TIIK .H'KASSlr SVSTK.M 



433 



B. LIFE OF THE PERIOD 



The Upper Jurassic fauna is merely a continuation of that which 

 preceded it, the genera heiug the same, though the species are for 

 tin- most part different, only about sixty species passing from the 

 Cornbrash into Oxford Clay. 



The most impressive feature of the later fauna is the abundance 

 of reptilian remains. The Jurassic period has been termed the 





Ki^. 142. SKELETON OF SCAPHOONATHU8 ( KASSI KosTKIs (J) FROM SOI.KS HOKKX, 

 OERMANY. 



" age of reptiles," and these creatures seemed to have reached the 

 climax of their dominion towards the close of the period. Their 

 numbers and the variety of their modifications are quite extra- 

 ordinary. Not only did they swarm in the seas and rivers, but 

 they peopled the land with gigantic herbivores and filled the air 

 with winged forms. They thus adapted themselves for all kinds 

 of food and all conditions of life with an elasticity of organisation 

 which 15 truly remarkable, and to which no parallel can be found 

 in the subsequent history of the world, unless it is among the 

 modern Mammalia, though no member of that class possesses 

 powers of flight comparable to those of the Pterodactyles. 



I' F 



