For this purpose they are constructed with an
elaborate system of braces and buttresses of thin bony plates
connecting the broad articulating surfaces and muscular attachments,
all the bone between these thin plates being hollowed into a
complicated system of air-cavities. This remarkable structure can be
best seen in the unmounted skeleton of _Camarasaurus_, another
Amphibious Dinosaur." (The scientific name _Camarasaurus_=chambered
lizard, has reference to this peculiarity of construction.)
"The teeth of the Brontosaurus indicate that it was an herbivorous
animal, feeding on soft vegetable food. Three opinions as to the
habitat of Amphibious Dinosaurs have been held by scientific
authorities. The first, advocated by Professor Owen, who described the
first specimens found sixty years ago (1841-60) and supported
especially by Professor Cope, has been most generally adopted. This
regards the animals as spending their lives entirely in shallow water,
partly immersed, wading about on the bottom, or perhaps occasionally
swimming, but unable to emerge entirely upon dry land.[12] More
recently, Professor Osborn has advocated the view that they resorted
occasionally to the land for egg laying or other purposes, and still
more recently the view has been taken by Mr. Riggs and the late
Professor Hatcher that they were chiefly terrestrial animals. The
writer inclines to the view of Owen and Cope, whose unequalled
knowledge of comparative anatomy renders their opinion on this
doubtful question especially authoritative.
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