Benton group also appears to be absent. He reports the Cre- taceous as resting conformably, or nearly so, upon the Permian, and that he had found no fossils of the Jurassic or Triassic. In his description of the Niobrara, he divides it into two divisions : the Niobrara proper and the Fort Hays. The division between them is considered by him to be the bed of limestone about sixty feet thick where fully exposed. In the upper division, verte- 13, Final Rep. U.S. G. S. of Nebr., etc., with map, 1868 ( printed 1872). 14. Bulletin Geol. and Geogr. Surv. of the Ters. ii, No. 3, 1876. 20 University of Kansas Geological Survey. brates are found in abundance, while below they are rare. Of the Niobrara proper he gives a description of the physical fea- tures and areal extent, and mentions the fossils which it con- tains. The thickness is given as seventy-five feet in Trego county and 200 feet in Ellis county. He makes the statement that Hayden mistook exposures near Fort Wallace for Benton. He records the occurrence of seams of calc and heavy spar. He states that he discovered a bed of Baculites near Sheridan (Me- Allaster) and on referring specimens of them to Meek, received the following reply: ‘‘ One fact in regard to your specimens, however, 1s curious to me. All the other forms like this that I have ever seen from any part of the far west come from Nos. 4 and 5. Can it be possible that you have found an outlier of Nos. 4or 5?’’ Mudge, however, states that the beds are clearly Niobrara, since characteristic fish and saurians are found not more than fifteen or twenty feet above and not 200 yards distant. ‘This same error was perpetuated by both Cope and Marsh in the descriptions of fossils from this region. The massive beds of stratified limestone or chalk before mentioned, together with all the deposits above the Dakota, he calls the Fort Hays. Herefers to Hayden’s statement, that the Niobrara lime- stone filled with Jnoceramus problematicus is exposed at Wilson, and states that this rests directly on the Dakota, and all that which Hayden supposed might be Benton is above this stratum, and thus concludes that the Benton is not seen in Kansas. He remarks that the lower portion of the Fort Hays may be Ben- ton, although there does not appear to be any line of demarca- tion. He says that the only persistent stratum is a buff, sandy limestone, never over ten inches thick (the Fence-post layer of Cragin), which is much used for building. He describes a bed of blue shales containing concretions (Victoria shales) above this horizon. The fossils of the formation are mentioned. The total thickness of the Fort Hays is given at 260 feet. The Da- kota is made to include all the Cretaceous east of the Niobrara. No Triassic or Jurassic fossils having been discovered after ten years’ search, he concludes that the Dakota rests directly upon the Permian, and is conformable with his Fort Hays group ADAMS. | The Upper Cretaceous. 21 above it. The lithological characters of the limestone are men- tioned, as also the occurrence of coal. Thickness, 500 feet. 18S77—Mudge.” This paper is practically a reprint of the previous one, but gives much additional matter concerning the writer’s collecting and the fossils described from the formation. Concerning the Benton he makes the same limits, but states that if he could spend a few daysin the field with Hayden they might conclude that the lower portion of the Fort Hays is Benton, and therefore calls it the Fort Hays only provisionally. 1878 —Mudge.* This repeats largely former reports. It gives a map, vertical section of the rocks of Kansas, and a hori- zontal section from southeast to northwest corners of the state. The Triassic and Jurassic are not represented. This allows the Dakota to rest directly upon the Carboniferous, and nearly, if not quite, in conformity. The Pierre and Fox Hills of the Cre- taceous, as also the Eocene and Miocene, are reported to be wanting. The Pliocene rests upon the Niobrara or middle Cre- taceous. Heagain repeats Meek’s inquiry about beds containing Baculites anceps, and states that the beds are not Fort Pierre or Fox Hills. He says that in a former report he was doubtful whether the Benton is represented in Kansas. A more careful examination induces him to believe that what he called Fort Hays corresponds nearly in age to the Fort Benton. The upper portion of the Benton is formed by a bed of limestone sixty feet thick ; under this is a bed of blue shale sixty feet thick, con- taining septaria. Below this are 140 feet of shales and layers of limestone. The total thickness is given at 260 feet. The Dakota group includes all the Cretaceous east of the Fort Benton. The principal part of the paper is composed of a discussion of the areal, geological and topographic features, and notes con- cerning fossils described by others. 1882—St. John.“ The Cretaceous is laid down directly upon the Carboniferous floor, and, notwithstanding statements to the contrary, there is marked evidence of non-conformity between 15, Ninth An. Rep. U.S. G.S. of the Ters., 1875 (printed 1877). 16. First Bi. Rep. Kans. St. Bd. Agr., 1877-78. 17. Third Bi. Rep. Kans, St. Bd. Agr., 1881-’82. 22 University of Kansas Geological Survey. them. The Cretaceous is made up of at least three divisions — the Dakota, Benton, and Niobrara; the upper members appear to be absent. He says concerning the Benton that certain limestones, if indeed they are not to be relegated to the Nio- brara, afford stratigraphical evidence upon which to base the limits of the western exposure. He estimates the total thick- ness at 2200 feet. He says concerning the shales at the top of the Niobrara, that they strongly resemble the ‘‘ Colorado shales,’’ i. e., Fort Pierre and Fox Hills. He says that the salt springs and wells of the Cretaceous are probably supplied from,the Car- boniferous deposits. ‘To the south of the Arkansas valley, hori- zons discovered by G. S. Chase are characterized by a molluscan fauna which indicates affinities with the Texas Cretaceous fauna.” He believes that the Cretaceous has been eroded pro- gressively more deeply toward the east, so that the Tertiarv rests upon successively lower beds toward the east. 1887—St. John.” In southwestern Kansas only the Dakota and Niobrara have been identified with certainty. Beds now known to belong to the Comanche series are here described as Dakota. Those described by him as Niobrara are referred since to the Benton. 1888 — Hay. From the north boundary of the state to Mc- Pherson county the Dakota sandstone rests upon the Permo- Carboniferous, an example of erosive non-conformability. From McPherson county south the Triassic beds intervene. A shorter period of erosion appears to have taken place there. The Dakota is from 300 to 500 feet thick. The passage to the Benton is without break, the beds being absolutely conformable. Total thickness probably does not amount to 400 feet. The Niobrara consists of two conspicuous strata, a succession of soft limestones, beneath which is a thick shale bed containing con- eretions. This shale, with occasional intercalations of lime- stones, is 100 to 300 feet in thickness. The limestones do not reach 100 feet. The Fort Pierre and Fox Hills appear to be ab- 18. Probably the first reference to the Lower Cretaceous in Kansas. 19. Notes on the Geology of Southwestern Kansas, Fifth Bi. Rep. Kans. St. Bd. Agr., 1885-86. 20. Sixth Bi. Rep. Kans. St. Bd. Agr., 1887-’88. ADAMS. | The Upper Cretaceous. 23 sent. There is an outcrop in Norton county of two well-marked strata above the yellow chalk, the lower a green sand, the upper a green clay with yellow streaks. These beds are of doubtful reference. 1893 — Williston." In this article the Niobrara is estimated to be 430 feet in thickness, and the dip to the north or northeast is shown to be greater than was previously suspected, except perhaps by St. John. The division line between the Niobrara and Benton is placed at the top of the stratified beds, following Mudge, but he is doubtful whether the Niobrara should not also include the stratified beds and perhaps also the subjacent dark blue shales. The stratified beds are called the Fort Hays, thus limiting Mudge’s term. No distinction into chalk and shales is admitted for the Niobrara. He states his belief that the beds containing the Baculites anceps, to which Meek had referred, are Fort Pierre and not Niobrara. A similar statement was given in a paleontological paper in the Kansas University Quarterly for July, 1892, the first time that the Fort Pierre had been recog- nized in the state. Other paleontological matters are discussed in this paper. In 1892 Williston prepared a map of the geology of Kansas, which was published in Thomas’s School Charts. This was the first time that all of the different geological epochs of the state had been given for Kansas. A modified copy of the map was published in a later paper (Kans. Univ. Quart., 1894) , with the different divisions of the Cretaceous given nearly as they are at present located. 1896— Cragin.” The rocks of the North American Interior Cretaceous are considered as belonging to two great series, the Comanche series and the Platte series, the latter including the Dakota, Benton, Niobrara, Fort Pierre, Fox Hills, and Laramie. The divisions occurring in Kansas are given as follows : The lower portion of the Benton is named the Russell formation, one horizon of which is the Downs (or Fence-post) limestone. The upper portion is called the Victoria clays, which contains the Cannon- 21. Transactions Kans. Acad. Sci., 1891-92 (pub. 1893). 22, Colorado College Studies, March, 1896. 24 University of Kansas Geological Survey. ball zone.” The lower portion of the Niobrara is named the Osborne limestones. This he states formed the upper part of Mudge’s Fort Hays. The upper Niobrara is named the Smoky Hill chalk, with a lower or Trego zone, the Norton zone, and the Graham jasper horizon. The Lisbon shales named by him are supposed to be the Fort Pierre. The Arickaree shales are referred to the Fox Hills. 1897.—Logan.* Inthis paper the Upper Cretaceous is divided as follows: The Benton is divided on lithological grounds into the upper and lower groups. The lower group is subdi- vided into the Bituminous shale, at the base, the Lincoln mar- ble, Flagstone, Inoceramus and Fence-post horizons. The upper group consists of the Ostrea shales and the Blue Hill shales. The Niobrara is divided into the Fort Hays and Pter- anodon beds. For the Fort Pierre no divisional term is used. In a foot-note it is stated that the beds called the Arickaree shales, and referred to the Fox Hills, had been previously re- ferred to the Fort Pierre by Hay. 1897.—Williston.” In this paper the line of division between the Niobrara and Benton is taken below the Fort Hays beds, following Cragin. Fort Hays is used instead of Osborne lime- stone. The upper portion of the Niobrara is called the Pterano- don beds (Marsh, Odontornithes, 1880). The suggestion is made that the name Pteranodon, being in all probability a synonym, should be changed to Ornithostoma beds. The Pter- anodon beds are divided on paleontological grounds into the lower or Rudistes beds, and the upper or Hesperornis beds. The Fort Pierre at McAllaster is estimated at least 100 feet in thickness. The name Blue Hill is used in part for the Vic- toria beds. (See summary of sections, opposite page.) From the foregoing, it will be seen that the Upper Cretaceous of Kansas is now quite well understood. The various geologists who have studied it from time to time have slightly modified 23. The Cannon-Ball crossing of the Missouri River, illustrated in Hayden’s Report, 1870, to which Cragin refers, is in the Fort Pierre. 