Em'ly Birds and Mammals 



cutting or shearing only. Without a knowledge 

 of the skeleton it is difficult to say much as to 

 probable food and habits of the owners of these 

 teeth, but it is likely that they fed largely on 

 insects. The teeth 

 of insectivorous 

 animals are usually 

 provided with nu- 

 merous small points 

 for holding and 

 crushing such hard 

 and smooth objects 

 as beetles, and these 

 shearing teeth may 

 have served a simi- 

 lar purpose. Spe- 

 cial modifications have some relation to special 

 habits or to some particular kind of food and 

 peculiar manner of getting it. One of the best 

 instances of this is to be found in that remark- 

 able lemur, the aye-aye, in which the jaws are 

 very powerful and the front teeth like those 

 of a rodent, while the second finger is wonder- 

 fully long and slender. The meaning of these 



189 



Jaws of Jurassic mammals, en- 

 larged. Amphitherium, Tricono- 

 don, Plagiaulax. 



