Animals Before Man 



the above figures represent the known facts in 

 the case. 



We can imagine this reptile sailing swiftly 

 over the sea, snapping up fishes right and left, 

 but from our standpoint it is a little difiicult 

 to imagine just what it did with its long wings 

 and beak when it came ashore. One can not helj) 

 thinking that they must have been sadly in the 

 way, the more that the hind legs were small 

 and weak, and the hands represented by 3 

 small fingers only. The wing of a pterodactyl, 

 it may be said, is built on a totally different 

 plan from that of a bat, and is still less like 

 that of a bird. Instead of a mng membrane 

 supported by the bones of the fingers, that of 

 the pterodactyl was spread by means of the 

 enormously developed little finger. 



Judging from other reptiles, the young were 

 hatched from eggs, and small eggs at that, as 

 the pelvis was narrow. But did Ornithostoma 

 build nests, like birds, or bury the eggs in the 

 sand, leaving them to be hatched by the heat 

 of the sun ? And what a curious sight it must 

 have been to watch Ornithostoma bringing 



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