The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-06-19
REPTILES OF THE PAST.
Degenerate Survivors of Those of
the Long Ago.
Monster. which walked the Earth and
SWAN the SEES Ages and Ages Ago
Some Ancient Phenomenal
jumper and f1yers-

Monster. which walked the Earth and
SWAN the SEES Ages and Ages Ago
Some Ancient Phenomenal
jumper and Flyers
Reptiles as they are found Ia the
world at the present day are but de-
generate survivors of theh kind as
they existed in epochs long ago" said
Prof. Cope to a 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 were no flying creatures, no
marine swimmers, no gigantic types,
and no especially herbivorous kinds.
AT the close of the conforming
period there occurred great emergence
of land from the water and reptilian
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-
posits in lagoons, lakes and estuaries
have been calculated for their preser-
vation. From this point of time, how
ever. began what may appropriately be
called the epoch of reptiles. The pale
oZoic period was brought to a close 10y
IA great upheayal, due to contraction OF
the earth's crust. by which the Allie
ghanies 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-thnt il, lord of all existing
| things. Reptiles walked upon land.
navigated the water, flew through the
! air. and. in short. pursued every avenue
! of existence that is zoologically CON
! ceivablc.
| 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
! vclop in huge proportions. Why they
| grew 80 big no one knows. hut il may
have been because they had no rivals
! in the struggle for existence; they had
J all they wanted To eat and naturally
! increased in bulk. At all events no
creatures are known tn have ever existed
in this world comparable in size to these
reptiles of ages ago.
What the mammals are in the 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 flew While some were
herbivorous. living upon plants, others
! were carnivorous, preserving existence
by devouring their vegetable-eating
I -op-I.S
| enormous beasts, often as much a
seventy feet in length. They afforded
! food for the carnivorous reptiles. which
were smaller than the herbivorous
Kind. Just as lions and 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
n hind leg fifteen feet in length, was
assuredly not by any means to be de-
spised. The herbivorous reptiles Of
! that epoch were mainly Of three de-
| scriptions:
First was the biggest of all animals
! known To the world from the beginning
thereof to the present day. Its name
was the 'camarasaurus.' 1t went on al
fours and the vertebre composing it
backbone were hollow-mere shells in
fact-filled with warm air from tn,
lungs, just as is the case with the bone.
of some birds to-day. Undoubtedly il
lived in the sea. walking along in water
deep enough to cover its back. 1t fec
upon the vegetation along shore and il,
neck was long and crane-lile.
Other herbivorous reptiles Of tn,
same period had enormously long hint
legs on which they were able to wad,
far out into deep water after sea weeds
and other food. These animals wer,
particularly extraordinary in point %
their dental equipment, inasmuch a:
each of them had about two Thousand
grinders To chew with, arranged il
magazines of five hundred each, lik,
cartridges.
Another species Of herbivorous rep
tiles lived upon land but they were sc
powerfully armed that they were able
to oppose formidable defense against
attack. Some of them had huge horns
on their heads like bulls, while other:
bore similar weapons above their noses
like the rhinoceri Of to-day. SO wei
able were they to defend themselve
that they lived and multiplied in th'
! same regions with the most ferociou
| of the carnivorouS monsters
Thus you will understand that ther,
were three kinds of herbivorous giant
in the mesozoic epoch There was tn,
'camarasaurus,' which fed neck dec
along the seashore, its hollow baclSbon
serving as a float and its solid legs ant
tail for anchors, next was the kangaroo
like 'hadrosauruS.' which waded on
upon its hind legs into deep water il
! search of food, and finally, there wa
the dangerous 'agathaumas, with enor
nous horns.
The so-called 'mesozoic epoch wa
brought To n close by the cataclysm, du
to contraction and consequently crumI
ling of the earth's crust, which up
heaved the Rocky mountains and tn
Andes on this hemisphere and the Alps
Pyrenees. Balkans and Himalayas ol
the other side of the world Incidental
ly To this tremendous alteration in tn
face of the earth all these giant reptile
were wiped out of existence Thi
event opened what is called to-day TN
tertiary epoch 1t is in the tertiar
epoch that we live now. At the begir
ming of this epoch the only reptile
which survived were the snakes, lizard.
turtles and crocodiles, all of them II
sembling closely those of their kin
which exist to-day. OF the turtles
may be said that they represent tn
most ancient type of all vertebrates, n
, sembling closely as they do the reptile
of their kind which existed so far bac
as the mesozoic era.