The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-06-18
WONDERFUL FOSSIL BONES.
Recent Additions to the New York Cen
trail Park Museum.
From fIie New York Times


WONDERFUL FOSSIL BONES.
Recent Additions to the New York Cen
trail Park Museum.
From the New York Times.
Among the recent additions OF interest
10 the department of Geology in the
Museum of Natural History at Central
Park are some monster bones, taken
from the ancient seas of Kansas amt
Colorado, and representing q race of
creatures which had reached the maxi |
mum of physical growth known ON this |
globe. The discoveries were originally |
made by Prof Nudge, recently deceas- |
ed, whose name is connected with all
the important discoveries of the great
West, and by Prof Marsh
The states of Texas and Colorado, dur
ing what is known in geological par
lance as the age of reptiles, contained
great salt and fresh water inland seas,
whose swamps and low-lands swarmed
with creatures of herculean dimensions.
The HaaupaiseS terreS, OF bad lands OF
Colorado, and the arid, chalky deserts
of Kansas are the BEDS of these ancient
seas, and ON account of the sterility and
barrenneSs of the country, very few peo-
pie, except occasional miners, penetra-
ted them. Finally, science inserted the
CulCIluH NCuSC, III CAlbC0AltOh NAOoSNN
the wastes, and scenes were opened TO
view that equaled in truth the exagger
atiuns of Verne. The dry, chalky sand
| had been worn by wind and rain into
thousand different shapes. Castles and
| bastiOns of immense size lowered aloit,
| thanked by flying buttresses of natures
| own design. Spires, sharp and Jagged,
| pierced the air, rising from domes sug-
gestivc of Moorish designs and the AL
conda, while the red, yellow and blue
| claws gave tn the whole a fantastic ap-
pearance, In forming these quaint
shapes, the elements exposed 10 view in
Vulnerable bones and skeletons Of forms
that once SWAIN over the spot. Prof.
Marsh SAYS: "In one place | counted
the remains of five huge monsters spread
| upon the plain. >" Soue of the bones,
| 1t was found, were portions OF reptiles
/ related to the alligator and crocodile
Others apparently belonged to the skele-
tons of sea serpents. So complete are
the remains that a restoration of the
skeletons entire will be IA comparatively
easy matter. Fort Riley, Kansas, stands
upon the shores of this prehistoric waste
The basin of this ancient oceans fills thu
great tract lying between Missouri
and the Rocky Mountains, and eX
tending from the Gulf OF Mex
j., leo an unknown distance to the
north The disturbances that ended thi
preceding erea caused general eleva
ton of the surface, and gradually the
seas and lakes became dry land. Thu
sea bottom, which is of limestone, be
came monster graveyard of marin,
life.
The country for miles has been wash
ed away, leaving here end there loft.
monuments of sandstone. The eXpedi
a. rntNnA
huge bankruptcies here, but oyster shell
of great size scattered over the plains
Some of the shells were open, other
). were closed, and all were of such SiZ
I, that did they contain the millusk itself
five or six of them would yield Il mea
: for a whole party. Some of then
y measured thirty inches across. At I'll
foot of some of the bluffs portions O
/ monsters were Dissolved, the remainde
= of their vertebral columns being burle'
in the limestone to unknown depth:
= Here paddle protruded, there JAY
armed with tremendous teeth. HI
= reptiles found in Kansas now, number
ing over fifty species, vary IN lengt
from 10 to 200 feet. On this ancien
= ocean the ancestor of the sea serpent {
today disported itself Its shape wa
= such as to enable ii to reach upwar
and exhibit a long tapering neck an
arrow-shaped head. A specimen of a
y immense snake-like species 1.-THE Clida
4 tes) has recently been found in Cano
City. 1t had evidently died while !,
ing on its back The tiippers or paddle
y were found at some distance from Il
:, body. The tape measure laid along I'll
vertebra indicated length of rs fee
The tail alone measured "a feet, an
Of evidently tapered down to a delica
ID point The rows of terrible teeth wei
IN devised for holding prey, but as the
d, were of no use fer cutting il up, 1t mu
y, have been swallowed whole. The on
sound that the snake could utter was
IL hiss. That it had a forked tongue
v. proved by the lack of room in q
N mouth for Il larger one. A turtle WI
found with shell twenty feet in wild
and thirty feet III length. Prof Coz
n has named this gigantic tortoise protc
Is tega gigas, the first generic term Tett
II, ring probably to the peculiar conditit
If, of lis seemingly undeveloped ribs al
Ill contiguous parts, which are like tho
as of an ordinary turtle Just hatche
Is, Here is the most gigantic of all turtl
OBJ in maturity, having the undcvelop'
rs structure OF the immature State.
W. One of the largest reptiles of this pa
ne iod that has been found is the liodC
ne The lower Jaw was discovered projectil
en- from chalk cliff, and, on removing I
&c earth, long projecting muZZle was d
We cerned. This resembles the head OF I
IN blunt-noZed sturgeon of the present
ue tiers. The Ptcrodactyl umbrosus, |
NJ veritabIe flying reptile or dragon of Il
ife ,eoo,a. ers was also 1nearfhed. II
1T specimen was found at the base OF
bluff. 1t measured twenty-nine f
rn- from finger to finger, and when alive
I'D must have been one of the most terrIi
ere OF the inhabitants of the ancient Wor
EN- 1t derived its power of flight, not by
membrane stretched over four elongal
IDS fingers, with u rudimentary thumb, II
ars the bats, nor by wing without distiI
lso fingers, as in birds, but by wing s
ETY. tanned principally on very elonga
icy toe. while the other members posses:
ans their normal shortness, and were arm
IAN with claws With this remarkable C
us. formation were associated a long ut
try and beak. 1t could fly in the air, rem
of on the wing a long time, and suspend
self to trees and rocks by its short Il
}. Another wonder discovered was the II
Der0nfS, large water bird seven feet
height, and having knife like teeth. I
teeth were set in groves, the wings W
les. rudimentaTy and useless, while the |
-, were like those of a duck. \ study
1us its skeleton shows it to have been Gle
- | ~ relapeu 10 the OSlTlCH. AuOtncE W
, ,uo der was a flyingbird, the ichthyorI
lie having still more reptilian character
llaS tics. Its teeth, like the alligatOr's, W
OH in distinct sockets, and, stranger yet,
TN vertebre is bi-concave-a peculiarly o
iot found in the fishes and few reptiles
ms One of the most gigantic reptiles {
l. /, covered was the Amphicrelias.
ne N thigh bone was so heavy that the Fl
!. r. ers were forced to harness a mule to l
neI drag il out of the hole. II measured o
l e eleven feet in length. A section of
Ioi vertebre, from the dOrsal portion, Wa
Gis, heavy lift for four men, and when
was placed upon the ground in the p
e , ton assumed by the animal, it towe
sno above the tallest of the party, being o
m six feet in height. To appreciate q
GIN the reader must remember that the
uiis responding bone of the nearest liv
representative of this animal can be
US ed by the little finger. Other TO
saurians, whose thigh bones are six
FL in length, have been given u lengtl
IN over 80 feet If they increased in
ave portion to the size of this bone, we sho
.u have creature over 200 feet in LEM
M ! but of course this is merely supp
: ton, though quite probable one I
~ ~ saurian belonged to the genus AJni
IN, tne crelids. A thigh bone of an allied ge
i I'M over six feet long can he seen in the
TAP scum of natural history, Central r;
:, 1t is in case in geological hall,
ue side by side with the same bone OF
iclE naa racf allied farm Near hy are Oi