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1930]
Romer, The Pennmylvanian Tetrapods of Linton, Ohio135
Eosauravus copei WILLISTON, 1910, p. 272.
TYPES.-T. punctulatus, 6926, E. copei, NM, 4435.
The type of Tuditanus punctulatus is a specimen showing the
anterior part of the body of a small tetrapod, the general appearance of
which is well shown in Cope and Moodie's illustrations. The skull is
crushed and probably was somewhat broader anteriorly than is suggested
by the figures. The postcranial skeleton was apparently poorly ossified,
and the impressions are rather faint, making details obscure. There is a
long stem on the interclavicle, a rather unusual feature for an amphibian.
The carpus appears to have been unossified, and the phalanges are displaced.
The vertebrae seem to be holospondylous, and I have observed
no intercentra. The ribs are. long and curved. The body was long and
slender; there are 23 vertebrae preserved without the sacrum having
been reached.
A second specimen long referred to this species was described by
Cope in 1896 and 1897; it has since been discussed by Williston and
Moodie. This is almost unquestionably the posterior part of the body of
a primitive reptile, and Williston has made it the type of a new genus
and species as Eosauravus copei (incidentally this form is, of course,
quite unrelated to Sauravus, which is a nectridian amphibian).
Williston removed this second specimen from Tuditanus on the
ground that in the latter the carpus was unossified and ossification was
poor, which convinced him that the specimen was amphibian in character.
But if we add to this the fact that the type of Tuditanus is smaller
than that of Eosauravus, another explanation appears probable, namely,
that the first known specimen is an immature individual, Eosauravus an
adult, of the same species.
The Tuditanus type cannot be assigned to any known member of
the Linton amphibian fauna. It certainly is not a lysorophid, or an
aistopod, or a nectridian, and it does not appear to be comparable with
any of the branchiosaurs. On the other hand, there are no known
features which would debar it from consideration as a reptile. The
stemmed interclavicle is suggestive of that group and the general form
of the body is highly comparable to that of Eosauravus. It may be that
future finds will prove these two types to be distinct, but for the present
it appears to me advisable to consider them as cospecific.
Eusauropleura digitata (Cope)
Sauropleura digitata COPE, 1868, p. 216; 1869, pp. 14-15; 1875, p. 403, P1.
xxxvii, fig. 1; MOODIE, 1916, pp. 157-158.
TYPE.-6865.