24. Kansas Univ. Geol. Sury. 1, 1897. 25. Kansas Univ. Geol. Surv. 11, 1897. 25 The Upper Cretaceous. ApAmMs. | ‘SNOILOUS WO AUVAWOS aaa a x ce SS 3) a Jems 6 © s s 5 s ‘poques ‘TON “eyusry | ed a a q a ra q| oldey | ‘ejoxed "ysaeud apes } 3 5A a a = a QA a ‘SNOIEFTSA LG | a ° ‘snourmnyTg | ‘ouojsounty =| ) lg | ) ) ‘a[qaeut P sod-eoua | 3 leaden | s 50 SNe fae Si ‘seid’ 6 g| Surureyuoo 7g a 8 ‘snures000u | 4 8| ‘uoreursos |: : J “poques ‘SON a| ‘ysod-sou04 J Tlessuy a es ) S di -o1d oy ‘moyNEg ea *‘sepeys Bae ea *9u0Zz J Ls} ‘suorq 3 ea=@ | eA) é | | 8| -erou09 ee sl N BO1ISQ 1 o [[eq-douuey | ras fe ah ‘sopeys ‘sopeys + Be Wa fF Ses | | &| SIGH TItH OMI S 1H eng | Avo ErcCaOEAS S [eqs 4 a OW << ; ‘QUO SOUT] : ) "SkUEL “A at ‘skBH 4.109 euloqsQ Shey qo. clea 3 6 Niet? bias esi ) tes = a\é d| -ouoz || & c es J\§ So) x Oa I, a |: g/ ouojsomyy | fs ) | \ 5] *pozues ‘SON BOO Wale oueveyal © jefe LE 8 F S) wou | vexerqorn s1us0 j A (iz UO pou} qd iS Hier ae = S as R a ee oH WOJION |G Z. | Z t 5/aodoad } ‘sspoq. 0&4 | ‘rodsel } re S| varaq sosIpny J j j mUETRIH S | A | j Z| -OIN | | “POUOLOJOL J | b ‘ON “poztus090y ‘pozrus000y coven * pozras090yY eee peu ae ‘SuUva | Suguva | -SuryUBA ‘eI WOT : Ayunod 10}ION poytodeyy | peyrodey | poyrodoey - = > La! ‘SUIgUBM *soTeys “SuTIQUBM “SUIQUBA | ‘SUTQURA “DOTIURA *G ‘ON | poy1odoyy BOLB OLIV pojtodey poeytodeyy | peywodey poqyrodey ‘SITTH XOT "L681 ‘L681 ‘9681 “S681 8881 ‘O88T ‘O88T ‘OL8T ‘OL8T MOUSTTTL A. ‘ae.d0'T ‘T1dR10 ‘HOUSTITLM. ‘ABT son ‘4g | ‘espnyr een ‘ropAvyT 26 University of Kansas Geological Survey. the early divisions, but the tendency has been to recognize the same general groupings. There are, however, some questions of nomenclature which it may be well to mention here. The divisions of the Dakota by Logan are the only ones so far proposed. As he remarks, there seem to be no well-marked dividing lines. The divisions were made for convenience, and may prove to be valid. The division of the Benton into Upper and Lower is upon lithological grounds. The names used by Logan for the lower group must stand; but his division of Blue Hills is precisely identical with the Victoria shales previously proposed by Cragin, | and must be given up on the ground of priority. Cragin’s Rus- sell group does not correspond with the Lower, since it does not include the Ostrea shales. The division line between the Benton and Niobrara is in ac- cordance with Gilbert’s eastern Colorado section. (17th Ann. Reps WE SeiGeaios, Ls96.) The Niobrara is divided into the Fort Hays and Pteranodon beds. The name Fort Hays was limited by Williston in 1893. The Pteranodon beds are further divided by Williston into the Hesperornis and Rudistes, on paleontological grounds. Cra- gin’s Trego and Norton zones may correspond to these divisions, based upon lithological grounds, and scarcely recognizably characterized. Nevertheless, it is a question whether or not these terms should take precedence over Williston’s. The Fort Pierre was first reported by Williston. Cragin has since proposed the name Lisbon shales for certain outcrops, but has not in any way differentiated them or given any char- acters by which they may be distinguished from the rest of the Fort Pierre. The argument for the use of the Arickaree beds rests upon similar grounds. They were first reported by Hay to be Fort Pierre. Such being the case, the names Lisbon shales and Arickaree shales may be with propriety used for the two horizons. ADAMS. | The Upper Cretaceous. General Section of the Upper Cretaceous of Kansas. Montana (Eldridge), § | Niobrara § Colorado | (Hayden), (Eldridge), \ | Benton | (Hayden), < Dakota | (Hayden), | d Fort Pierre (Hayden) - Pteranodon beds (GMiarsing) ose ee sia Fort Hays beds (Mudge, Upper group (Logan)... | Lower group (Logan)... Saliferous (Logan).... _Ferruginous (Logan). | { Arickaree shales (Cragin). ( Lisbon shales (Cragin). ( Hesperornis beds (Williston). ) Rudistes beds (Williston). Williston). Victoria shales (Cragin). Ostrea shales ( Logan). { Fence-post (Cragin). | Inoceramus (Logan). < Flagstone (Logan). | Lincoln marble (Logan). | Bituminous (Logan). Gypsiferous (Logan). Salt marsh (Logan). Lignitic ( Done 28 University of Kansas Geological Survey. ADDENDA TO PART I. By 8S. W. WILLISTON. THE first vertebrate fossil obtained from the Upper Cretaceous of Kansas was the type specimen of Hlasmosaurus platyurus Cope, collected by Dr. Theophilus H. Turner, the physician of the garrison at Fort Wallace, and taken east by Dr. J. L. Leconte. It was described by Cope in Leconte’s Notes on Geology of the Route of the Union Pacific Railroad, 1868, p. 68. The next specimen obtained was a part of a cranium of Tylo- saurus proriger Cope, the type, collected by Colonel Cunningham and Mr. Minor ‘‘in the vicinity of Monument station, and sent by them to Prof. Louis Agassiz.’’ The locality is probably Monument station of the overland route, in the vicinity of Monument Rocks, in the valley of the Smoky Hill river. Other specimens were later obtained by Drs. J. H. Janeway and George Sternberg in the vicinity of Forts Hays and Wallace, and by Mr. Webb, of Topeka. The first to make any systematic collections of fossils from the Cretaceous of Kansas was the late Prof. B. F. Mudge, at that time professor of geology in the Kansas Agricultural Col- lege. I was a student at that time under him at this college, and well remember the ardent enthusiasm that he evinced in the discoveries he made. His first expedition, as I remember, was up the Republican and Solomon rivers into the wholly un- inhabited region, the home then of the bison and roving bands of marauding Indians. It was made shortly after the close of the college year in 1870. A chance acquaintance whom he met on the expedition, and who had recently come from Phila- delphia, urged him to send his specimens to a young and promising naturalist in that city who was especially interested in vertebrate fossils. Although Professor Cope was then less than thirty years of age he had already achieved renown among naturalists, and it was to him that Professor Mudge wrote ask- WILLISTON. The Upper Cretaceous. 29 PI ing if he would be kind enough to examine the fossils and tell him what they were. Mrs. Mudge has kindly placed in my hands a part of the cor- respondence that followed, and I give herewith a letter from Professor Cope, after he had received the first consignment of fossils. It will be observed that Professor Cope speaks of a specimen found near the vicinity of Sheridan, now McAllaster. This specimen, with others, was, I believe, taken later in the season, while on a brief trip for the purpose of examining the geology in the vicinity of Wallace. He had no team or outfit, but col- lected the specimens from the immediate vicinity of the station. PHILADELPHIA, October 28, 1870. Prof. B. F. Mudge: EsteEMED FRrenD— The fossils arrived in safety, thanks to the careful packing, and I have examined and determined most of them. The collection is a valuable one, and is an earnest of what can be done for the geolog- ical survey of Kansas under more favorable opportunities for collection. I found portions of six species of reptilia, all of the order Pythonomorpha, and five species of fishes, of the new family of Saurodontide. Of the reptiles, there were two distorted vertebre of a large Hlasmosaurus, the species not de- terminable; one yertebra of a large Liodon, probably L. proriger Cope. The limb bones and accompanying vertebre belong to a Polycotylus (Cope), but whether to P. latipennis is not yet determined. The three other reptiles are quite determinable, and new to science. I have called them Liodon mudgei, after the state geologist of Kansas, Liodon ictericus (two individuals sent), and Clidastes cineriarum —the last from the gray clay limestone near Sheridan. The fishes are quite interesting, and have enabled me to define a new family, and correct the work of Agassiz and Leidy. They belong to the genus Sauro- cephalus of Harlan, which has been heretofore regarded as a Sphyrenoid fish. I find that it has not the least relationship to that order, but forms a new and interesting group near the Ganoids and Characius. In order to determine it more fully, 1am exceedingly desirous of getting more complete remains, especially of the cranium and fins. The following is a list of the species: : Saurocephalus phlebotomus Cope, n. sp. S. prognathus Cope, sp. nov. S. napahaticus Cope, sp. nov. S. thaumas Cope, sp. nov. This last is the large fish eight feet long without head from 100 miles up the Solomon. Its remains were highly interesting and enabled me to determine many new points in the structure of the group. I found by means of it that the group has a vertebrated tail; also that its anal or caudal fin-ray is that which has always been referred to the Ptychodon genus of sharks by Professor Agassiz. The pectoral rays have just been described by Leidy as a new genus of catfish, Xiphactinus audax! Then there is a new genus of the same family, [chthyo- 30 University of Kansas Geological Survey. dectes ctenodon Cope, which is based on jaws and thirteen vertebre from the yellow chalk. I hope that this species also may at some future time be more fully developed. ; I hope these researches, so successfully commenced, may cover the whole ver- tebrate fauna of the strata. I have studied especially the mammals and birds, as well as the reptiles and fishes. If you desire any part or all of my manuscript for the annual report to the legislature, I will send it on; in the meantime it will appear in Silliman’s Journal and some abstracts here. I remain, with much regard, etc., Epwp. D. Cope. Late in the season of 1870, Professor Marsh, with an escort of United States soldiers, spent a short time on the upper part : of the Smoky Hill river collecting vertebrate fossils. The ma- terial then collected served for the description of a number of interesting types by Marsh. It included the first known speci- men of ‘‘Odontornithes,’’ a foot bone brought in with other material, but which was not discovered in the material until after other specimens had been obtained later. In June of the following year Marsh again visited the same region, with a larger party and a stronger escort of United States troops, and was rewarded by the discovery of the skeleton which forms the type of Hesperornis regalis Marsh, together with other material. In 1871 Prof. E. D. Cope visited the regions and made many valuable discoveries, besides giving important notes concern- ing the geology of the formation. ‘‘The geology of the re- gions marked by this formation (the Niobrara epoch) is quite simple. The following description of the section along the line of the Kansas Pacific railroad will probably apply to similar sections north and south of it. The formations referable to the Cretaceous period on this line are the Dakota, Benton and Nio- brara groups, or Nos. 1, 2, and 3, etc.’’ In 1872 Professor Mudge made another expedition into the Cretaceous for fossils. The party accompanying him consisted of Professor Merrill, of Washburn College, Professor Felker, of Michigan Agricultural College, Professor Warder, of the Indiana Geological Survey, and seven students of the Agricultural College. They explored northwestern Kansas, traveling over 900-miles. It was on this exposition that Professor Mudge found the remark- able specimen of Jchthyornis, from the North Fork of the Solo- WILLISTON. | The Upper Cretaceous. 