The Washington times., 1901-10-14
A FINE ICHfHfflotsAURUs. 70
The Museum of Natural History Re-
ceiycs a Present.

NEW YORK, Oct. ia particularly
fine fossil ichthyosaurus, presented to the
American Museum of Natural History by
Prof. Eberhard Fraas, of Stuttgart, has
just arrived at that institution. and as
soon as II can be unpacked, 1t will be
placed on exhibition. This kind OF fossil
reptile may some day be found in abund-
ance in America, but thus far few speci-
mems have been exhumed here. The great
majority of those which are known to
science were discovered in Europe. Ger
tain slate quarries at Holzmaden, Wurt-
emherg, constitute the most prolific source
known at the present time
inasmuch as the age of reptiles pre-
cedcd the age of mammals, the race
which this newly acquired fossil repre-
sents probably fiourished at least three or
-FOUR million years ago. perhaps longer.
The gigantic dinosaurs, so many of whose
bones have been found in America, were
practically contemporaries with the ich-
thyosaurs. but differed from them in
/" habitat and habits. The dinosaur lived
on land or In seacoast swamps. The ich-
thyosaur was distinctly a marine animal.
and infested the deep sea. Then, too, it
was much smaller than the dinosaur.
Some species may have exceeded twenty
degree of maturity at five or six. The
ichthyosaur, however. was a creature
which, like tree, kept on growing all its
life. and did not stop at given size on
attaining given age, as a horse or deer
does.
The name ichthyosqurus has been
adopted by naturalists because the animal
70 which 1t is assigned resembles a fish
Supernclally, although IL is not a true
L a
nm ana tail, for instance suggestive of
tne shatk, but 1t Is no more a fish than
tue pat 10 bird. An ichthyosaurus pos
sesSed an enormous head, practically no
neck, a tapering body. and huge tiippers,
sofnethlng like seals. Its long snout
ItstnDIed IN striking manner that of
i SerSain fossil dolphins. While not NAM
MAJ, therefore. like the seal dolphin, and
Vther cetdceans. its general form reminds
animals.
lcnthyosaurus remote ancestors, ike the
Whdie S. once lived on land exclusively A
stronger case can be made out in support
VI uch such a theory of descent for the plesio-
sdurus, another marine lizard than for
lne lchthyoSaurus, but the end is not vet
more evidence will eventually be adduced
no doubt The history of the plesiosaurus
IN IN. pe traced back further, from remains
Low Low dNaiiaDle Tor study, than that of its
nrst cousin. And 1T is noticeable that in
the carry types of plesiosaurus the bones
SoIIespghdlng 10 the arms and legs are
long while those representing the feet
are snort; like land animals. But a
SLOW, gradual evolution took place which
produced short arms and developed
enormous hippers at the ends.
Ihese bippers. stripped of their skin and
nesh. reveal four or five series of bones
like those of human hand The partic-
uIar species to which the museums re-
cent acquisition belongs. for instance, is
ichthyosaur quadriscissus, which means
an ichthyosaur whose fippers exhibit a
four finger system Now, lust that sort
OF transformation is going on today in
the case of the seals and offers, which be-
long to much more modern families than
the reptiles. And though this change can
not be traced quite so. far in the types of
ichthyosaurus now known, some evidence
OF the process is already to be found
there.