Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/70

 62 PTERODACTYL PTOLEMY short and stont, and forearm twice as long; bind limbs slender, with 5 moderate toes of the same length ; 5 or 6 bones in the wrist, 5 metacarpals, 5 fingers, with respectively 1, 2, 3, 4, and 4 joints ; the first 4 short and with hooked nails, the external very long, eqnal to the neck and body, and nailless ; the gape of mouth very large. This singular animal was referred to the swimming birds by Blumen- bach and to the bats by Sommering, and was determined to be a reptile by Ouvier. The nearly equal and conical teeth, very small cra- nial cavity, different number of joints in the fingers, and reptilian shape of sternum and scapula show that it was not a bat-like mam- mal ; the existence of teeth, the small number of the vertebras in the neck, the thinness of the ribs and tail and the absence of recurrent processes in the latter, the form of the ster- num and number of the fingers, prove that it was not a bird. These characters place it among reptiles, but it had also a modification of the anterior extremities in the form of wings, which are not possessed by any existing or any other fossil members of the class, the so- called wings of the dragon being merely mem- branous expansions from the sides of the body supported by the ribs. The form of the wings is also remarkable and unique ; in birds the fingers are very little separated, and serve as a basis for the plumes ; in bats the flying mem- brane is stretched upon the four elongated fingers, the thumb remaining rudimentary; but in the pterodactyl the external finger alone is greatly developed and supports the flying membrane, the other four having the usual short dimensions; the membrane extended probably from the long finger along the sides of the body to the hind limbs and beyond, in- cluding the tail. About 20 species are de- scribed, varying in alar extent from a few inches to four or five yards; they probably flew and crept about in the manner of bats ; the form of the teeth and strength of the jaws indicate a carnivorous animal, but of feeble powers; the smaller species must have been insectivorous, and the largest may have seized fish or small reptiles of their own or other genera. The great size of the eye in- dicates nocturnal habits; the posterior limbs were so far developed that they could doubt- less assume an erect position like birds, and perch on trees; the claws of the fore and hind feet would also enable them to climb along the rocks ; the body was probably scaly, as in lizards. From the weakness of the scap- ular arch some have doubted the power of active flight in the pterodactyl, believing that the wing membranes could only support it in the air when leaping, in a little more perfect manner than in the dragons; but it must be remembered that the atmosphere of the sec- ondary geological age was much more dense than the present, requiring proportionally less muscular force for aerial locomotion. The most anciently known species is the P. longi- rostris (Oken), about the size of a woodcock, with a length of 10 in. and an alar extent of 21 in.; the teeth were 4-f on each side. The P. breviroatria (Cuv.) had a shorter muzzle, the head resembling more that of a goose just hatched than of a reptile ; the teeth were very small, ; the total length was less than 3 in., and there were only four posterior toes. Other species were less than 2 in. long, while on the contrary the P. ornis (Giebel) of the wealden was 2 ft. in length ; in the chalk of Maidstone, England, Mr. Bowerbank detected bones of a species which he named P. giganteut, 6 to 7 ft. in alar extent; the P. Cuvieri (Bowerb.) is believed to have spread 16| ft. In 1871 Prof. Marsh found in the upper cretaceous rocks of western Kansas a species with an expanse of wing of 20 ft., which he named P. Owenii. Since 1869 Prof. Marsh has discovered the re- mains of three different species in the same regions. The genus rhamphorhynchus (II. von Meyer) or ornithocephalus (S6mm.) was sep- arated for a few species of the Jurassic age, having the anterior portion of the jaws with- out teeth, and probably with a horny beak ; the scapula and coracoid were consolidated together, and the tail long and stiff, with about 30 vertebra ; there were four joints in the wing finger; the largest species was about 18 in. long. The genus omithopterus (H. VOE Meyer) had only two joints in the wing finger. PTEROPODS. See MOLLUSCA. PTOLEMAIS. See ACRE. PTOLEMY (Gr. IlroAe^aZof), the name of 18 Greek kings of Egypt, of whom the first three were the most important, and are treated in separate articles. Ptolemy IV., Philopator (222-205 B. C.), son of Ptolemy III., was mainly distinguished for cruelty and debauch- ery. The reign of Ptolemy V., Epiphanes, his son (205-181), was marked by the rapid de- cline of the Egyptian monarchy. His son Ptol- emy VI., Philometor (181-146), by Cleopatra, daughter of Antiochus the Great of Syria, was aided in his wars with Syria, where he was some time a captive, by the Romans. Ptolemy VII., Physcon (the Fat, his usual cognomen, but called by himself Euergetes II., 146-117), bro- ther of the last, with whom he reigned jointly for a time, and whose son he murdered, was driven to Cyprus by a rebellion of the Alex- andrians on account of his cruelty, and after- ward restored. He married his sister Cleopatra II., and afterward his niece Cleopatra III., and was a patron of letters and himself an author. Ptolemy VIII., Lathyrus, ruled in conjunction with his mother Cleopatra III. at intervals from 117 to 81, and married his sister Cleopatra IV. During his reign Thebes, having revolted, was destroyed. Ptolemy IX. (Alexander I.), bro- ther of the last, ruled for a while in conjunc- tion with his mother. His wife was his sister Berenice III. Ptolemy X. (Alexander II.), step-son and husband of Berenice III., whom in 81 he put to death, was himself expelled and slain after a reign of 19 days. With him