Pace Twelve 



EVOLUTION 



February, 1928 



The Origin of Reptiles and Birds 



By Maynard Shipley 



npOWARD the close of the Age of Am- 

 phiblans extensive land elevations oc- 

 curred throughout the world, draining 

 swamps and drying up ponds and lakes. 

 Nearly all the continents were then con- 

 nected by land bridges, and cooler tem- 

 peratures prevailed. There was every in- 

 centive for an extensive development of 

 land animals. The transition from low lands 

 to high lands being gradual, many of the 

 Amphibia were sufficiently plastic to meet 

 the new conditions, by slow, progressive 

 adaptations, modifications of pre-existing 

 structures. 



It is quite possible that some fish-like 

 form gave rise to both Amphiljia and Rep- 

 tilia. Be this as it may, we know that, as 

 stated by Prof. H. F. Osborn, "the most 

 ancient solid-headed reptilian skull type 

 is very similar to that of the solid-headed 

 Amphibia. Bone by bone its parts in- 

 dicate a common descent from the skull 

 type of the fringe-finned fishes." 



Prof. Charles Schuchert remarks: "It is 

 becoming increasingly difficult to distin- 

 guish the late Paleozoic reptiles from their 

 stegocephalian associates." But the "mailed 

 headed" or armored Amphibia are not re- 

 garded as the most primitive of land verte- 

 brates. Evidence is rapidly accumulating. 

 Professor Schuchert tells us, to show that 

 the stegocephalians "arose in an older 

 stock (Protopoda) , which gave rise on the 

 one hand to the water-loving amphibians, 

 and on the other to the reptiles, which 

 became completely adapted to the dry 

 land." 



We know that the Amphibia and Rep- 

 tilia have as common ancestor a lung- 

 breathing and gill-breathing fish, and that 

 the Reptilia gave rise on the one hand to 

 the lowest or egg-laying mammals and 

 on the other to birds. 



The lizard-like reptiles gave rise to two 

 distinct types of dinosaurs, one of which, 

 bird-like ischium, shows many structures 

 similar to those of birds — e. g., brain, re- 

 productive organs, pelvic bones, three toes, 

 ankle bones united with the leg bones, etc. 

 Feathers are but modifications of reptilian 

 scales, with the edges frayed out. Like 

 the scales of lizards, feathers are a develop- 

 ment of the outer or horny layer of skin. 

 Not only is the skeletal structure of birds 

 essentially reptilian, but they are also much 

 alike in their developmental history, from 

 fertilization of the reptile-like egg to their 

 emergence from the envelope or shell. 

 Jurassic and Cretaceous birds possessed 

 reptile-like teeth, and some of them had 

 not yet lost their reptilian claws. 



Fortunately, two fossil specimens of the 

 Jurassic bird — the most primitive known — 

 were found in a slate quarry at Solen- 

 hofen, Bavaria. It was about the size of 

 a pigeon. So closely related to the rep. 

 tiles was this genus of bird, that if the 



skeleton had been found minus the feathers, 

 the comparative anatomist might reason- 

 ably have described the fossil as belonging 

 to the Reptilia, though it possessed some 

 distinctly bird-like characters. The first 

 specimen found possessed a long reptilian 

 vertebrated tail of twenty-one joints, with 

 one pair of quill-feathers attached to each 

 vertebra; whereas in all modern birds the 

 feathers are arranged like the sticks of a 

 fan, with the large feathers folding upon 

 one another. 



Archaeopteryx (Greek for ancient wing), 

 as this bird was named, had a bird-like 

 head and a bird-like brain; but its jaws, 

 or beak, instead of being of horn, as in 

 modern birds, were provided with sharp 

 reptilian teeth. It appears that the head 

 and neck were devoid of feathers, but 

 the legs were equipped with quill feathers. 

 The wing retained three fingers with rep- 

 tile-like claws, and the bones of the palm 

 (metacarpals) were free from one another. 

