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The Dragons of Old Time-Dinosaurs: Atlantosaurus

In Plate XVIII. we have endeavoured to give some idea of a huge thigh-bone (femur) belonging to the truly gigantic Dinosaur called Atlantosaurus. It is six feet two inches long, and a cast of it may be seen in the fossil reptile gallery of the British Museum of Natural History. It should be mentioned, however, that the original specimen is partly restored, so that its exact length to an inch or so is not quite certain. In our illustration it is shown to be a little taller, when placed upright, than a fullgrown man. Professor Marsh, the fortunate discoverer of this wonderful bone, calculates that the Atlantosaurus must have attained a length of over eighty feet! and, assuming that it walked upon its hind feet, a height of thirty feet!

It doubtless fed upon the luxuriant foliage of the sub-tropical forests, portions of which are preserved with its remains. Besides this thigh-bone, Professor Marsh has procured specimens of vertebræ from the different parts of the vertebral column; but no skull or teeth. The vertebræ are hollowed out much in the same J.S THIGH-BONE OF A HUGE DINOSAUR, ATLANTOSAURUS.

From a cast in the Natural History Museum, London. Length 6 feet 2 inches. PLATE XVIII.