90 EVOLUTION IN THE PAST 



claimed not only on land and sea, but also in the air. " Creep- 

 ing " is indeed quite an inadequate appellation for the 

 fraternity in Jurassic, and even in earlier times. 



DINOSAURS Dinosaurs were now the leaders. Vegetarian as well as 

 flesh-eating forms were extraordinarily abundant ; and they 

 presented the most extravagant and grotesque display of 

 life that has ever existed on earth. 



In both hemispheres they were in their glory ; but evidence 

 points to the western parts of the North American continent 

 as the scene of their grandest and wildest development. 

 Here gigantic brutes were roaming, in the presence of which 

 the largest elephant would have cut a poor figure. Take, 

 for instance, the Diplodocus family, so named from certain 

 branched or " double-beam " bones which its members 

 possessed on the under-part of the tail. Some of these 

 creatures were over eighty feet in length, and could raise 

 their heads some thirty-five feet above the ground. They 

 seem to have possessed little or no armour : but the tail was 

 doubtless serviceable for dealing blows. The position of the 

 nostrils high up the head points to aquatic habits ; and 

 the animals, no doubt, subsisted mainly on the bed-herbage 

 of lakes and rivers. In such haunts, the long neck would be 

 of great service, enabling the animal to stand and browse, 

 even in moderately deep water ; and, when disposed, to bring 

 its head above the surface. It, moreover, carried up the 

 head as a watch-tower, and foes necessitated vigilance. The 

 feet were fairly well adapted for land-locomotion ; but their 

 construction is suggestive of a sprawling gait. The animals 

 must have had to exercise great caution in swampy districts : 

 for if by chance they strayed into miry ground, there they 

 must have remained. 



No remains of the Diplodocus family have been found out- 

 side the western area of the United States. Other very big 

 herbivorous dinosaurs were also living in those regions 

 (Atlantosauridce). Many of these measured sixty feet from 

 snout to tail-end (Brontosaurus) ; whilst a few forms were- 

 twice that length (Atlantosaurus). Remains of some animals 

 belonging to this family have been found in England near 

 Peterborough (Cetiosaurus Leedsi). In order to keep them- 



