Dragons of Sea and Air 



3 to 4 feet across. The silver king of to-day is 

 practically toothless, his teeth are so very 

 small, but this Cretaceous king had the front 

 of his massive Jaws armed with a number of 

 spike-like teeth from 1 to 2| inches long, and 

 back of these were a few small, sharp, cutting 

 teeth. 



This fish had at least two smaller relatives 

 with equally w^ell-armed jaws, but next to him 

 in size was one of the salmon family, Pachyrlii- 

 zodus^ thick-rooted tooth, which attained a 

 length of 8 feet. 



There were many other smaller fishes, but 

 almost without exception they carry a badge of 

 predatory life about them in the shape of teeth 

 fitted for cutting, tearing, or holding. In fact, 

 while all through the previous history of the 

 world the majority of animals were flesh-eaters. 

 Cretaceous time seems to have witnessed an 

 unusual development of large and powerful 

 species. 



Modern types of sharks were appearing, in- 

 cluding the first examples of such genera as 

 CarcJiarodon, Carcharias and Lariina, These 



197 



