The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-18
MONDAY, DECEMBER IS, 1905.
AN uGLY SPECIMEN.

When the archeologists, paleontolo- gists and other 'oIogists make excur- sions into "the lost land of tho dodo." as one writer expresses 1t, they find some strange things. Come to think of it. we are reminded that the ex- precision is not precisely correct, for 1t Is not yet certain that this wonder fui dodo does not yet survive on the island of Mauritisis. That it is gen. orally regarded as belonging to an ex- tinct family of birds is true, but there seems little doubt that living speci- mems have been seen within a com paratively recent period, and 1t may be that they yet live in the remote and unexplored portions of the island.
 However. we are not intending to write a disquisition on the dodo. but to speak of the wonderful prehistoric monster recently unearthed in Mon tana. where. according to the opinions of scientists, the bones had lain at least eight million years. That is a long time for even the Tyrannosaurus Rex. as they have named him. to re- main buried. and we don't know how the wise men fix the date, but that is their job and we are not going to fs evidently older than Adam, and we doubt If he ever saw one. If he did he forgot to name it.
 This animal, whose name signifies &.King of the Saurians," or something like that, is thought to be the largest fighting and flesh-eating animal that ever lived. True, they have found skeletons of the larger animals, but they were not of the carniverous kind, lists as this one bears. And he was far from being a baby in size. The skeleton shows that he was fully forty feet in length and his live weight is estimated at forty tons, or eighty thousand pounds. If living in large numbers now they might break down the meat trust.
 these old residents, this one was built on the kangaroo plan. His first legs were comparatively short, but power full, armed with strong and sharp claws, and his saw-like teeth were q foot long and fashioned for both cut ting and tearing. But it was in his tremendous hinder legs and feet that his great strength lay. Though he could walk on four feet he was at his best when standing or walking up- right, or advancing by enormous jumps, kangaroo fashion. in which his great tail evidently helped him. Each
 
 and the measurement of the skeleton shows that each of these feet covered about twelve square feet of ground. when spread out. The opinion of those who have studied the animals skeleton Is that in fighting or seizing its prey 1t reared itself on the hinder feet and used its front claws and Its teeth for business.
 These are some of the points about the latest find. and it must be admit ted that he would be a serious prop osition to meet in the dark-or in the daytime, for that matter. We shrink from the thought of being attacked by a grizzly bear, but an animal a hun dred times larger and a thousand times ugIier would be enough to paralyze a man. We doubt if our strenuous President would care to tackle such game. So far as we can discover there were no men living in his day for him to fight, but we imagine that he cut a wide swath among the other mem bers of the brute creation. That he deserved his title of Rex is hardly to be doubted, judging from his picture and the descriptions given of him. Let us be thankful that his kind has passed away.