faunas and their development has helped us to understand 

 the changing aspects of life in time. Studies of the functional 

 importance of anatomical features in terms of internal phys- 

 iological mechanism or in environmental adjustment and 

 competition also aid in understanding and interpreting the 

 observed stages of the evolution of vertebrates. 



The renewed interest in comparative morphology today 

 supports the contention that old disciplines become more in- 



teresting with time. Subject matter and its interpretation, 

 like living organisms, undergoes changes with time and must 

 be continually re-examined. Although man has a long intel- 

 lectual phylogeny behind him, each of us must undergo an 

 educational ontogeny if we are to pick up and proceed from 

 where others have left off. Each individual seeks answers to 

 the riddles of life and culture, answers which in part can be 

 gained from the study of comparative morphology. 



4 . INTRODUCTION: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 



