Recent Trends in Ecological Research in the Great Lakes.

Vertebrate Morphology, Session I. Malcolm T. Jollie indicated that the "spits" observed by others in the cranial bones of caecilians may represent a complex sensory system similar, at least in function and innervation, to the lateral line system of acquatic amphibians. Kinesis in all tetrapods may be traced back to the crossopterygian condition, according to Walter J. Bock. The presence of a kinetic hingewhich is usually crushed and obscured in fossils-is accompanied by a basitemporal articulation which provides a necessary second point of articulation. The basitemporal hinge is usually well preserved in fossils and its presence means that a kinetic hinge must have existed in the same specimen. The paper by Elazar Kochva supports the view that the proteroglyph and solenoglyph snakes arose separately from the proterodont and opisthodont colubrid-type snakes. The new evidence provided for this theory is based on studies of the venom glands and their innervation. Evidence suggests that the venom glands and compressor muscles in these two general groups of snakes are not homologous. The report by Warren F. Walker, Jr., on the forces developed at the feet of turtles in walking provides additional evidence on the general subiect of vertebrate locomotion. Such data will no doubt provide the basis from which will arise new ideas on functional morphology and vertebrate evolution, particularlv regarding the lane and volume of the animal and the distance between the animal body :)nd the substrate. The details of the sebaceous gland comolex in the gerbil (Meriones) by r)nuglas B. Webster is of interest because it provides another character which should be investigated to determine its importance in studies of rodent nhvlogeny. RICHARD J. BALDAUF, Presiding Officer