South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-07-24


millions OF years later in the MoSassur and
to-day In certain fishes and reptiles
These sDines were not solely scare
organs 70 be erected when in battle. bui
added much to his protection from rear
attacks Of sharks and fellow Placoderms
We see the same action IN the mod
arn dog. its back hair arising crest
ike when about 10 growl or bark
Whether Titanichthys was ances
trsl or not 70 later animals. it 81 ap
- parent that many OF his functions re
appeared as parallels and were
handed down through every succeed
ing generation. To my mind. his eX.
tlnctiOn was due more 20 the absence oi
a neck than any other feature. The neck
plays the most important par in the high
types OF creatures Of today Tipa section
OF modern vertebra extending into The
neck has seven bones so Joined as 10 make
the neck movable and graceful Without
a neck Tttanichthys could have no glands
70 promote his growth. nor saliva 20 lubri
cate his food for swallowing He grabbed
his food and threw 70 directly snt0 bic
stomach thereby losing the en- joymeut
given the modern spenders who seize
table by the restaurant window and eat
slowly so as 70 hold IT conspicuousIy for
hours
In Devonian times OF - 600 600 years
covered the territory from northwestern
New York. Ohio Wisconsin Michigan
parts Of Kentucky Iowa and the region o.,
the Great Lakes The Ohio section must
have had abysmal depths as it contained
numerous monsters. the remains OF which
have not been found elsewhere on the con
tinent The massive layers o. shaIes-
Huron, Erie and Cleveland shales-de
posted are $500 feet thick
In these abysses Titanichthvs Dini-h
thys and related forms reigned supreme
near 1000 600 years The sna eS deposited
show a high content Of carbonaceou ma
rerial and hence the resemblance TO the
Sargasso Sea
According 70 Williams the fauna Of fhs
waters included q few generally minute
vertebrates. plants. spOre cases Of rhizo
carDs and large fish These peculiaritIes
indicate Qu;er conditions Of sedimentati0n
not enough disturbed by currents or cave
motions 20 affect the smoothness % the
sediments on the bottom and show that
the sources Of the sediments were an
considerable distance T. is possible that
a coating OF the surface OF The sea by
living vegetation may account for the black
character OF the sediments
Dr. Husakof points out the periods iu
which the successive forms appeared IN
luF f1uIOu- Iur -DNFb. HrlAlD. a. me NH
is found the fossil remains Of Diniahthys
herzeri differing I'm shape but almost ar
large as the placoderms which followed
IT,
This monster. with powerful teeth did
not last long and is replaced n The
higher levels by placoderms with knife
Ike cutting blades in the jaws. without
teeth
What then was the origin ~ The knife
blades Over In New York state section
OF the sea about The same time was the
placoderm Dinichthys newberrvi Tith -It
ting knife blades. This species entered The
Ohio section and replaced Hsrzeu Was
n p ancestral 20 the TWO later species Din
ichthys iLterm adius and TERRELL and other
species o. he formation with cutting knife
blades? There are not enough remains ~
him yet discovered 20 snow.
When We consider that some seven
species OF Dinichthys are known from me
Cleveland shaies. and that individuals
considering the limited locality were rels
lively abundant We must conclude that
competition between the monsters vas
severe All o. them finally became *
tinct leaving no known relatives or de
scendants that can a. yet VITA marerlA
30 far discovered. be- positively traced e
them.
As whole. they appear 90 stand va
or on one side OF the main line evolution
OF species