106 ANIMALS OF THE PAST 



species, and from our West comes a near rela- 

 tive, Ceratosaurus, the nose-horned lizard, a 

 queer beast with tiny fore legs, powerful, sharp- 

 clawed hind feet, and well-armed jaws. A 

 most formidable foe he seems, the more that 

 the hollow bones speak of active movements, 

 and Professor Cope pictured him, or a near 

 relative, vigorously engaged in combat with 

 his fellows, or preying upon the huge but help- 

 less herbivores of the marshes, leaping, biting, 

 and tearing his enemy to pieces with tooth and 

 claw. 



Professor Osborn, on the other hand, is in- 

 clined to consider him as a reptilian hyena, 

 feeding upon carrion, although one can but 

 feel that such an armament is not entirely in 

 the interests of peace. 



Last, but by no means least, are the Stego- 

 saurs, or plated lizards, for not only were they 

 beasts of goodly size, but they were among the 

 most singular of all known animals, singular 

 even for Dinosaurs. They had diminutive 

 heads, small fore legs, long tails armed on 

 either side near the tip, with two pairs of large 

 spines, while from these spines to the neck 



