DRAGONS OF OLD TIME 145 



But the most interesting opinion connected with this dis- 

 covery is that the Anchisaurus was probably the creature 

 that made some of the tracks found in the strata in which its 

 remains were buried up (see chap. II., p. 44). For half a 

 century or more these tracks have been a fruitful source of con- 

 tention, and now at last we seem to be literally " on the track " 

 "of one of the many antediluvian creatures that made them. This 

 is very satisfactory, and shows that time solves most things. 

 Professor Marsh points out that, on a firm but moist beach, only 

 three-toed impressions would have been left by the hind feet, and 

 the tail could have been kept free from the ground. On a soft 

 muddy shore, the claw of the first toe of the hind foot would have 

 left its mark, and perhaps the tail also might have touched the 

 ground. As we have already remarked, such additional im- 

 pressions have been found on the Connecticut Sandstones (see 

 Plate I.). 



One other carnivorous Dinosaur, named Ammosaurus by Pro- 

 fessor Marsh, and allied to the one above described, is also partly 

 know r n in the same strata, but we cannot at present give any 

 account of it. One or two other forms from Triassic strata are 

 only imperfectly known ; such as the Thecodontosaurus, from the 

 Triassic conglomerate of Clifton, Bristol, and Zanclodon, from 

 Germany and South Africa. 



Taking one consideration with another, there can be but little 

 doubt that Dinosaurs flourished vigorously during the period of 

 the New Ked Sandstone. We have two kinds of evidence to con- 

 firm such a conclusion ; one is the large number and variety of 

 footprints which they have left behind although, of course, we 

 cannot suppose that they were all made by Dinosaurs ; for, as we 

 have seen, some were probably due to tortoises, while others were 

 probably made by Labyrinthodonts and perhaps even Anomodonts. 



