Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-01-24

a
dinosaur. a brontosaurus, has been
found in Africa.
Prehistoric Big Cams Described.
Now that the dinosaur is with US,
potentially. big-game enthusiasts will
be interested in this description of
prehistoric big game, quoted from a
communication to the National Geo
graphic Society by Barpum Brown:
To-day we must go to Africa for
time in the dim distant past when
America produced animals larger than
any now living. That was so long
ago that nothing remains of these
creatures except their bones, and they
are turned to stone.
The animals are dinosaurs; for the
moment we will call them lizards
not the creeping, crawling kind, but
huge reptiles that stalked upright
through the jungles. rivaling in size
the elephant, the hippopotamus and
the rhinoceros.
The place is Alberta, Canada, and
years ago.
Host of Reptiles. Various Fo-ms.
'In these Aarshes of prehistoric
times dwelt a host of reptiles, some
large. some small and of various
but all sharing certain characteristics in
common and known as dinosaurs. Not
any were closely related to any living
reptile. yet they had some characteristics
common to the lizards, crocodiles and
birds.
"Of the kinds characteristic Of the
period one species, an herb-eater
named trachodon, was more than
thirty feet long and about fifteen
feet high when standing erect. It's
head. with broadly expanded mouth,
resembles that of duck, but back
of the beak there are more than
1000 small teeth. disposed in many
vertical rows. each containing sew
eral individual teeth. the new ones
coming up from below as the old
ones wore out.
The long hind legs terminated in
three large hoofed toes. and the
shorter, slender front feet were
partly webbed. A long. thin, slen-
der tail acted as a powerful swim
ming organ. and the body was COW
cred with rough tuberculate skin
Having no means of defense, it
lived chiefly in the water. where it
was free from the attacks of the
! flesh eaters.
Ornithomimus. n Bird Mimic.
along the shores lived ornitho-
minus, bird mimic. as the name i'm
plies. one of the most remarkable
| of the dinosaurs. A skeleton found
| in 1913 shows it to have been a
toothless creature, the jaws sheath
ed like the beak Of a bird.
The bones were light and pneu.
matte. like those of birds, but the
skeleton closely resembles that OF
| the fesh-eating dinosaurs. 1t was
| about twelve feet in length, with
| long. slender hind legs and shorter
! front legs. This was an agile crea
| ture. different from the typica
i fiesh-eaters in feeding habits ant
! doubtless a shore-living type tha
may have fed on crustaceans.
, "On land there were hoofed quad
rupedal herbivorous kinds, some, lik'
monoclonious. having an immense
| SKULL six feet in length. with three
horns, short one over each eye ant
longer one above the nose. Thu
| beak, like that of a turtle, and fur
| Their back in thes mouth there wer,
| rows of double-rooted teeth. The bacl
| of the skull was developed into z
| broad shield, with scalloped border
extending over the neck 1t was an
cestral to the later triceratops.
Strangest Creature OF All.
| "Strangest of all was the herbivor
Gus ankylosaurus. a stocky short
| legged. big-bodied creature. complete
lily incased in armor. Dermal plate
covered the skull, followed by rings o
plates over the neck and rows of fla
plates over the back and hips. 1t
tail terminated in a huge club, an,
MOSAIC of small, close-Set plates.
> was further protected by movabl
|. plate that could be dropped down lik
Z Il shutter over each eye, thus complet
\ ing it's protection from insects an,
/ formidable foes"