31 mon, which furnished to the world the discovery of the then startling fact of birds with genuine teeth. Under the date of September 2 of that year, Professor Marsh wrote to him in- quiring about his summer collections in the Cretaceous, with the offer to ‘‘ determine any reptilian or bird remains without expense,’’ and stating that he would give him “‘ full credit ’’ for their discovery. Under date of September 25 he again wrote to him, acknowledging the receipt of a box of fossils, and stating that the ‘‘ hollow bones are part of a bird, and the two jaws be- long toasmallsaurian. The latter is peculiar, and I wish I had some of the yertebrze for comparison with other Kansas species.’’ The latter is the Colonosaurus mudget Marsh, which was after- wards found to belong with the bird specimen. In the autumn of 1872, Marsh, with a small party, made another expedition into the same region. ‘These were the only times that Marsh personally visited these regions, all of his col- lections being afterward obtained by parties employed by him. In 1873 Mudge again spent some time in the exploration of the Cretaceous beds in the more northern part of the state — the only region that was at all safe from marauding Indians. In 1874 Professor Mudge began systematic collections for Yale College, assisted by Mr. Henry Turner, of Clay Center. In July of that year his party was joined by Mr. (now Doctor) Harry A. Brous, of Manhattan, and myself, and explorations were continued into November along the Saline and Smoky Hill rivers. In 1875 explorations for Yale College were eontinued by Pro- fessor Mudge, assisted by Mr. Brous and myself, from March to October. In 1876 the party under charge of Professor Mudge consisted of Mr. Brous, Mr. E. W. Guild, who had been collecting the previous year independently, for Yale, Mr. G. P. Cooper, of To- peka, and myself. Work was continued until late in November. In 1877 the party (under charge of myself ) collecting for Yale College consisted of Mr. Guild, Mr. Cooper, and my brother, Mr. F. H. Williston. Meanwhile Mr. Charles Sternberg had collected by himself in 32 University of Kansas Geological Survey. these regions, during 1875, for Professor Cope. In 1877 Mr. Sternberg was in charge of a party for Professor Cope, com- posed of Mr. (now Dr.) Russel Hill, of Philadelphia, Mr. Wil- bur Brous and Mr. Knipe, of Manhattan. For several years following Mr. Guild collected for Yale College and Mr. Stern- berg made some collections for Harvard University. In 1878 Professors Mudge, Snow and Dyche (then a stu- dent) spent some time in Gove county collecting for the Uni- versity. It was on this expedition that Professor Snow obtained the specimen of Tylosaurus showing the skin. For a number of years prior to 1895 Mr. H. T. Martin col- lected for Yale College. In 1890 Prof. George Baur collected several weeks for Professor Zittel, of Munich. In 1889 and 1890 Judge E. P. West obtained many valuable specimens for the University of Kansas. In 1891 a party under my charge, composed of Mr. (now Professor) E. C. Case, Mr. (now Profes- sor) E. Slosson and Mr. Charles Sternberg spent about two months on the Smoky Hill river searching for specimens for the University of Kansas. Mr. Charles Sternberg, in the latter part of that year and in the following, made considerable collec- tions for Professor Zittel. In 1895 Messrs. H. T. Martin and T. R. Overton spent the season in making collections for the University of Kansas. During the past two years collections have been made by Mr. Martin and Doctor Mathews for the American Museum, of New York city. Some additional speci- mens of value have been obtained by purchase for the Univer- sity of Kansas from Mr. Sternberg, Mr. Martin, and others. This in brief represents the explorational work in the Nio- brara Cretaceous deposits to the present time. The few months of collecting done by Marsh and Cope was under ample protec- tion of soldiers. While yet the danger was fully as great or greater, the various other parties spent over thirty months in the same regions with no protection other than what their own rifles and revolvers afforded. Immigrants were massacred al- most within rifle shot of the parties at different times, but for- tunately no encounter was had by the explorers, though at times the danger was escaped almost marvelously. UNIV, GEOL . SURY. OF KANS. VIEW OF CHALK BLUFF IN RUSH COUNTY. Vou. IV. With nests of swallows, Petrochelidon lunifrons. 4—IV UNIV. GEOL. SURV. OF KANS. Wows Ie ~ IP ING CASTLE ROCK, NIOBRARA CHALK. Trego County. MIVHO VUVUAOIN ‘CJUNOD Aor) ‘Yoory WAN] | “SNVM JO ‘AYNS “IOHD “AIND “AI “I0A ‘IIT “Td UNIV. GEOL. SURV. OF KANS. Vou. IV. Pu. IV. FORT HAYS BEDS, NIOBRARA CRETACEOUS, Gove County, Smoky Hill River. 5—I1V PART II. BIRDS. By §. W. WILLISTON. Plates V-VIII. BIRDS. By 8S. W. WILLISTON. Remains of birds always have been and always will be the rarest of vertebrate fossils. From the habits of the great ma- jority of species, together with the lightness and buoyancy of their bodies in the water, it is very evident that, even where they are abundant, they will not often fall into such positions that they will be fossilized. Although, with our present evi- dence, they first made their appearance in geological history as far back as the Jurassic formation, scarcely two score of valid species have thus far been discovered from the Mesozoic, and all of those, with one or two exceptions, are from the Upper Creta- ceous formations. The famous Archeopteryx, from the Jurassic of Solenhofen, the earliest bird known, has long been renowned for its strange mingling of reptilian and avian characters. With the wings imperfectly developed, there were long reptilian fingers with claws, adapted for seizing and grasping. The jaws were pro- vided with well-developed teeth, and the tail was elongated as in reptiles, each individual vertebra provided with a pair of long feathers. The famous footprints of the Connecticut Triassic sandstone were, for a long time, supposed to have been made by birds. More recent discoveries of the remarkable reptiles known as Dinosaurs have shown that it was not only possible, but very probable, that all of them were made by these animals and none by birds. From the Lower Cretaceous no bird remains are yet known. From the Upper Cretaceous, aside from the footprints noticed below, the only remains yet known in America are from the Green Sand of New Jersey, the Niobrara Cretaceous of Kansas, (43) id University of Kansas Geological Survey. and the Fox Hills Cretaceous of Wyoming. Laopteryx, the sup- posed bird from the Jurassic of Wyoming, was founded upon very incomplete remains, and is, in all probability, not a bird, but a small Dinosaurian reptile. Twenty species of birds have been described from the Ameri- can Cretaceous, the larger number of which are from the Kan- sas Cretaceous. Nota few of these are based upon very slight © material, and it is not at all improbable that future fortunate discoveries will unite some of these and at the same time add new forms to the number already known. Bird remains, in Kansas, are, as elsewhere, among the rarest of the vertebrate fossils. One is likely to search weeks, and even months, without finding a single bone, even fragmentary. Among the thousands of specimens of vertebrates that have been collected in Kansas, not more than 175 of birds, of all kinds, have hitherto been discovered. BIRDS OF THE NIOBRARA CRETACEOUS. The first specimens of birds known from Kansas were ob- tained by the expedition of Professor Marsh in 1870. In the following year a much more complete specimen of a Hesperornis was obtained by another expedition in charge of Professor Marsh, and, in 1872, still other specimens. By far the most important specimen of these early years, if not the most important of all those succeeding, as well as the one from which the discovery of the dentition was made, was one discovered by the late Professor Mudge, and sent by him to Professor Marsh. It was found by him near Sugar Bowl Mound, in northwestern Kansas, in 1872, and was first de- scribed by Marsh in October of that year under the name Ich- thyornis dispar. An incident related to me by Professor Mudge in connection with this specimen is of interest. He had been sending his vertebrate fossils previously to Professor Cope for determina- tion. Learning through Professor Dana that Professor Marsh, who as a boy had been an acquaintance of Professor Mudge, was interested in these fossils, he changed the address upon the WILLISTON. | Birds. 45 box containing the bird specimen after he had made it ready to send to Professor Cope, and sent it instead to Professor Marsh. Had Professor Cope received the box, he would have been the first to make known to the world the discovery of ‘‘ Birds with Teeth.’? (See Addenda to Part I.) During the succeeding years, the large collections of birds from this state were made for Professor Marsh by Mudge, Brous, Cooper, Guild, F. H. Williston, and the writer. Other bird re- mains have been obtained by Sternberg and Martin. In the University of Kansas museum there are portions of some twelve or more birds, including one specimen of a Hesperornis, much the most complete and perfect of any hitherto discovered. They apparently do not represent any new species or new forms, though not all agreeing with those described by Marsh. In the present paper it is not worth while entering into any detailed description of these forms, inasmuch as the very com- plete and richly illustrated monograph of Professor Marsh” must remain indispensable to all those who wish to obtain more com- plete information. The following list includes all the known species of birds from the Kansas Cretaceous, based upon fossil remains : RATIT A — Odontolee. P Hesperornis. Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., 111, 56, Jan., 1872. HI. vegalis Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., 111, 56, 1872. This species is the best known and the most common of all the species from the Kansas Cretaceous. Practically the complete skeleton is known. See pl. vi. | HI, crassipes Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci,, x1, 509, June, 1876 (Lestornis). This species was discovered by Mr. G. P. Cooper, and col- lected by the present writer from the yellow chalk of Plum creek, in Gove county, Kansas. It is peculiarly characterized by the presence of a rugosity on the pos- terior outer side of the tarso-metatarsal, above its mid- _ 26, Odontornithes; a Monograph of the Extinct Toothed Birds of North America. By Oth- nie] Charles Marsh. New Haven and Washington, 1880, 46 University of Kansas Geological Survey. dle, as though foraspur. The specimen, which comprises a considerable portion of the skeleton, was first described as the type of the genus Lestornis. Marsh, later, thought that the roughening might be a sexual character. Hi. gracilis Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., x1, 510, 1876. This species, of smaller size than the preceding, is known from the nearly complete skeleton, according to Marsh, but has never been adequately described. Baptornis. Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., xiv, 86, July, 1877. B. advenus Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., |. ¢., 1877. The type specimen, upon which this species and genus were based, was collected by a member of the writer’s party in the yellow chalk. The generic difference is chiefly based upon the small size of the outer metatarsal. CARINAT 4 — Odontotorme. Ichthyornis. Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., Iv, 344, Oct., 1872. I. dispar Marsh, 1. ¢c., 1872. The type specimen of this species was discovered, as already explained, by Mudge in 1872. Itis, perhaps, the most complete specimen of this group that has ever been found, and the first of any known birds that showed the pres- ence of teeth in the jaws. The teeth were first described as belonging to a reptile, by Marsh, in the Amer. Journ. Sci. for November, 1872, under the name Colonosaurus mudget. The species is at present known from nearly the complete skeleton. I. agilis Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., v, 230, 1873 (Graculavus). This species was based on very imperfect material discoy- ered by Marsh in 1872, and has never yet been adequately described or figured, so that its determination, save by comparison with the type, will be more or less doubtful. WILLISTON. | Birds. AT I, anceps Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., 111, 364, May, 1872 (Graculavus). The type specimen, from the North Fork of the Smoky Hill river, has never been figured. I. tener Marsh, Odontornithes, p. 198, 1880, pl. xxx, f. 8. Discovered by Mr. E. W. Guild, on the Smoky Hill river, in 1879. I. validus Marsh, Odontornithes, p. 198, ff. 11, 14. Discovered by myself on the Solomon river, in 1877. I. victor Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., x1, 511, June, 1876. The type specimen was discovered by Dr. H. A. Brous on the Smoky Hill river. Forty other specimens are re- ferred by the author to the same species. Apatornis. Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., v, 162, Feb. 1872. A, celer Marsh, Amer. Journ. Sci., v, 74, Jan. 1872 (Ichthyornis). The type specimen was discovered by Marsh in 1872. A more perfect specimen was found later by my brother, Vir Ee Walliston?.im Siac The systematic position of the toothed birds from Kansas is by no means yet settled. All ornithologists are, however, agreed that they do not form a separate group, and the name Odontornithes is in consequence generally abandoned. The value of the teeth is subordinate; they do not in themselves justify a separate subclass. Hesperornis regalis, the best-known species of the genus, was a bird measuring about six feet from point of bill to the tip of the feet when outstretched, or standing about three feet high. It was an aquatic bird, covered with soft feathers, wholly wing- less, the rudimentary wing bones doubtless being inclosed under the skin, and not at all effective in locomotion. The legs were strong and moderately long; the neck long and flexible. The bill was long, and was provided with small but effective conical teeth set in the jaw firmly. Those of the upper jaws were few in number and set in the back part, while those of the mandibles 48 University of Kansas Geological Survey. formed a complete series. The jaws were united in front by cartilage only, permitting considerable mobility, which was doubtless very serviceable in swallowing their prey, which must have consisted of fishes caught by diving. The bones of the body were solid throughout, not hollow, as in almost all living birds. The sternum had no keel, as in the flying birds and those descended from flying birds, but was as in the ostrich. The vertebre and skeleton, aside from the teeth, were not un- like those of modern birds, and, were the skull yet unknown, would be unhesitatingly referred to the subclass to which the ostrich, cassowary and rhea belong. A specimen now in the University museum, collected by Mr. H. T. Martin recently, is remarkable in showing the scuta of the tarso-metatarsal region, together with the feathers. A photographic reproduction of this part of the specimen is shown in pl. vir. I have sketched in the tarso-metatarsal bone, to show its position. Indications of feathers are also seen on the back portion of the head, and everywhere they appear to be more plumulaceous than the or- dinary type of feathers. In pl. vi is shown the restoration of Hesperornis regalis, after Marsh, together with figures of the jaws and of the teeth (pl. vit). It may be added that the birds were of a low degree of intelligence, as proven by the small size of the brain. Ichthyornis was as different from Hesperornis as a dove is from an ostrich. While in Hesperornis the wings were rudimentary and the breast-bone without a keel, in Jchthyorinis the wings were large and powerful and the keel well developed. All the members of this group were small, none perhaps much larger than a dove. The bones were hollow, as in most recent birds. The jaws had teeth, like those of Hesperornis, and the birds doubtless fed upon fishes or other small animals. The most peculiar character was, however, the structure of the vertebre. In all recent birds, as also in Hesperornis, the vertebre have a peculiar articulation, which permitted ample flexure in all di- rections. The articulation is what is called reciprocal mo- tion, or the saddle-shaped articulation, found, for instance, to a moderate extent in the vertebre of the human neck. In this WILLISTON. | Birds. 49 articulation the end of the centrum has the surface concave in one direction and convex in the other, corresponding to similar but reversed concavity and convexity in the adjacent surface of the contiguous vertebre. In Ichthyornis this peculiarity was almost wholly wanting, the two ends of the centrum being nearly alike and gently concave in the middle. This concavity is not nearly so deep as in fish vertebre, but is nevertheless of that type, which suggested the generic name from ichthyos, fish, and ornis, bird. In other respects Ichthyornis did not differ notably from the common flying birds of the present time. Among recent birds the tern seems to approach Ichthyornis most closely, due, doubtless, to similar modes of life. In pl. vir will be seen the vertebre and jaws of Ichthyornis, after Marsh. Because Hesperornis was a swimming bird and Ichthyornis a bird of powerful flight, skimming over the waters after the manner of the petrel, they have been more subject to fossiliza- tion than the strictly land-inhabiting birds were. Certainly there were many other species and genera of birds in existence at the time when these lived, since the great difference between the two forms could not have been attained without the devel- opment of many other forms. Of these, however, we have very few or no remains. Whether all birds contemporary with them were toothed or not it is impossible to say, but the probability is that they were. In pl. v a restoration of Hesperornis as in life is shown, as drawn by Mr. Prentice, under my direction. Of course the coloration is largely conjectural; it is that indicated by living birds of similar habits. 50 University of Kansas Geological Survey. BIRD TRACKS FROM THE DAKOTA CRETACEOUS. The Dakota Cretaceous in Kansas has yielded many impres- sions of leaves, but no vertebrate remains of any kind have so far been discovered either in Kansas or elsewhere, save im- pressions or casts. A record of footprints from this formation was first made by Prof. B. F. Mudge, in 1866, and a later one by Prof. F. H. Snow. I give below the descriptions by both of these writers, in completion of the knowledge of this group of vertebrates from Kansas. The following is by Professor Mudge :* ‘‘In returning recently from an examination of the salt de- posits of the Republican valley, we obtained a slab of sand- stone, 7 situ, containing four impressions, and, at least, two varieties of fossil footmarks (Ornithicnites). Although the number is small, and the prints not in the best state of pres- eryation, yet the specimens are valuable as showing a new point in the distribution of such fossils. ‘‘The locality at which the tracks were found is on the south- westerly bank of the Republican river, about fifty miles from the mouth. The sandstone here rises from below the bed of the river in a bluff over 125 feet. The stratification is not very regular; in many cases showing an unconformable deposit, such as is frequently seen where sand is deposited in shoal water by varying currents. . . . The slab containing the tracks was found near the highest point of the bluff, on a projection within a hundred yards of the river. It is much weathered, which in- jures the distinctness of the footmarks. ‘‘Sprecies 1. Track number C. Divarication of the lateral toes, 65°; of the inner and middle toes, 35°; of the middle and outer toes, 35°; length of the inner toe, 3.75 inches; of the middle toe, 5.1; of the outer toe, 3.75; of the foot, 5.5; dis- tance between the tips of the lateral toes, 4.1; projection of the middle toe beyond the others, 2.1. 27. Discovery of Fossil Footmarks in the Liassic (?) Formation in Kansas, Amer. Journ. Sci. XLI, 174, 1866. WILLISTON. | -’ Birds. - 51 ‘“‘Species 2. Track number A. Divarication of the lateral toes, 65°; of the inner and middle toes, 35°; of the middle and outer toes, 35°; length of the inner toe, 2.6 inches; of the middle toe, 3.5; of the outer toe, 3.1; of the foot, 3.75; dis- tance between the tips of the lateral toes, 3.2; between the inner and middle toes, 3.1; between the middle and outer toes, 2.2; projection of the middle toe beyond the others, 1.2 inches. ‘¢ Track number B appears to be the left foot of the bird which made number A, as the angle and length of the toes are the same ; but the position of the inner toe standing so far back of the others throws some doubt upon it. Number D may be the track of still another species, or it may belong to species 1; it is so indistinct that we cannot decide upon this point.’’ The letters refer to the four different impressions upon the slab. Later Mudge was led to believe that these prints were the result of Indian work. In the Transactions of the Kansas Academy for 1888, p. 3, Prof. F. H. Snow described more fully and figured a footprint from the Dakota as follows :* ‘‘ During the past two years Mr. E. P. West has been assist- ing the writer in the collection of geological specimens for the University cabinets. In the month of August, 1885, he was so fortunate as to discover, near Thompson’s creek, in Ellsworth county, Kansas, a single well-marked impression, which I be- lieve to be a genuine bird track. The piece of rock containing the impression was picked out from a pile of material which had been removed from a well excavation forty-four feet in depth. This well was sunk in the Dakota sandstone, and the geological horizon of the bird track is about 200 feet below the upper level of the Dakota rocks. The horizon of the bird track appears to be identical with that of a fine series of dicotyled- onous leayes obtained on Thompson’s creek, at a distance of about a mile and a half from the well. ‘“The impression appears to have been made by the right foot of some bird with elevated hind toe just reaching the ground at its extremity, as in the modern snipes and other wading 28, On the Discovery of a Fossil Bird Track in the Dakota Sandstone. 52 University of Kansas Geological Survey. _ AVZEESE &.CO.,CHI, Fic. 2 BIRD TRACK FROM DAKOTA SANDSTONE. WILLISTON. | Birds. | 53 birds, or in the family of sea-gulls and terns. That the track is probably that of the right foot, rather than the left, is indi- cated by the wider separation of the outer toe from the middle toe, resulting from the greater versatility of the outer toe as compared with the inner toe, a character illustrated in many families of existing birds, and carried to an extreme in the cuckoos and the woodpeckers, in which the outer anterior toe is entirely reversed in its direction and becomes a backward- pointing member.’’ (See opposite page.) ‘*Tt will be seen, from the accompanying cut, that our bird track exhibits the imprint of all four of the toes. The outer anterior toe is represented for fully two-thirds of its length. The middle and inner anterior toes are entirely impressed, even to the claws at their extremities—the claw being very distinctly marked upon the middle toe. The ball of the foot has left a very deep impression, and the posterior toe has made an unmis- takable imprint upon the sand similar to those made at the present time by birds whose hind toes just reach the ground. That this impression is avian in character, rather than reptilian, is evident from the imprint of the hind toe, for no dinosaur or other reptile, either recent or extinct, is known to have a back- wardly directed toe. . . . The small size of our Dakota track is a confirmatory indication of its avian character. It measures only two inches from anterior middle claw to claw of posterior toe, being a little larger than the foot of Prof. O. C. Marsh’s Ichthyornis victor as restored by him in his famous monograph of the Odontornithes.’’ The slab on which were the prints described by Mudge was left at the Agricultural College. In the general neglect of Mudge’s collection, after his connection with the institution ceased, the specimen has been lost. The specimen described by Snow is now preserved in the University of Kansas museum. The description and figure given by Snow describe the specimen sufficiently well. I agree with him in his conclusions. The print is in all probability that of a bird. EXPLANATION OF PLATES. PLATE V.— Life restoration of Hesperornis regalis Marsh. Drawn by Sydney Prentice. PLATE VI.—Skeleton of Hesperornis regalis Marsh. After Marsh. PLATE VII.—Figs. 1, 2, jaws of Jchthyornis dispar Marsh, twice natural size; 3, 4, cervical vertebra of same, twice natural size; 5,6, mandible of Hes- perornis regalis Marsh, half natural size; 7, 8, vertebra of same, natural size; 9, tooth of same, much enlarged. All after Marsh. PLATE VIII.— Photograph of scutes and feather impressions of the tarsal re- gion of Hesperornis species, from a specimen in the University of Kansas museum. Enlarged. UNIY. GEOL. SURY. OF KANS. NOR IAG let Wo CEL i Moy Yo OLE LE nae ? ae. O0 LAA, RESTORATION OF HHESPHRORNIS REGALIS MARSH. About one-fourteenth life size. 6—IVv Y oo ee UNIV. GEOL. SURY. OF KANS. Fi ST a 3 =" —Ss Vou. IV SKELETON OF HESPHERORNIS REGALIS. About one-eighth life size. PL. UNIV. GEOL. SURV. OF KANS. VOl. Vee Bt. Vile HESPERORNIS, ICHTHYORNIS. Pu. VIII. Vou. IV. OF KANS, GEOL. SURV. UNIV. TARSAL SCUTES AND FEATHERS OF HHESPHRORNIS. Enlarged one-fourth. PART III. DINOSAURS. By S. W. WILLISTON. Plate IX. a | = <4 4 DINOSAURS. By 8. W. WILLISTON. THE group of Dinosaurs comprises the largest land animals that have ever existed, in some cases reaching such enormous proportions as to be almost incredible. In size and structure they are exceedingly diverse, and of course they varied also greatly in their habits. The smallest were perhaps not much larger than a cat, while the largest reached a length of over sixty feet and a height of fifteen or sixteen Unlike the rep- tiles of the present day, none were crawling animals; they walked erect, either on two feet, after the manner of a kanga- roo, which they resembled not a little in form, or upon all four feet, as a quadruped. In all cases, however, the front legs were smaller than the hind ones, and, in the bipedal kinds were as small in proportion tothe hind ones as those of a kangaroo are. It is not known what kind of a skin they possessed, but in all probability it was bare, without scales or bony plates, save ina few forms where the body was covered in a large part, perhaps wholly, by bony plates and spines. While the Dinosaurs were in many respects the most specialized of the reptiles, of a higher order of structure than any now living, they were, for the most part, animals of a low order of intelligence. In fact, in some of the very largest forms the brain was very slightly developed, an animal of twenty tons weight or more having a brain no larger than one’s double fist. Some of the smaller species were ex- ceedingly delicate in structure, having bones more hollow and light than is the case with any birds known. On the other hand, many of the larger forms were massive and heavy, with thick, solid, heavy bones. Such may have been amphibious in habit, living in marshes, lakes, and rivers, and feeding upon the succulent aquatic vegetation. They were, however, in all cases strictly land animals, never having the limbs in the least (67) 68 University of Kansas Geological Survey. adapted for swimming. In some there are extraordinary de- velopments of horns, plates and spines upon the body and head. A skull of one immense kind, now represented in the Univer- sity museum, had a pair of horns over three feet in length on the top of the head, and another a foot long over the nose. This skull is seven feet in length, about five feet in width, and as many in height. The thigh bone of the largest species of Dinosaurs, from Wyoming, was over six feet in length, and weighed, as petrified, over 1100 pounds. The bipedal forms were usually of lighter structure, and must have been quicker and more fleet in their movements, probably progressing by long strides and leaps, and it is not at all improbable that some of the smallest, hollow-boned kinds were arboreal in their habits, iving among the branches of trees, or perhaps about cliffs and promontories. Many of the bipedal forms, both large and small, were carnivorous in habit, having long, sharp and cutting teeth, which must have been exceedingly formidable weapons. The very largest were herbivorous, as were also many of the smaller ones. The Dinosaurs ranged in time from the Triassic to the close of the Cretaceous, some of the most remarkable and extraor- dinary types occurring in the Laramie Cretaceous. In geo- graphical distribution they seem to have occurred over the entire earth, with the possible exception of Australia, where none have yet been found. Being land animals, their remains must of course occur with great rarity in marine formations, and, inasmuch as nearly all of the Kansas Cretaceous deposits are marine, they can never be expected to be found here in numbers. In fact, but one single specimen has ever been found in the state, so far as | am aware, though the animals must have lived here about the shores of the Cretaceous seas in great abundance. In their classification there is not a unanimity of opinion among paleontologists. Many hold the opinion that they con- stitute a distinct subclass of reptiles, equivalent in the impor- tance of their characters to all the other reptiles combined. Be this as it may, they are by general consent classed in three WILLISTON. | Dinosaurs. 69 distinct groups: the Sauropoda, Theropoda and Predentata of Marsh. Other names may be eventually chosen in the place of these. The Theropoda comprise bipedal carnivorous forms of more slender constructions and hollow bones, and were among the earliest of the known Dinosaurs. The Sauropoda were the most massive, with the fore legs only a little smaller than the hind ones, and were quadrupedal in habit. They were all her- bivorous and probably amphibious. Their limb bones were solid. The Predentata were herbivorous in habit, and either bipedal with hollow bones or more or less quadrupedal and the bones solid. They included three subdivisions: The Stego- sauria, with solid bones and small fore limbs, but not walking erect, the body covered with large bony plates and spines; the Ceratopsia, with solid limb bones and extensive horns on the head, their habit quadrupedal; and the Ornithopoda, animals resembling in form the Theropoda, but herbivorous, with solid or hollow bones, and without dermal armor. The last of these subdivisions includes the only known form from Kansas. The single Dinosaur specimen known from Kansas was discovered by Professor Marsh in 1872, in the Nio- brara chalk” of the Smoky Hill river, and named Hadrosaurus agilis by him.” Allied kinds were discovered later in the Lara- mie Cretaceous by Mr. J. B. Hatcher, and described by Marsh under the generic name of Claosaurus, which he proposed for the Kansas species in 1890.” ; The characters he gave for the genus are as follows: ‘‘ Pre- maxillaries edentulous ; teeth in several rows, but a single row only in use; cervical vertabrze opishthocelian; limb bones solid; fore limbs small; sternal bone parial; post pubis incom- plete; sacral vertebree, nine; femur longer than tibia; feet un- gulate ; three functional digits in manus and pes.’’” 29. It is not impossible that the horizon was Fort Pierre, since the distinction between Pierre and Niobrara was not known to Marsh. 30. American Journ. Sci., April, 1872. 31. American Journ, Sci. 32, Sixteenth Ann. Rep. U.S.G.S., 244. 70 University of Kansas Geological Survey. In pl. rx is given a reproduction of Claosaurus annectans Marsh, a Wyoming species, but so closely allied to C. agilis that it will show sufficiently well the form and structure of the Kansas spe- cies. Itis after Marsh. UNIV. GEOL. SURV. OF KANS. Vou. IV. Pu. IX. CLAOSAURUS ANNECTANS MARSH. PART IV. CROCODILES. By S. W. WILLISTON. CROCODILES. By S. W. WILLISTON. Tue Crocodiles, inclusive of the Gavials and Alligators, are the highest type of reptilian life now existent upon the earth. It is almost impossible to state the number of species now living, since authors are not agreed as to what the valid species are, but they are found in nearly all the tropical and subtropical regions of the earth. They include three distinct types or groups: the Crocodiles, Alligators, Gavials or Gharials. The last group is confined at the present time exclusively to the rivers © of the interior of India, in the hottest regions. They are dis- tinctly more aquatic in their nature than are the other forms, and are especially characterized by the great elongation and slen- derness of their snout, armed with many sharp teeth. The Crocodiles are much more extensive in their range, occur- ring in India, Africa, Australia, and the tropical parts of Amer- ica. The head is broad and flat, the jaws are shorter and rounded in front, and the powerful teeth are irregularin size. The Alliga- tors are much more nearly like the Crocodiles than the Gavials. Their head is broad and flat, as in the Crocodiles. They may be distinguished by the large tooth of the lower jaw, sometimes called the ‘‘canine.’’ It is received into a pit or socket on the upper jaw, and is not visible when the mouth is closed, while in the Crocodiles it passes in a groove on the outside and is visible when the mouth is closed. The teeth of the Alligator are received on the inner side of the upper ones instead of between them, as in the Crocodile. The Alligators, with one exception, which oc- curs in China, are confined to the southern part of North Amer- ica and the northern part of South America. Both the Crocodiles and Alligators are more amphibious in habit than are the Gavials, and their teeth are better adapted (75) 76 University of Kansas Geological Survey for the seizure of mammals than the slippery fishes that the Gayials seek. The earliest fossil Crocodiles are found in rocks of Triassic age in both Europe and North America. These early types, however, are of a much more generalized kind than are the modern ones. These Triassic forms are more like the Gavial in shape, but the vertebre are not concavo-convex as in the modern, but biconcave, and this peculiarity of the vertebre continues into the Cretaceous and nearly through it, when the modern type of vertebre takes their place. The order is divided into three different suborders, based upon the structure of the head, especially the palatine bones and the nasal openings and the structure of the vertebre. The first, Parasuchia, includes the earliest types, such as Belodon, and had amphicceelian vertebre. The second, the Mesosuchia, have also biconcave vertebre, and ineluded the Jurassic and most of the Cretaceous forms. The third, the Eusuchia, with proccelian vertebra, is the modern type. But two crocodilians have been described from Kansas, both Mesosuchian, with a long, gavial-like head. Both are known only from very scanty materials, so that it is difficult to say much about them. The older one was described—but not named —by me from the Lower Cretaceous of Clark county as follows :* ‘‘A single vertebra, wanting the neural arch, but otherwise well preserved, I refer somewhat doubtfully to Hyposaurus or a closely allied form. It has the articular surfaces nearly flat, with the rims sharp; the body is gently concave on the sides and below, from in front back, and with striwe near each rim for about half an inch. The surface elsewhere is smooth and even, without venous foramina. A transverse section through the middle would give the greater part of an elliptical figure, with the lower side somewhat flattened. Only the base of the pedicels is present, and there is no indication of a sutural union. Springing from them, or possibly from the body itself produced above to meet the arch, there is, on each side, a stout transverse 33. Kansas Univ. Quart., IT, p. 3, pl. 1, ff. 4, 5. WILLISTON. | Crocodiles. lel process, the base only of which is present, but which appears to be short. In shape and appearance the centrum agrees well with one of Hyposaurus rogersii, from New Jersey, except in its more cylindrical shape. Its measurements are as follows: ene EHVOMCONECIIE ye eon a ee toe 40mm. Transverse diameter of articulating face........ SOM: Vertical diameter of same face................- aolnes ‘«'The upper end of a femur (f. 3) found in the same region, and from near the Red Beds, appears to belong to the same kind of an animal as does the vertebra described above. The shape is not unlike that of a human femur, with the trochanters evi- dently small and placed much below the level of the head. The neck is stout, the head gently convex, with an angular border. The shaft below the trochanters is somewhat flattened from be- 78 University of Kansas Geological Survey. fore back, but becomes more transverse below. The shaft is hollow, with firm walls, not more than one third of an inch in thickness. The portion preserved measures 210™™’’ From the Upper Cretaceous of Kansas there has been but a single species of Crocodile described, and I am not aware that there has ever been any other bones of these animals discovered than the single vertebra which served as the type of this species. Its horizon is the Benton, and the description by Cope is as follows: Hyposaurus vebbii Cope. Proceedings of the Amer. Phil. Soe , 1872, p. 310. ‘‘An anterior cervical vertebra presents the following charac- teristics. It is that one in which the parapophysis occupies a position opposite the lower third of the vertical diameter. Its centrum is stout in form; the articular faces but little concave ; the posterior a little more so than the anterior. The anterior is almost regularly hexagonal; the posterior subround, a little deeper than wide. The inferior surface possesses a strong, obtuse, median carina, which disappears in front of the pos- terior margin. Anteriorly, it terminates in a short, obtuse hypapophysis. The suture of the neural arch is very coarse. Surface of the bone smooth. Measurements. henge thoi aihercentrum-cs =e eee eee eee eee eee eee 37mm. Diameter of the centrum anteriorly: Wernticalyy isc ate eee eC ee Sn ae ae 32) 6 TOTIZOn tals eee Tyce tain aren ea cues Sis Diameter of the centrum posteriorly: Wierticallsapecaed tee tucie ins se tokc eon CRE EEC By AG Horizontal: isa yeusteuka eC eee ee ee eee Bec Length of the surface of the parapophysis............. Igy ‘“‘As compared with the H. rogersii, of the New Jersey Cre- taceous, this vertebra is shorter and stouter, and the extremi- ties less concave; the suture for the neural spine is much coarser. ‘This Crocodile was discovered in a bluish stratum, encoun- tered in digging a well in Brookville, Kan.’’ PART V. MOSASAURS. By S. W. WILLISTON. Plates X-LXXII. MOSASAURS. By S. W. WILLISTON. HISTORICAL. Ir is now more than a century since the first specimen of the singular group of reptiles known as the Mosasaurs was dis- covered, and only at the present time has our knowledge of them become at all complete. No group of extinct reptiles has been more abundantly represented as fossils, unless it be the Dinosaurs, and in no group have more skeletons and parts of skeletons been brought to light in the museums. Kansas, par excellence, has been the great collecting ground of the world for these reptiles. Since first a specimen was discovered by Doctor Turner, of Fort Wallace, in 1868, and taken east by Leconte, to be shortly afterwards described by Cope, many hun- dreds, yes thousands, of these animals have been collected. Doctors Janeway and Sternberg, at Hays and Wallace, Professors Marsh and Cope, in field expeditions, Professors Mudge and Snow, H. A. Brous, George Cooper, Charles Sternberg, E. P. West, E. W. Guild, H. T. Martin, Professor Baur, E. C. Case and the writer have at different times collected for institutions of America and Europe. A thousand or more specimens are now in the Yale museum, collected at an expense of many thousand dollars, several hundred are in the University of Kansas, and other institutions of America, and others in lesser number are in the museums of Munich and of Great Britain. Scattered publications, based often upon fragmentary material, make it difficult to obtain any connected knowledge of what the forms are in Kansas. The present work is an endeavor to bring together clearly and distinctly all the important facts about the Mosasaurs of Kansas. The work has been the result of much careful study 8—IV (83 ) 84 University of Kansas Geological Survey. of the rich material now in the University of Kansas — material that is sufficient to elucidate nearly all that is to be learned about the Kansas genera and species. Little or nothing has been taken at second hand from other writers, so far as the Kansas Mosasaurs are concerned, and for nearly every state- ment herein contained the present writer is alone responsible. The general reader who does not care to go through the neces- sary mass of descriptive matter is referred to the concluding chapter, on the ‘‘ Restorations of the Kansas Mosasaurs.’’ The first specimen of Mosasaurs of which we have historical knowledge was discovered by Doctor Hoffman, a surgeon of Maestricht, in 1780, and has been the subject of numerous de- scriptions and discussions by some of the most famous natural- ists of the world. Its discovery, and the subsequent destination of the fossil, is the subject of the following account by M. Faujas-Saint-Fond, in his ‘‘Natural History of St. Peter’s Mount’’: ‘Jn one of the galleries or subterraneous quarries of St. Pe- ter’s Mount, at Maestricht, at the distance of about 500 paces from the principal entrance, and at ninety feet below the sur- face, the quarrymen exposed part of the skull of a large animal imbedded in the stone. They stopped their labors to give notice to Doctor Hoffman, a surgeon at Maestricht, who had for some years been collecting fossils from the quarries, and who had liberally remunerated the laborers for them. Doctor Hoffman, observing the specimen to be the most important that had yet been discovered, took every precaution to secure it entire. After having succeeded in removing a large block of stone containing it, and reducing the mass to a proper condition, it was trans- ported to his home in triumph. But this great prize in natural history, which had given Doctor Hoffman so much pleasure, now became the source of chagrin. A canon of Maestricht, who owned the ground beneath which was the quarry whence the skull was obtained, when the fame of the specimen reached him, laid claim to it under certain feudal rights and applied to law for its recovery. Doctor Hoffman resisted, and the matter becoming serious, the chapter of canons came to the support of WILLISTON. | Mosasaurs. 85 their reverend brother, and Doctor Hoffman not only lost the specimen but was obliged to pay the costs of the lawsuit. The canon, leaving all feelings of remorse to the judges for their iniquitous decision, became the happy and contented possessor of this unique example of its kind. ‘‘ But justice, though slow, arrives at last. The specimen was destined again to change its place and possessor. In 1795 the troops of the French republic, having repulsed the. Aus- trians, laid siege to Maestricht and bombarded Fort St. Peter. The country house of the canon, in which the skull was kept, was near the fort, and the general, being informed of the cir- cumstance, gave orders that the artillerists should avoid that house. The canon, suspecting the object of this attention, had the skull removed and concealed in a place of safety in the city. After the French took possession of the latter, Freicine, the rep- resentative of the people, promised a reward of 600 bottles of wine for its discovery. The promise had its effect, for the next day a dozen grenadiers brought the specimen in triumph to the house of the representative, and it was subsequently conveyed to the museum of Paris.’’ It is said that after peace was established the canon was re- imbursed for the specimen. But it still remains in Paris. This specimen was described and figured by Cuvier in 1808, and the generic name, Mosasaurus, was given to it by Conybeare in 1822; the name being derived from the river Meuse ( Latin, Mosa),near which it was found, and saurus, a reptile. In 1843 a specimen previously discovered by Major O’Fallon, an Indian agent, at the Great Bend of the Missouri, who had it taken to his home in St. Louis and placed in his garden, was most carefully and fully described by Dr. August Goldfuss,* and admirably figured. This description and its accompanying plates were most strangely overlooked or neglected by later authors. The parietal and jugal arches, the pterygoids and vo- mers, the position of the quadrate and the presence of sclerotic plates, all were clearly described or figured. Nevertheless, they 34. Der Schaedelbau des Mosasaurus, Act. Acad. Caes. Leop. Carol. Nat. Cur., xx1, 1843. 86 University of Kansas Geological Survey. were all later announced as new discoveries. With the excep- tion of some brief and unimportant papers on the group by Morton and Leidy, the next most important contributions to the, knowledge of the Mosasaurs are due to the late Professor Cope. Aside from a number of short papers, his chief contri- butions will be found in his ‘‘ Synopsis of the Extinct Batrachia, etc.,’’ published in 1870, and his volume on the ‘‘ Cretaceous Ver- tebrata of the West,’’ published in 1875. In this last work he enumerates more than fifty species of the group from America. Meanwhile Professor Marsh had described a number of forms and published a number of discoveries concerning the anatomy of these animals, many of which, however, were rediscoveries of Goldfuss. These papers by Marsh will be found in the American Journal of Science. To him is due the discovery of the stapes, columella, transverse and hyoid, and the presence of the hind limbs, which had already been indicated by Gold- fuss. Since 1882, Dollo has very materially increased our knowledge of this group, and has established the following new genera in numerous papers: Plioplatecarpus, Hainosaurus, Prog- nathosaurus, and Phosphorosaurus. In 1892 Baur published a complete and minute description of the skull of Platecarpus, illus- trated by detailed drawings of the different parts, and Williston and Case gave for the first time a description of the vertebral column and more precise knowledge of the extremities and the general form of the Mosasaurs. Later papers by Williston have added to the knowledge of the Kansas forms, and the first cor- rect restoration of any member of this group was given by him. In 1894 was published a valuable illustrated paper on the Kan- sas Mosasaurs, by Merriam, in which several supposed new forms were briefly described and a number of new details given of the different genera, with more complete generic differences than had hitherto been published. Other papers by Gervais, Gaudry and Owen complete the list of the more important ones on this group of reptiles. WILLISTON. | Mosasaurs. 