The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-08-07
REPTILES OF THE PAST.
Degenerate Survivors Of Those of
the Long Ago.
Monsters Which Walked tho Earth md
S~om tho Seas Ages and Ages Aco
Some Ancient Phenomenal
Jumpers and Flyers

jumpers and Flyers.
Reptiles as they arc found IN the
world ut the present day arc but de
9Snerate survivors tof their kind as
eaey existed in epochs long ago. said
Prof. Cope to u writer for the Washing
ton Star. ''rhe first reptiles of the
world made their appearance at the
close of the pnleozoic period, when the
! coal was In process of formation. They
were all land animals. Among them
there were no flying creatures, no
marine swimmers, no gigantic types,
and no especially herbivorous kinds
AT the close Of the conforming
period there occurred q great cmergencc
OF land from the water and rcptilian
life rapidly spread end grew. The rep
tiles which had previously existed were
all of one kind. Their remaips are
found in this country wherever the de-
posts in lagOons, lakes and estunrics
have been calculated for their prcscr-
vation. From this point of time, how
ever, began what may appropriately DC
called the epoch of reptiles. The pale
o1oic period was brought to close by
a great upheavul, due to contraction of
the carths crust by which the Allie
ghanies and the Ural system were up
lifted. Then bcg1n what is called the
'mnsozoic epoch, during which the
reptiles may be sold to have run crea-
ton That Is to say, they were the
highest order Of beings ut thut time
alive. What man is now the reptile
WAS thcn-that is. lord of all existin9
things. Reptiles walked upon land,
navigated the water, flew through the
air, and, i'll short, pursued every avenue
of existence that is zcologic<lly con
ceiveble.
EARLY IN the mcscooic 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 begun to de-
velOp in huge proportions Why they
grew so big no one knows, but 1t may
have been because they had no rivals
In the struggle for existence; they had
all they wanted TO cot and naturally
increased In bulk At oil 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 mesozoic epoch. They swan the
seas, climbed trees, and were most
phenomenal jumpers Some of them
even flew. While some were
hcrbivorous, living upon plants, others
were carnivorous, preserving existence
by dcvouring their vegeta ble-eating
enormous beasts, often Is much as
~
food for the carnivorons reptiles, which
were smaller than the hcrbivorous
kind, just as lions md tigers nowadays
are smaller than oxen Though bigger
the vegetarian creatures usually had no
armor 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 hcrbivorous reptiles Of
that epoch were mainly OF three de-
scriptions:
first was the biggest of all ani1nals
known To the world from the beginning
thereof to the present day. Its name
was the 'canarasaurus.' II went ON ell
fot;rs ard the vcrtcb-tc composing It's
backbone were holloov-merc shells in
fact-6llcd with warm air from the
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 its back. It fed
upon the vegetation along shore and its
neck WAS long and cranc-lille.
"Othcr herbivorous 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
and other food. These animals were
particularly extraordinary in point of
their dental equipment, inasmnch as
each of them had about two thousand
grinders to chew with. arranged in
magazines OF five hundred each. like
cartridges.
Another species of herbivorous rep
tiles lived upon land, but they were so
powerfully armed that they wore able
TO oppose formidable defense against
attack. Some Of them had hinge horns
ON their heads like bulls, while others
bore similar weapons above their noses,
like the rhinoccri of to-day. So we'll
able were they TO defend themselves
that they lived and multiplied in the
same regions with the most ferocious
of the carnivOrOuS monsters
Thus you will understand that there
we're three kinds of herbivorous giants
in the mesozoic epoch. There wns the
'caInarasaur,is,' which fed neck deep
along the scnshorc, it's hollow backbone
serving as u float and its solid legs and
tail for anchors. next was the kangaroo
like 'hadrosauEus,' which waded out
upon its hind legs into deep water in
search Of food. and finally, there was
the dangerous 'ngathaumas' with enor-