STEFFECK. 543 STEFFECK, sta'fek, Kjvbl ( 1818-90) . A Ger- man animal and portrait paintfr, born in Berlin, where lie studied under Kriiyer and Begas. In 18311 a pupil of Delaroche and of Horace Vernet in Paris, he continued his studies in Italy in 1840-42, and after his return to Berlin attracted attention first with historical., then with sport- ing subjects, and soon was reputed the foremost painter of horses. In 1880 he became director of the Academj at Konigsberg. His princi])al paintings include: "Jlargrave Albrecht Achilles yighting the Xurembergers, 1450" (1848) ; ■"Two Spaniels at Play" (1850), "Mare with Colt" (1877), all in the National Gallery, Berlin; "King William at Kiiniggrlitz" ( 18G7 ) , Royal Palace, Berlin; "Capitulation at Sedan" (fresco, 1884), Arsenal, Berlin; "Queen Louise with Two Sons" (188(3), Breslau JIuseum; besides many portraits, Specially equestrian. STEGANOPODES (Xeo-Lat. nom. pi., from 01c. ffT€yaii6Trovs, steganoimiis, web-footed, from tTTeyavds, steganos, covered + ttous, pons, foot). A group of birds within the Ciconiiformes, char- acterized by having all four toes "totipalmate.' or connected by a common web, also a more or less developed gular pouch. The skull is desmogna- thous and the wing is aquinto-cubital. The neck is without aptcria ; the tongue is rudimentary. The Steganopodes are cosmopolitan, aquatic pis- civorous birds of large size. Aljout 60 species are known, of which half are cormorants (q.v.). These constitute one of the six families, the other five being the pelicans, darters, tropic-birds, gannets, and frigate-birds (qq.v.). STEG'OCEPHA'LIA (Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from (ik. aT^yciv. strgcin, to cover + Ke0a^, kephalf, head). The name proposed by Cope to designate a well-defined order of fossil amphibia, found in strata from the Lower Carboniferous to the Upper Trias. They are distinguished from other amphibians by a dermal armor of overlap- ping bony scales which usually protects the ven- tral, and in some eases the dorsal surface. The group is important as representing the earliest and most primitive tetrapoda or four-footed vertebrates adapted to at least partial land-liv- 8KULL OF A STEGOCEPHALIAN. 1, Plates of roof o! skull (C&pitosaurvs) : 2. Palatal view {Cyclotosa urus). ing habits, and breathing by means of lungs. The inajority of stegocephalians are salamander- like or lizard-like in form, with a long tail, flattened head, and two pairs of limbs. The presence of gills in the young and grooves for sensory mucous canals on the skull-bones of some forms proves an aquatic habit. A carnivorous diet is indicated by the conical pointed teeth. The dermal arnior, the most distinctive fea- STEGOCEPHAIilA. ture of the group, consists chiefly of bony scales, arranged in regular rows on the ventral surface, but scattered or wanting on other portions of the body. Three large ]>lates, one median and two paired, on the pectoral region, represent the interclaviele and the clavicles. The skull, of llattened triangular form, is characterizeil by a solid roof of paired plates of dermal bone, and the cranial roof is always pierced by five open- ings — the paired nares and orbits, and the median opening for the pineal body, w h i c h ma y have served as a light- perceivingorgan. The teeth are simple hol- low cones in the smaller Paleozoic genera, but in many of the later types the dentine and cement exhibit a system of labyrinthodont tooth-struc- extremely compli- tcre. eated folds — hence Cross-section of lab.yrintho- thp mmp T qhwin '^"'^^ tooth, ehowlng tlie tolilcd uie name i^aojiin structure, thodontia often ap- plied to these forms. The vertebral column presents widely divergent conditions in dif- ferent types, as regards the nature and degree of ossification of the centra. As a rule the Paleozoic genera have the notochord largely persistent, the vertebral column thus remain- ing permanently in the larval condition, while the large Triassic labyrinthodonts have well- developed centra. The limbs are known for but few forms, and in these they do not diflfer remarkably from those of modern urodeles. The hind foot is always pentadactyl, but in the fore- foot (except in Keraterpeton, Jlelanerpeton, and a few related forms) the number is reduced to STEGOCEPHALIAN TEETH. four, the fifth or outer digit probably being the one lacking. In any attempt to trace the phylo- genetic relationships of vertebrate classes "the Stegocephalia are of the greatest importance, since it is in this group only, with its solid skull- roof, that we find on the one hand a close ap- proximation to the Paleozoic bony fishes, and on the other to the most generalized Permian rep- tiles, the Cotylosauria. See Reptile. LIMB-GIRDLES IX STEGOCEPHALIA. 1, Pectoral arch ; 2, Pelvic arch of Discosauruo. The classification is as follows: ' A. — Suborder Leptospondyli. Small animals, usually salaman- driform, occurring in the Carboniferous and Per- mian. The suborder is divided into three fam-
