XVI. On the pelorosaurus; an undescribed gigantic terrestrial reptile whose remains are associated with those of the iguanodon and other saurians in the strata of Tilgate Forest, in Sussex

Abstract

I had for a long while entertained the idea that among the fossil remains collected from the Wealden deposits of the South-East of England, there were indications of an enormous Lizard entirely distinct from the Iguanodon, Megalosaurus, Cetiosaurus, and other genera which have been named and more or less accurately determined; and I have at length obtained such evidence in support of my opinion, as induces me to submit to the Royal Society the data which appear to establish the existence of a terrestrial reptile contemporary with the Iguanodon, and which equalled, if not surpassed in magnitude, that colossal herbivorous Saurian. I shall not on the present occasion enter upon those minute anatomical details which are indispensable for the solution of many of the difficult problems which but too often perplex and bewilder the palæontologist, but content myself with faithful descriptions and figures of such facts as will suffice to establish my proposition; in the hope that these guesses at truth, which recent investigations have suggested to my mind, may serve to direct future labourers in the right path of inquiry, and tend to enlarge our knowledge of that remarkable fauna which prevailed in the islands and continents of the Cretaceous, Wealden, and Oolitic ages.