| RefNo | MS/251/20 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from William Daniel Conybeare to William Buckland, Corpus Christi College, Oxford |
| Date | March 1821 [? watermark 1819] |
| Description | Conybeare declares his job done and that the creature is a cross between an ichthyosaur and a crocodile with a beautiful series of links between saurians. He has a paper almost complete with drawings by De la Beche and he has offered this to the Geological Society. It contains comments on the ichthyosaur, correcting deficiencies in Sir Everard Home's accounts. Conybeare commences a long and detailed discussion of his specimens, noting that he cannot get head bones of the plesiosaur, and comparing the plesiosaur's similarities and differences to the ichthyosaur and crocodile. He believes that speedy publication will secure the discovery for the two authors.
In a postscript, Conybeare notes that the Geological Society has accepted his paper - 'I expect Sir E H will be as mad as can be...' He describes the three plates which will accompany it.
With integral sketches of fossils.
The account of the partial plesiosaur fossil from the collection of Colonel Thomas James Birch was published as 'Notice of the discovery of a new fossil animal, forming a link between the ichthyosaurus and crocodile, together with general remarks on the osteology of the ichthyosaurus', by H T De la Beche and W D Conybeare, Transactions of the Geological Society, v.5 (1821) pp.559-594. |
| Extent | 3p |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | On paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA8182 | Conybeare; William Daniel (1787 - 1857) | 1787 - 1857 |