CHAPTEE YIII 



DRAGON^S OF SEA AND AIR 



If the Jurassic was remarkable for the size 

 and number of its dinosaurs, the Cretaceous 

 period was even more noteworthy for its va- 

 riety of extraordinary reptiles — Nature's final 

 effort before settling down to the creation of 

 every-day animals. The last of the dinosaurs 

 flourished during this period ; the seas teemed 

 with strange re^J tiles, 2:)lesiosaurs and mosa- 

 saurs, while accompanying them was the largest 

 turtle known to us, and the largest of true or 

 bony fishes. The life of the air was quite as 

 strange as that of the land and sea ; birds had 

 not attained their full develojDment, but existed 

 in curious shaj)es with toothed beaks,* while 

 the true rulers of the air wei-e flying reptiles 

 (pterodactyls), which were, on the other hand, 

 toothless. 



* See Early Birds and Mammals. 

 194 