87 RANGE AND DISTRIBUTION. The Mosasaurs are at present known from four remote re- gions of the word—WNorth and South America, Europe, and New Zealand. Doubtless they lived over the greater part of the earth, and may be expected wherever marine Upper Creta- ceous deposits occur. Their geological range is confined exclu- sively to the Upper Cretaceous, from the time corresponding to the upper part of the Dakota to that of the lower part of the Laramie, or from the Upper Cenomanian to the Lower Danian. The correlation of the American Cretaceous deposits with those of Europe, or even with each other, is by no means exact, or even approximately exact. Nevertheless the equivalency of the different strata and epochs is sufficiently well determined to admit of approximate results. The oldest Mosasaurs are apparently those described by Hector from New Zealand, which he referred to the genera Liodon and Taniwhasaurus Hector.” The genus Liodon Owen, Dollo has recently shown to be a synonym of Mosasaurus.* Whether or not Hector’s species is congeneric with those placed under Liodon by Cope is not certain, though it is evident that it is closely allied. Taniwhasaurus is clearly of the Platecarpus type, and may possibly belong to that genus. The most recent form is the historical Mosasaurus giganteus Soemmering (M. camperi, M. hoffmani), from the Maestricht beds in the Lower Danian. These three forms, Tylosaurus, Platecarpus, and Mosasaurus, represent three distinct and diverg- ent types, which I have called the Tylosaurine, Platecarpine, and Mosasaurine, corresponding to the megarhynchous, micro- rhynchous and mesorhynchous types of Dollo.” The Tylosaurine begin with Lnodon (Tylosaurus ?) hawmur- iensis Hector in the Cenomanian of New Zealand, and continue to the Upper Senonian of Belgium as found in the genus Haino- saurus Dollo, from the brown phosphatic chalk of Mesvin ae On the Fossil Reptilia of New Zealand, Trans. and Proc. New Zealand Institute, v1, 338, 36. Bulletin Soc. Belg, Geol., vir, 79, 1892. 37. Mem. Soc. Belg. de Geol., rv, 163, 1890. 88 University of Kansas Geological Survey. Cipley. In the interior of North America the type, so far as known, begins near the lower part of the Niobrara and termi- nates at its close or in the beginning of the Fort Pierre; that is, to use the European time periods, with the close of the Turo- nian or the beginning of the Senonian. Forms ascribed to this genus, the Liodon of Cope, are from the Lower Greensand or Lower Marl of New Jersey, but their positive identification is yet uncertain, if not doubtful, since the only characteristic parts, the rostrum, quadrate, and limb bones, have never yet been found. There is nothing improbable in its occurrence in these beds, but hitherto nothing decisively characteristic of Tylosaurus has been found there. The genus Hainosaurus is ‘clearly of the Tylosaurus type. In fact, the two genera are so nearly related that decisive distinctional characters are not yet forthcoming, unless they be found in the paddles. The Platecarpinse have a very similar distribution. Begin- ning in the Cenomanian of New Zealand, in Taniwhasaurus, if the deposits of New Zealand are really contemporaneous with this epoch in Europe, they terminate in the closely allied Plio- platecarpus Dollo from the Lower Maestrichtian of Belgium. In North America the species upon which the genus Platecarpus has been chiefly based are known nowhere outside of Kansas and Colorado, and are here restricted exclusively to the Nio- brara. The type species of this genus, P. tympaniticus Cope, is from Mississippi, and is in all probability congeneric with the Kansas species, but this has not yet been satisfactorily proven, though it certainly belongs in the Platecarpine. From the Fort Pierre only one species can be referred to this group, and this with doubt. Brachysawrus described by myself may belong here, but I believe that its affinities are more close with the Mosasaurine. It is certainly closely related to Prog- nathosaurus Dollo,* from the Upper Senonian of Belgium, and I should have had little hesitancy in identifying it with that genus had not Dollo stated that the chevrons are free in Progna- thosaurus.” 38. Mem. Soc. Belg. de Geol., 1, 193, 1889. 39. Mem. Soc. Belg. de Geol., rv, 163, 1890. WILLISTON. | Mosasaurs. 89 Of the Mosasaurine, including the two genera Mosasaurus and Clidastes, the lowest horizon is the upper part of the Niobrara in Kansas. Clidastes ranges into the Fort Pierre, as previously stated by myself. In the eastern Atlantic region this genus is represented by forms closely allied to those from Kansas. Its range, then, is from the upper part of the Turonian through the larger part of the Senonian. The typical Mosasaurus is confined exclusively to the Senonian and Danian. Its distribution in North America is reputed to be from New Jersey, Alabama, and Dakota, but some of the de- terminations may be incorrect. The species from the Fort Pierre are, however, clearly congeneric with one or more from New Jersey. In Europe, Mosasaurus is known only from the Upper Senonian and the Danian (upper chalk and Maestrich- tian) ; that is, apparently, from later horizons than those in which the genus occurs in America. The two genera Mosasaurus and Clidastes are nearly related, though perhaps sufficiently different to justify their independent existence. From the known distribution of the Mosasaurs, Dollo has concluded : “Que la Nouvelle-Zéland (ou, mieux, les terres australes) est le centre dirradiation des Mosasauriens, qui en seraient partis 4 la fin de l’époque cénomanienne, auraient vécu uniquement en Amérique durant l’époque turonienne, auraient émigré en Kurope 4 l’époque sénonienne et s’y seraient éteints avec l’époque maestrichtienne.” The fact that Mosasaurs have been reported from the Ama- zonian Purus, corresponding to the Maestrichtian, would cer- tainly indicate that they had not become at all restricted in distribution in the latter part of their existence. The distribution of the Mosasaurs, so far as now known, seems to be of little value in the correlation of the Cretaceous epochs. Only a single genus seems to be of wide distribution, and the nearly related ones may be widely separated in geolog- ical range. ‘Two, perhaps three, distinct types appear suddenly in the Cenomanian, and have continued side by side in the same waters throughout the greater part of the time during which 90 University of Kansas Geological Survey. the group has been in existence. Some minor divergent forms have appeared, such as the singular Phosphorosaurus Dollo, Prognathosaurus, and Brachysaurus, and, perhaps, Baptosaurus Marsh, which, by the way, is one of the latest American forms, from the Upper Greensand or Marl of New Jersey, and occur- ring, also, if Merriam’s determination is correct, in the Niobrara of Kansas. The common aquatic ancestor of the three types must be sought for in a much earlier period, certainly in the Lower Cre- taceous. The rudimentary or possibly functional zygosphene among the Platecarpine, or some members of it, and the com- plete zygosphene in Clidastes, together with the shortened muzzle and more fully ossified paddles, indicate a much closer relationship between the Platecarpine and Mosasaurine than between either and the Tylosaurine. In the last we find, in some forms at least, that the fifth finger is actually longer than the fourth, with as many phalanges, and that the carpus and tarsus are almost wholly unossified. If we assume with Dollo that the zygosphene is a primitive character, (and it must be unless it had an independent origin among the Mosasaurs,) then Clidastes would be the most generalized and Tylosaurus the most specialized of the Mosasaurs. In the paddles and skull, Tylo- saurus is, with hardly a doubt, more specialized than any other genus. However, although Clidastes may retain some of its primitive characters, it certainly shows in many other respects a high degree of specialization. I give below a tabular review of the known genera of the Mosasaurine arranged in systematic sequence, using the Eu- ropean time epochs for comparison’s sake. Of course it is un- derstood that the exact equivalency of these time periods is yet a matter of uncertainty. TYLOSAURIN 4. Tylosaurus Marsh. Cenomanian of New Zealand (Liodon haumuriensis Hector) . Upper Turonian of Kansas and New Mexico (Niobrara). ? Senonian of New Jersey (Greensand ). WILLISTON. | Mosasaurs. 91 Hainosaurus Dollo. Upper Senonian of Belgium (brown phosphatic chalk of Cipley). PLATECARPIN 2%. Platecarpus Cope. Upper Turonian of Kansas and Colorado ( Niobrara). ? Senonian of Mississippi. Plioplatecarpus Dollo. Lower Maestrichtian of Belgium ( Danian). Prognathosaurus Dollo. ¢ Upper Senonian of Belgium ( brown phosphate of Cipley). ? Brachysaurus Williston. Senonian of Dakota (Fort Pierre). Sironectes Cope, and Holosaurus Marsh. Upper Turonian of Kansas ( Niobrara). Taniwhasaurus Hector. Upper Cenomanian of New Zealand. MOSASAU RIN LE. Mosasaurus Conybeare. Lower Danian of Belgium and England (Upper and Lower Maestrichtian and Upper Chalk ). Upper Senonian of Belgium (brown phosphate of Cipley). Senonian of New Jersey and Dakota (Greensand and Fort Pierre). ? Senonian of Alabama and North Carolina. Clidastes Cope. Uppermost Turonian or lowermost Senonian of Kansas and Colorado ( Niobrara and Fort Pierre). Senonian of New Jersey, Alabama, and Mississippi. INCERTAZ SEDIS. Baptosaurus Marsh. Upper Senonian of New Jersey (Upper Greensand ). Upper Turonian of Kansas ( Niobrara). Phosphorosaurus Dollo. Upper Senonian of Belgium (brown phosphatic chalk of Cipley). University of Kansas Geological Survey. 92 Qa 4 “UOPTPOM) | setuLod00N ) oe ‘pues Os orsrentvat (alesse me Sarre ry ‘QTOURULO: *BSOOTROS ‘ORUIO! 29 dy BASBYS OlUBIOOY, oTOUBULOD, BSOOTvOST, ovuojog | T og -MW09T) IOMOTT : “uviqry ) oa qe ) 38 n ‘pues ' 3 arsy, ; ‘spurs ‘ONQ SI ULOT, 2 5 7} -u90.Ly todd) RETA ULOUS) ESSA LOQUNT4-SSOLD LOMOTT | *AVV4NHpT daddy) t CES ee aad | q ( 5 QwOMwictar ey ye ‘soTeyg ploy ojsenp)| ‘ouogsourry 2 a ony AS RETCOIN "BLBIQ OLN ‘ REY E19) ‘ouojsouy ulgsny §| 99930 aoMory § SPW ABIO 2 | % fe ‘ool + i 3 ae : es eee Ne ees ee ‘ouoqsoullry iten eee Q Y[VYO LoMO'T 5 ; OLLOTY WOW? woyp S[AV VSOLopuog 2) a ; ( puesuea..y nm pue 4 ete STM zon) ON ‘aigtuoonnyp J) “HOU LTA ( | smog paw opprn | 8 | STPPIA ‘todd st { ‘OLULBLUTT “OTULB.IBIT “SUIQUR MA ‘puvsuoaty woddy | % | a na ‘uvIUe”®§ *LOAUO(T *SUTIZUR AA “SUTZUR AA ‘surguem | TJ) | . ‘1ap10q 'LOTIOYUT *IOTIOVUL *‘Iap10q ‘1apr0q *puepsug ie oyroe wie oryue yrorg U}10N wIeyINOg baits) 1UelyV ‘HAdOUNaA GNV SALVLS GHLIND HHL AO SHOOdH SNOWOVLHYO WILLISTON. | Mosasaurs. 