The Loup Fork Beds 131 



at the bottom of a puddle after the water has 

 evaporated. 



It has always been a problem to account for the 

 number of the animals represented here, and for the 

 fact that the bones are so scattered. All parts of 

 the skeletons are mingled in the greatest confusion, 

 with no two bones in a natural position. One is, of 

 course, forced, after an observation of this country, 

 to agree with Drs. Matthew and Hatcher that these 

 bones were deposited in the flood-plain of a running 

 stream and not in great lakes, as was believed by 

 older geologists. But the only supposition upon 

 which I can account for the intermingling of all the 

 bones of the skeletons on the bottom sandstone layer 

 is that the fine sand through which the bones were 

 distributed, becoming saturated with water, was 

 converted into a quicksand, in which the bones sank 

 until they reached the impenetrable layer below ; the 

 heavier bones of course being at the bottom. 



What caused the death of the countless individuals 

 in the Sternberg Quarry, is a question not easily 

 answered. The authorities quoted above believe 

 that during the Upper Miocene Period, there were 

 many water-courses separated, by slightly elevated 

 divides and broad flood-plains, with possibly here 

 and there small lakes, where the dense vegetation 

 had clogged some sluggish stream. But during a 

 rainy season of unusual duration, the whole region 



