Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-04-23
REPTILES OF THE PAST.


world at the present day are but de-
& 'ncratc SURVIVORS of their kind as
tiny existed in cpochs long ago." said
Prof. Cope to Il writer for the Washing
ton Star, The first reptiles of the
world made their appearance at the
close of the paleozoic period, when the
coal was in process of formation. They.
were all land animals. Among them
there We're no flying creatures, no
marine swimmers, no gigantic types,
and no especially hcrbivorous kinds.
AT the close of the conforming
period there occurred great cmcrgence
of land from the water and rcptilian
life rapidly spread and grew. The rep
tiles which had previously existed were
all of one kind. Their remains are
found in this country wherever the de-
posts in lagoons, lakes and eStuaries
have been calculated for their Drescr-
walton. From this point of time, how
ever began what may appropriately be
called the epoch of reptiles. The pale
ozoic period was brought to close by
al great uphcaval, due to contraction of
the earth's crust, by which the Ale
Ehanies and the Ural system were up
lifted. Then began what is called the
>mesoZoic epoch, during which the
reptiles may be said to have run crea-
ton. That is to say, they were the
highest order of beings at that time
alive. What man is now the reptile
was then-that is, lord of all existing
things. Reptiles walked upon land,
uavigated the water, flew through the
air, and, in short, pursued every avenue
Of existence that IS zoologically con-
pcivable.
EARLY in the mesozoic epoch there
appeared marine reptiles which, though
derived from land species, became
more and more aquatic through the
necessity of living in water, develop
ing, on that account, swimming organs,
etc. Land reptiles also began to de-
Yclop in huge proportions. Why they
grew so big no one knows, but it may
have been because they had no rivals
~ the struggle for existence; they had
all they wanted to cat and naturally
increased in bulk. At all events, no
creatures are known to have ever existed
in this world comparable in size to these
reptiles of ages ago.
"What the mammals are in tho scale
of creation to-day the reptiles were in
the mcsozoic epoch. They swan the
seas. climbed trees, and were most
phenomenal jumpers, Some Of them
even llcw. While some were
herbivorous, living upon plants, others
were carnivOrOuS, preserving existence
by dcvouring their vcgetablc-eating
cousins The vegetarian reptiles were
enormous beasts, often as much as
seventy feet in length. They afforded
food for the carnivorops reptiles which
were smaller than the herbivorous
kind, just as lions and tigers nowadays
are smaller than oxen. Though bigger
che vegetarian creatures usually had no
armQr nor weapons to defend them
selves with. Their most powerful de-
Tense was kick. which, delivered with
hind leg fifteen feet in length, was
aSsuredly not by any means to be de-
Spiscd> The herbivorous reptiles of
shat epoch were mainly of three de-
scriptions:
"tirst was the biggest of AL animals
KNOWN to the world from The beginning
therco& to the present day. It's name
Wus the 'camaraSauyuS.' 1t went on all
tours and the vcrtebrao composing its
backbone were hollow-mcrc shells in
NiCG-llllCN Will warm air lFO1n inc
lungs, just as is the case with the bones
Of some birds to-day. Undoubtedly it
lived in the sea, walking along in water
deep enough to cover it's back. 1t fed
apon the vegetation along shore and, it's
ucclt was long and crane-lille.
Other hcrbivorous reptiles of the
same period had enormously long hind
legs, on which they were able to wade
far out into deep water after sea weeds
sud other food. These animals we're
particularly extraordinary in poiut of
tl,cir dental equipment, inasmuch as
each of them had about two thousand
grinders to chew with, arranged in
magazines Of five hundred each, like
cartridges.
''Thc so-callcd 'mcsozoic epoch, was
brought to IL close by the cataclySm, due
- contraction anCb consequently crump-
SDr of the Carth'S pruSt which nm