XXIV. An attempt at a complete osteology of hypsilophodon foxii; a British Wealden dinosaur

The dinosauria are peculiarly interesting and instructive on account of the combinations in their skeletons of structures which now only occur separately in those of extant Sauropsida; and also on account of their forming a link between more specialised Reptiles and Birds. The need of such an osteology of a Wealden dinosaur as might serve for a type and aid to those who are working out our fossil reptiles, long felt, has lately become increasingly urgent through the discoveries in the United States of large numbers of remains in such preservation and abundance as to make their reconstruction a relatively light task. Some of the members indicated by these remains resemble certain of our Wealden fauna, of which our knowledge is very imperfect and scanty, so that a strict comparison of the American and British Wealden forms appears likely to throw much light upon the latter. Unfortunately our own material does not yet exist in a form available for this purpose; for although a very large number of memoirs have been written on the dinosauria of our Cretaceous and Wealden formations, nothing approaching to a complete osteology of any one of them based on the study of remains recovered from British Cretaceous and Wealden formations has yet been published. The reason is not far to seek. In our Wealden beds their remains are usually so scattered, disconnected, and not seldom mutilated, that their identification and reconstruction are exceptionally difficult. As regards Iguanodon Mantelli a complete osteology may be expected from Belgian workers whenever the magnificent remains in the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle at Brussels, obtained in 1878 from an extension of the Wealden formation at Bernissart, shall have been wrought out—a task which I am authoritatively informed is not likely to be accomplished for several years. But with respect to Hypsilophodon something may fairly be expected of English palæontologists, for its remains occur in a manner quite exceptional—large parts of skeletons of this dinosaur, the bones of which are usually well preserved, and often maintain their normal connexions, have been obtained by the Rev. William Fox (lately deceased) and by myself. A study of these, prosecuted in leisure intervals during several years, enables me at length to offer a connected account of the skeleton, which I venture to hope leaves but few omissions to be supplied when additional materials shall have been acquired. The following short list contains, it is believed, the titles of all the papers which have been written on this dinosaur:—