The San Francisco call., 1908-03-08


he has reptile, beast or bird feet.
Sometimes he takes his name from the
locality where his bones have been dis
covered: in this way we have sauro-
poda saurs, which signifies reptile foot
ed: the theropoda saurs, meaning beast
footed, and ornithosaurs. bird footed.
The best field in which to search for
the remains of saurs is wyoming. but
it is possible that there are other. fields
near by which remain undiscovered.
On the Pacific slope they are toften
found in proximity to coal meas
ures, and these coa- measures were
islands during the cretaceous period.
and were covered with q profuse
growth of vegetation which made
them a good home for the saurs.
In California. during the cretaceous
period, much of the land was under
water. A strip of land about $50 miles
wide and a chain OF islands along the
coast were separated from the states
by about 1000 miles of water. Shasta
county is credited with once having
owned a saurian 70 feet long. and If
one will observe the bedrock of creta-
ceous times he may see the tracks of
saurian made as he dragged his heavy
tail through the vast acres of mud
which surrounded him.
A close study of the saurs reveals
nunberless instances where nature has
come to the aid of her creations. The
bones OF the sasrian were full of cav
tiles for the purpose o. making them
light. Their heads were extremely
email: the brain cavity likewise, with
very few. convoiutions. They lived in
time when the earth enjoyed her Eden
days; all was serene and still. and the
beauty of the tropic climate was over
all. The ground was covered with a
thick growth OF moss. lerns and fla gs,
interspersed with a little grass. Sew
eral species of birds dwelt among their
huge brethren, the saurs, and this was
the history of the cretaceous age for
many thousands OF years.
But. f1naoy, the swamp lands which
covered the enrth began to disappear
to be snppIanted by extensive grassy
plains, and then the cretaceouss age be-
came history. The curtain falls on the
scene and when il rises again the saur
is no more. We are in the tertiary
epoch. and behold beasts OF the field
instead of gi.eat animals in the swa1nps.
The thousands of miles of sea east of
the Sierra EevadHs disappear. Nevada.
Utah. Colorado and Kansas appear as
dry land, with many large fresh water
lakes and rivers. California is now an
part of the American contirent
The s'tricerotops prorsus," which signi-
W
saurian. Another species accompanied
him almost to the end. a huge binAd,
which stood from 90 to so feet high.
named the claosaur. The claosarrs fed
from the tree tops while the triccrotops
prorsus was content to feed frons--tlae
ground. The trlcerctops prorsus often
had head from to 10 fset in length
and was an immense animal.
The Curious Ungulates
If we look for tracks in the bedrock.
shaIe. claystone and tufra OF the ter
tiary period we shall see the footprints
of the unguIate, which means hoofs.
The first ungulates wers queer AMI
mails: their feet were shaped much like
human hand, with this difference, on
the end OF each finger was little hoof.
Tho ungulate were vegetarians, their
feet being adapted for use on soft.
boggy ground, but as they advanced or
as the bogs became harder their little
hoofs consolidated into one or two
toes. Three varieties came sirnultane-
ousIy into existenes; two were mon
sters, which often attained the size of
a mastodon or mammoth Their toes
were short and stuhby and they soon
gave way to other species which are,
doubtless. these same mammals. only
more advanced and refined.
The cretaceous epoch followfne fha
jurassio contained no mammals. or a
least none has been found belonging 60
that period. All animals were ovipa-
riAns. which means egg layers. Enter
ing the tertiary period, the land bA-
comes thickIy populated with mammals.
The question arises: where did they
come from?" A specimen which would
connect the saurs with the mAmmals
would be a far moro valuahls addItion
to natural history than tailIess
monkey or a long tailed man. Certain
geologists suggest that the mammaIs
which populated the earth after tho
OF the saurs migrated
from some country where they had
previously developed. But, as vet, such
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