 The fingers had the same number of 

 joints as are found in lizards. The ver- 

 tebrae were biconcave, as in fish and some 

 reptiles. The breast-bone ("keel'') was 

 but slightly developed: whereas in modern 

 birds the keel is relatively large, affording 

 abundant room for the attachment of 

 muscles. Archaeopteryx was a poor flyer, 

 probably using its primitive wings fol 

 gliding or soaring through the air. (The 

 Pterodactyl, or flying reptile, which de- 

 veloped quite differently, was a far better 

 flyer than the earliest true bird.) 



Here, then, we have another non-missing 

 link, a transition stage in the evolution of 

 dinosaur-like reptiles into birds as we 

 know them. 



"TENNESSEE 



"They Can't Make a Monkey Out of Me" 



(Fundamentalist Ditt\) 



I'm from good old Tennessee, 



I'm a plain out-spoken man. 



I go to church on Sundays, 



And do my neighbor when I can. 



This world wus made in seven days, 



The good book tells us so: — 



If anyone doubts it, scoffs or flouts it 



We all know where he'll go ! ! 



They're tryin' to upset the his'tty 



Of how the world began: — 



They've got a thriller 



That a big goriller 



Wus the ancestor of man. 



Did y' ever hear such a fool idee? 



It seems unfair to me: — 



For my face is pale and I've got no tail. 



And I've never climbed a tree!! 



Refrain 



Oh! the things they do 



And the things they say 



Won't go in Tennessee! 



They can shout, they can hoot 



They can evolute 



In some other state maybe. 



When they say I come from monkeydom 



They insult my family tree!! 



They can teach, they can preach, 



They can get up an' screech. 



But not in Tennessee; 



An' I'm goin' to shout 



'Til I drive 'em out, 



For they can't make a monkey out o' me ! ! 



(Copyright 1928 by Shafter Howard. 

 Reprinted by permission) 



EVOLUTION LOST 



Evolution was put out of business in 

 a debate held January 31st in City College, 

 Detroit, between Dr. Newman Dorland of 

 Chicago and Harry Rimmer of the funda- 

 mentalist Research Science Bureau. One 

 of our readers, A. D. Latham, reports: 



"Mr. Rimmer produced fossils to prove 

 that the evidence of Paleontology con- 

 tradicts the evolution theory; named so 

 many various strata formations in Cali- 

 fornia, Mexico, Alaska, Europe, etc., where 

 the oldest is on top and the newest on 

 the bottom or all mixed up that geo- 

 logical disturbance was not acceptable; 

 said there is not a particle of biological 

 evidence to show transmutation of species 

 and hurled a defi at science to prove it. 

 He spent half an hour to show how ridicu- 

 lous the vestigial theory is and wound up 

 with a peroration to the effect that science 

 first forms an opinion and then misin- 

 terprets facts to fit that opinion. 



"A vote was taken. Needless to say, 

 anti-evolution won by a majority of 1500 

 against 20 for evolution." 



This was not in back-woods Tennessee, 



DEBATE IN NEW ORLEANS 



W. B. Riley of the World's Christian 

 Fundamentals Association and Charles 

 Smith of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Atheism will debate un- 

 der the auspices of Delta Gamma Sigma 

 Lecture Bureau in Jerusalem Temple, St. 

 Charles Ave. and Clio Street, New Or- 

 leans, March 14th and 15th. 



The question for the first evening is: 

 "Is Evolution a Fake Philosophy?" The 

 second: "Should Evolution Be Taught as 

 An Established Science in Tax Supported 

 Schools?" 



Readers having open minded friends in 

 New Orleans will confer a favor by send- 

 ing us their names and addresses so that 

 we may mail them sample copies of 

 Evolution in advance of this debate. 



but in a metropolitan community of the 

 "intelligent" North. Those evolutionists who 

 think that Darwinism is already univers- 

 ally accepted and that there is no need 

 for a publication such as this will have a 

 rude awakening some of these days. 



