THE AGE OF REPTILES 



had as many as seventy-six bones, or vertebrae, which is 

 more than any other animal living or extinct ever pos- 

 sessed. A smaller order of crocodiles appeared and 

 flourished for a time ; and the ancestors of the sea 

 turtles, which were to enjoy so long a reign, began to 

 make their first appearance. 



Among the land animals the Dinosaurs 1 (or the " fear- 

 ful * saurians) attained remarkable size and diversity, and 

 their dominant species were easily lords of the reptile 

 horde. They developed not only as flesh-eating monsters, 

 but also in vegetable-eating species. Of the flesh-eaters 

 the Ceratosaurus was the most terrific. It was only seven- 

 teen feet long, but when standing on its powerful hind legs 

 it could have looked in at most first-floor windows, and it 

 used its cruel fore limbs for seizing and holding prey. 

 Imagine a kangaroo with the teeth of a crocodile, the 

 size of an elephant, and the ferocity of a tiger and you 

 will have a fair idea of what you would have met in a 

 Ceratosaurus. 



The vegetarian Dinosaurs first became known in this 

 system, but their development was so extraordinary that 

 they soon outranked the flesh-eaters both in size and 

 diversity. Among these the Brontosaurus attained the 

 extraordinary length of sixty feet, and possibly more. It 

 walked on its four legs, and is one of the largest known of 

 all land animals. This enormous creature in spite of all 

 its size and bulk was yet rather weak than strong. Its 

 general organisation was unwieldy; the head was very 

 small, and the brain hardly bigger than a walnut. The 



1 From Gr. " deinos," fearful. 

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