Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-06-03
THE HERALD.
Researches on Fossil Birds.

A6oedCCl6S On fossil b1rQS.
The undeniable fact that animals
as they now exist are divisable into
well marked groups, gave probabili-
ty to the view that they had been
created so. When the evolutionist,
on the other hand, maintained that
they bad been derived from a com.
mon stock, the intervals which now
separate them not being parts of an
original design, like the walks in a
welIplanned garden, but merely gaps
caused by extinction in the other
wise unbroken sequence of life, the
special creationist, demanded the
production from that great store.
house of extinct life-the fossilifer.
Gus rocks-of some at least of those
intermediate forms which must have
existed if what is now SO markedly
asunder had at one time been Joined
together. In excuse tor the non
production of such evidence, the
evslutionist could only point to the
undoubted imperfection of the geo.
logical record, and to the still great.
er imperfection of our acquaintance
with what remained of it. Much,
however, has been done, since the
publication of Darwin's "Origin of
Species" gave direction to pal@onto-
logical research, to remedy the
latter evil, and if less is now heard
than formerly of the demand for the
production of intermediate forms by
the opponents of evolution, it is
simply because its advocates, in
stead of pleading excuses for the
absence of such forms, have lately
taken to proving their presence.
Their success in this direction
may be fairly illustrated by re.
ference TO the case of birds, which
form one of the best marked groups
in the whole animal kingdom. 1t
would be difficult te find q greater
contrast among animals than that
afforded by those feathered bipeds,
and the different groups of reptiles,
whether snake. lizard, tortoise, or
crocodile next reptiles stand next
to birds in the scale of organization,
and the doctrine of descent points
to the avian as having been involved
from the reptilian type. How far,
it may be asked, is this theory borne
out by the evidence in past times of
the existence CT birds moro reptile.
like, and of reptiles more bird Like
than any now living? The fossil
remains Of birds are comparatively
rare, not necessarily because birds
were scarce in past ages, but prob.
ably because their habits rendered
them less liable to get into the
position necessary for their pres
ervation. "The powers of flight"
says Sir Charles Lyell, "possess.
cd by most birds would insure
them against perishing by numer.
Gus casualties to which quadrupeds
are exposed during floods" while
self they chance to be drowned or to
die when swimming on water, it will
scarcely ever happen that they will
be submerged so as to become pre-.
served in sedimentary deposits"
Their carcssses, owing to the light.
ness of their bones, would keep long
aAoat, and would thus frequently
become the food of predaceous ami
mails. Although, therefore, nowhere
abundant, the fossil remains of birds
have been found scattered through
out Tertiary, and Post.Tertiary
deposits. The bogs of New Zealand
have yielded the half.fossiled re.
mains of the gigantic, but now ex.
tinot moas-huge wingless birds,
some OF them ten feet in height
while the surface deposits of NADIA
gascar have yielded the still more
massive Epiornis, whose eggs have
been found measuring over thirteen
inches in diameter, and having
capacity equal to 148 hens eggs.
From the mioeene beds of France
some seventy species of birds have
been obtained, chiefly interesting,
however, as belonging in the main
TO groups not now represented so
far north. These included parrots
and tragons, famingoes, secretary
birds and marabout storks, and thus
bore considerable resemblance to
the present bird faDna of South
Africa. The still older London clay
of the island of Sheppey yielded to
Professor Owen the remains of
vulture, a kin gfish er, and an ostrich;
also, what was more interestingstill,
the remains of o web.footed bird,
Odontopteryx, which at first sight
appeared to be provided with teeth.
A closer examination, however,
revealed the fact that these were
merely tooth-like serrations on the
edges Of the jaws, similar to those
found on the bill of the goosander
at the present day, only much more
pronounced. Professor Owen sup.
poses the bird to have been fish
eater, aud that in the catching of
its slippery prey it was assisred by
this pterosauroid armature of the
jaws. Thus far the Tertiary forma.
tons have only revealed true birds,
and the existing gap between feath-
cred bipeds and reptiles, SO far as
archaeological evidence then as
now.
Going still further back in geo.
logical time, the Mesozoio era ia
reached, and in the final stage of
that era-the Cretaeeous period
the evolutionist has at length OBJ.
tanned evidence of tho existence of
forms in some respects intermedi-
ate between bird and reptile. Pro-
fessor Marsh has found in those
cretaceous rocks of America which