The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-04-08
HUNTING MONSTERS
Expedition TO Patagonia in Search of
Fossil Remains.
ONLY SCIENTISTS INCLUDED
some of the Most Remarkable of
Prehistoric Creatures n ave
Been Found In the
Strange Country.
ONLY SCIENTISTS INCLUDED

From the New York Journal
monster hunting expedition has
Just been sent out by Princeton college
1t is going TO Patagonia, where there
are more remarkable creatures dead
and alive than i'm any other part of the
world. The members of the party ex.
peet to make notable additions to the
specimens of the prehistoric creatures
now in this country.
| In Patagonia have been dug up re-
| mains of extinct birds whose leg bones
| were bigger than those of a horse
| These gigantic fowls were massively
built and probabl weighed as much as
500 pounds when full grown. They had
| enormous heads, which, in some in
stances, measured nearly two feet from
the back of the skull to the tip of the
| huge beak. Undoubtedly they were
carivorous, and. ii is believed, waders,
resembling herons in their habits They
could not fly at all.
rms strange country of Patagonia
was the home of vast numbers of gi-
| gantic sloths, representing numerous
species. Some of these queer animals
were as big as two elephants, but ex-
| tremely sluggish. They were very
stupid. having nearly the smallest
brains of any known mammals i'm pro-
portion to their size. Their food was
vegetables wholly, and IL was a habit
for the purpose of getting at the foli-
age. For this purpose the monster
would squat on its launches, its mas
sive hind legs and huge tail serving as
a sort of tripod, while II grasped the
tree trunk with it's forearms and
dragged it out of the ground.
Not less strange than the sloths were
the colossal glyptodons-precursor OF
the modern armadillos. Though bear
ing some sort Of resemblance to tor
toises, they were mammals They had
skeletons on the outside of their bodies
as well as on the inside; in other words.
they were clad in an impenetrable ar
NOR of bone from nose to tail. This
armor was solid and not flexible like
that of the armadillo. Full grown
specimens attained length of 10 feet
and weight of over a ton.
In those days there were multitudes
of huge creatures in Patagonia which
resembled modern ant eaters. of the
genus sloth, and fully IL feet long.
over the plains of Patagonia 100 900
years ago roamed herds of animals re-
lated to the modern llamas, which are
cousins to the camels of the old world
Some of them were far larger than any
camel, as is shown by bones that have
been dug up. The whole country is full
of the fossil remains of astonishing
creatures, whose species have long
since passed away. One object of the
Princeton expedition is to obtain data
that will throw light upon the relation
OF the fauna of that region to the fau-
ma of North America. 1t is believed
that many species of animals now in |
habiting the United Substantially |
certain rodents. such as the gopher |
originated In Patagonia and made their |
way gradually northward.
The modern fanna Of a.. Il
hardly less remarkable than that which /
is extinct. At the southern extremity |
or that country the guanacos-animals |
of the camel tribe-have a dying
place" IL is a spot to which all of
these beasts inhabiting the neighboring
plains repair at the approach of death
10 deposit their bones. Darwin first re-
corded this strange instinct of theirs.
and his observations have since been
fully confirmed by others. Accurately
speaking, there are several of these dy-
Ing places, the best known being on |
the banks of the Santa Cruz and Gal
Iegos rivers, where the valleys are COW
cred with dense thickets of bushes and
trees of stunted growth. There the
ground is scattered thickly with the
bones of countless dead generations |
the animals i'm most cases having
crawled before dying beneath and
among the bushes.
The strange armadillo, one of the
most ancient of surviving creatures,
figures conspicuously i'm the fables cur
'ent among the natives of Patagonia.
being represented as an animal fertile
N expedients and dipping other beasts.
the fox. just as Brer Rabbit
ioes. Snakes, venomous or otherwise.
ire its favorite prey. and IL kills them
actually by saving them in two with
ne serrated edges of its sharp. bony
hell. The armadillo seems to be proof
against the venom of the serpent. In
he same part of the world is found a
species of toad, the bite of
which is often fatal. 1t is extremely
lideous and bigger than a mans fist.
I snaps savagely at anything that
'omes near, hanging on with the tenac-
~ OF a bull dog. When teased IL swells
tself TO such an extent as TO appear as
about to burst.
There Is species of frog I'm Pata-
'onia known as wrestling frog" which
loes not hesitate TO attack human be-
ngs. DIR. w. II. Hudson. the natural
81, tells OF an adventure he had while
ut snipe shooting one day. when. peer
ng into the disused burrow of some
odent animal. he saw a burly looking
rog sitting within II. Though ID
Watched me attentively." he saws. the
rog remained perfectly motionIess.
nd this surprised me. Before | was
Efficiently near to make a grab. IL
prang straight at my hand. and. ,
atching two Of my fingers with its fore ,
-gs, administered hug so sudden and ,
lolent as TO cause an acute sensation ,
Z pain. Then II released its hold and
saped away" ,
Tn supDosi' i'm is that this frog re- !
es on its hugging power TO astonish
n adversary. and in the confusion ,
hitch follows IL escapes !
Among the extraordinary phenomena | .
bseryed on the plains Of Patagonia a
re storms OF dragon flies. They come Z
efore the southwest wind which blows :
'om the interior. IL Is a cold wind. /
xceedingly violent. Moving ahead OF :
lch gale are the dragon flies. ap- q
arently flying I'm dread. Most Of them a
re blue in color. with here and there a
N fnnfNfHna1 hrFf I