93 SYSTEMATIC POSITION. There has been much controversy regarding the systematic position of the Mosasaurs. By many they are considered to be a suborder of the Squamata, coequal with the Lacertilia and Ophidia, and this view has the support of Cope, Boulenger, and Dollo, all eminent herpetologists. On.the other hand, Owen, Marsh and Baur contend that they belong among the Lacertilia. If one accepts the division of the Lacertilia into Lacertilia, Rhiptoglossa, and Dolichosauria, then I believe that the sub- order Mosasauria should find an independent place with them. But otherwise I believe that they should be included among the Lacertilia in the wider sense as a distinct tribe. Surely the natatory character of their limbs, and the absence of sacrum, together with important differences in the skull, are sufficient to entitle them to a position of their own, distinguished from all other lizards. But, in any event they do not present any dis- tinct relationships with the Ophidia, and the name Pythonomor- pha in consequence must be given up. The history of the controversy between Professor Cope and the various authors who have contended for the subordinate position of the group is of sufficient importance to warrant a brief review here, with references to the literature concerned, to which the reader may turn, should he desire to pursue the sub- ject further. Cuvier, who was the first to publish a scientific discussion of the nature and structure of the Mosasaurs, contended that they were nearest allied to the Monitors and Iguanas.” Goldfuss, who published an excellent and extended paper on an American form of the group," expressed his views of their relationship as follows: ‘‘ The depressed, elongate form of the anterior part of the head, the narrow, long nares, the structure of the lower jaw and the presence of the palatal teeth, affirm Cuyier’s claim that this genus of animals finds its systematic position between the Monitors and Iguanas. If we follow the 40. Sur le Grand animal fossile des cariere de Maestricht, Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat., x11, 145, 1808. 41, Der Schaedelbau des Mosasaurus, Act. Acad. Caes. Leop. Carol. Nat. Cur., xx1, 1843. 94 University of Kansas Geological Survey. structure of the skull in its details, we are surprised to find here a middle ground in which not only the peculiarities of the above named genera, but indeed also those of most other saurians are united, together with others which are peculiar to them and distinguish them from all others’? (p. 179). ‘‘From the fore- going it is seen that the genus Mosasaurus has only the teeth alveolee in common with the crocodilians and the bony sclerotic ring with the fish-like saurians, but on the other hand is related to the living lizards, and especially agrees with the Monitor’”’ (p. 188). In 1869” Professor Cope proposed for the reception of the Mosasaurs the erection of a special order, which he called Pythonomorpha, and for which he gave the following characters : ‘‘1. The teeth have nofangs. 2. Thereis merely a squamosal suture between the maxillary and premaxillary. 3. The opis- thotic bone projects free from the cranium, and is the suspen- sorium of the os quadratum. 4. There is no columella. 5. There is no symphysis mandibuli. 6. The parietal is decurved posteriorly and unites with the alisphenoid, forming the cranial wall in front of the prootic. 7. The subarticular and splenial elements of the mandible are connected by articular faces. 8. The vertebre are very numerous, much exceeding 100, and frequently present the zygosphene articulation. 9. The ab- dominal cavity is long and surrounded by many short curved ribs, which have simple heads and a free antero-posterior move- ment on vertical articulating surfaces, and which commence close behind the axis vertebre. 10. The pterygoids are elon- gate and bear numerous teeth, and in one type are free, except at the extremities. 11. The brain-case is not fully ossified an- teriorly. 12. Scapula and coracoid elements are present. 13. The caudal yertebre are furnished with chevron bones. 14. The squamosal bone is present. 15. The angular bone is dis- tinct. 16. The os quadratum is movably articulated to the opisthotic. 17. The os quadratum embraces and incloses the meatus auditorius externus. 18. The opisthotic is supported by a pedestal projecting from the cranial walls, composed of the 42, Proceedings Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., x1, 253. WILLISTON. | Mosasaurs. 95 prolonged prootic in front and the exoccipital behind, which em- braces the suspensorium for much of its length. 19. The anterior limbs are fins, with all the elements in a single plane ; the radius incapable of rotation; the humerus broad and flat. 20. There are probably no hind limbs. Of the above charac- ters, the first eight are those of serpents; the five characters following the ninth are lacertian; while the seventeenth is pe- culiar, and not found in any existing order of reptiles. The eighteenth is characteristic of the Sauropterygia.”’ In 1875* he defined the order Pythonomorpha as follows: ‘“‘1. The quadrate bone is attached to the cranium by a ginglymoid articulation, admitting of free movement. 2. The ribs are attached by simple articulations to single articular facets, or diapophyses, springing from the bodies of the vertebree. 3. There are two pairs of limbs, which form paddles, having the elements arranged in one plane, and incapable of rotation or flexure on each other. 4. There is no sternum. 5. The scap- ular arch consists of scapula and coracoid only. 6. There is no sacrum. 7. The pelvis consists of slender elements, of which the inferior are nearly transverse, and meet, without uniting, on the middle line below. 8. The opisthotic bone projects free from the cranium as the suspensorium of the quadrate bone, and is supported and embraced by a pedestal projecting from the cranial walls, composed of the prootic in front and the ex- occipital behind. 9. The stapes lies in a groove on the posterior side of this suspensorium, and is produced to the os quadratum. ‘10. There is no quadratojugal arch. 11. The parietal is de- curved posteriorly, forming the cranial wall in front of the prootic. 12. The brain chamber is not ossified in front. 13. The squamosal bone is present, merely forming the posterior part of the zygomatic arch. 14. The mandible is composed of all the elements characteristic of reptiles: the articular and sur- angular distinct; the angular represented by its anterior por- tion only ; and the coronoid present. 15. The atlas consists of a basal and two lateral pieces only; the odontoid is distinct, and is bounded by a free hypapophysis, besides the hypa- 43, Cretaceous Vertebrata, p. 112. = 96 University of Kansas Geological Survey. pophysis of the axis. 16. The caudal vertebree support chevron bones. 17. The teeth possess no true roots.”’ In 1877 Professor Owen“ criticized these views of Cope, con- tending that the supposed ophidian characters do not really ex- ist in the Mosasauria, summing up his conclusions with the statement that ‘‘ The fossil evidences of the Mosasaurians hith- erto made known do not yield a single character peculiar to and characteristic of the ophidian order.’’ He contended that the Mosasaurs are aquatic Lacertilia, holding a position similar to that of the pinnipeds among the true carnivora. In his reply to this paper Professor Cope” gave the following characters as essential in the definition of the order, which he still contends is valid: ‘‘1. The parietal bones are decurved on the sides of the cranium, and are continuous with the alisphenoid and prootic elements. 2. The opisthotic is largely developed, and extends upwards and forwards to the walls of the brain-case. 3. A distinct element connects the squamosal with the parietal bone above the opisthotic. 4. The teeth have no roots. 5. There is nosacrum. 6. There is nosternum. 7. The bones of the limbs possess no condylar articular surfaces. ‘Of the preceding seven characters, the decurvature of the borders of the parietal bone at the margins, and their continuity with the margins of the prootic bones, is of importance as a character not found in the Lacertilia and universal among Ophidia. The opisthotic has a greater development than in lizards, where it does not reach the brain-case upward. In the serpents, its contact with the brain-case is well known. The existence of another element lying on the opisthotic, first pointed out by Marsh, is an important character. The anterior extremity of this bone enters into the side wall of the cranium below the parietal, occupying much the position of the pterotic, and resembling, even more than the opisthotic, the suspenso- rium of the Ophidia. Should this be the true homology, the affinity to the Ophidia is not strengthened ; and should it prove 44. On the Rank and Affinities in the Reptilian Class of the Mosasauride, Gervais, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1877, 682. 45. Cope, E. D., Professor Owen on the Pythonomorpha, Bull. U.S. Geol. and Geogr. Surv. Ters., Iv, No. 1, Washington, 1878, pp. 299-311. WILLISTON. | Mosasaurs. 97 ’ to be a distinct element, not found in either Ophidia or Lacer- tilia, the claims of the new order to existence are maintained. In either case it is clear that the ophidian suspensorium is not - the squamosal bone.”’ Unfortunately in these characters given by Cope there are several errors. There is no distinct element connecting the ‘“squamosal’’ (prosquamosal) with the parietal bone above the opisthotic. There is the same kind of a sternum present as in the Lacertilia. The characters then left are the decurvature of the parietal bone, the absence of true roots to the teeth, and the absence of asacrum. The last character is also incorrect, since in some of the forms, at least, there are as distinct articular condylar surfaces as in the Lacertilia. To the decurvature of the parietal bone no great importance can be attached. The absence of a sacrum and the natatory character of the limbs are really the most important of all the characters adduced, and, I believe, certainly entitle the Mosasaurs to an independ- ent group among the Lacertilia. Among the last to criticize the classification of Professor Cope is Baur,** who reviewed the whole history of the controversy, described and figured the bones of the skull in an excellent way, and gave the following classification : PLATYNOTA. Superfamily Varanoidea. Families Varanide. Mosasawride. Superfamily Helodermatoidea. Family Helodermatide. ‘‘T see no difficulty in assuming that the Mosasaurs developed from unguiculate Lacertilia, which were very close to the Var- anide. To express this affinity, I placed the Varanide and Mosasauridze in a superfamily, the Varanoidea. By this I wanted to say that the Mosasauridz cannot be separated from the true Lacertilia, to which the Varanoidea belong; in other words, that they cannot be placed as a suborder of the Squa- mata, but have to be placed among the suborder Lacertilia. In this opinion I have nothing to change.”’ 46, Science, Nov. 7, 1890, and Journ. of Morph., vit, p. 1, 1892. 98 University of Kansas Geological Survey. Baur does not insist upon uniting the Mosasaurs in the same ultimate division as the rest of the Lacertilia, or any of the living forms, but does insist that they be placed under the Lacertilia. In criticizing the first of these papers by Baur, Boulenger, the distinguished herpetologist, took the position, with Cope, that the Pythonomorpha constitute a distinct suborder of the Squamata, basing his views chiefly upon the limbs. He says: ‘‘Does this mean that limbs as strongly modified as those of the Monitors can have been modified into the paddles of the Mosasaurs?