Abstract
REFERRING lately to Prof. Owen's description of the Rhynchosaurus (“Palæontology,” p. 264), first discovered by myself in 1838–39, in the New Red Sandstone of Grinshill, near Shrewsbury, I remarked that in speaking of the ichnolites supposed to belong to this animal he says there is an “impression corresponding with the hinder part of the foot, which reminds one of a hind toe pointing backwards, and which, like the hind toe of some birds, only touched the ground.” In this account nothing is said of any claw being attached to this hind toe, nor have I met with any description of a claw in other authors. I have therefore thought it worth while to mention that I possess a specimen from Grinshill that shows distinctly the impression of a straight claw pointing backwards. There is also, on the same slab, the impression of another smaller foot of only three toes with strong straight claws, which has behind it a slight impression corresponding with the hind toe of the larger footprints. It is a curious fact that the claws of the larger impression, though larger than those of the smaller footprint, are so much recurved as not to project much beyond the ends of the toes, while on another slab from Storeton there are reliefs with both straight and recurved claws, the latter giving the idea of a foot like that of the Great Anteater. In these Storeton ichnolites the hind toe exhibits no claw, nor am I sure whether certain rounded elevations represent the smaller footprint in the Grinshill specimen. Upon another slab of Storeton stone I have a mark resembling the tail-mark on the slab presented by Mr. Strickland to the Warwickshire Museum, but unfortunately the footmarks connected with it are too indistinct to decide its origin. In a third slab from Storeton, besides several impressions with straight claws, there is one three inches long, the second toe of which has a straight claw in. in length. I have also Cheirotherium footprints with long straight claws from the same quarries.
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WARD, T. Note on the Rhynchosaurus Articeps, Owen. Nature 11, 8 (1874). https://doi.org/10.1038/011008c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/011008c0
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