102 PAST HISTORY OF ANIMALS 



It is almost certain that there has been no sudden 

 extinction of any animal type. There is no evidence of 

 universal cataclysm, though local floods, earthquakes, and 

 volcanic eruptions occurred in the past, as they do still, 

 with disastrous results to fauna and flora. In many cases 

 the waning away of an order, or even of a class of animals, 

 may be associated with the appearance of some formidable 

 new competitors ; thus cuttle-fish would tend to exter- 

 minate Trilobites, just as man is rapidly and often inex- 

 cusably annihilating many kinds of beasts and birds. 

 Apart from the struggle with competitors, it is con- 

 ceivable that some stereotyped animals were unable to 

 accommodate themselves to changes in their surroundings, 

 and also that some fell victims to their own constitutions, 

 becoming too large, too sluggish, too calcareous — in 

 short, too extreme. 



Appearance of animals in time. — Such tables as those given here are 

 apt to be misleading, in that they convey the impression that the great 

 types of structure have appeared suddenly. It must be noted that any 

 apparent abruptness is merely due to incompleteness of knowledge or 

 inaccuracy of expression. The table is a mere list of a few important 

 historical events, but one must fully realise that they are not isolated 

 facts, that the present lay hidden in the past and has gradually grown 

 out of it. Of the relative length of the periods represented here we 

 know almost nothing, and we are also ignorant of the earliest ages in 

 which life began. But the general result is clear. We find that in the 

 Cambrian rocks, before Fishes appeared, the great Invertebrate classes 

 were represented, though as yet but feebly. As we pass upwards they 

 increase in number and in differentiation. Again, Fishes precede 

 Amphibians, Amphibians are historically older than Reptiles, and many 

 types of Reptiles are much older than Birds. In short, in the course 

 of the ages life has been slowly creeping upwards. 



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