Labyrinthodonta

They form, however, an order by themselves, to which the term Labyrinthodonta has been applied, and thus our search into the past has brought us a rich and important harvest, and has introduced us to the fourth and last order belonging to the Frog class of vertebrate animals.

The Common Frog 1874

The name Labyrinthodonta was bestowed upon the great fossil group on account of the beautiful and singularly complex structure of the teeth of some members of the order.

The Common Frog 1874

The order Labyrinthodonta recalls to mind, as as has been said earlier, the Crocodilia amongst reptiles, of which they may be deemed as the prophetic precursors, so to speak, though certainly not the direct ancestors.

The Common Frog 1874

The remaining class, Batrachia, will require more lengthy consideration, both as a whole and as regards the four orders which compose it, and which are called respectively, 1, Anoura; 2, Urodela; 3, Ophiomorpha; and 4, Labyrinthodonta.

The Common Frog 1874

The extinct forms (Labyrinthodonta) were, no doubt, also aquatic, as, besides their general relation to other Batrachians, traces or indications of the hard parts which supported the branchiæ of some Labyrinthodonts appear to have been actually found.

The Common Frog 1874

Nevertheless the degree of development of the tail constitutes a marked distinction between the Labyrinthodonta and the Ophiomorpha.

The Common Frog 1874

Labyrinthodonta,) being embraced in a higher unity termed a "Class," which is the Frog's class, as "Anoura" is his order.

The Common Frog 1874