VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY 221 



dinosaurs of Great Britain in a series of splendidly illus- 

 trated monographs, but extended his researches to the 

 curious reptilian forms from the Karroo formation of 

 South Africa. It was to him, moreover, that the estab- 

 lishment of the true position of the famous Archceopteryx 

 as the earliest known bird and not a reptile is due. Von 

 Meyer also enriched the literature of fossil reptiles, 

 discussing exhaustively those occurring in Germany, 

 while Huxley's classic work on the crocodiles as well as 

 on dinosaurs, and the labors of Buckland, Fraas, Koken, 

 Von Huene, Gaudry, Hulke, Seeley, and Lydekker have 

 added immensely to our knowledge of the group. 



Of the birds, which at best are rare as fossils, our 

 knowledge, especially of the huge flightless moas, is due 

 largely again to Owen, and his realization of the syste- 

 matic position of Archceopteryx has already been men- 

 tioned. 



The mammals were, perhaps, the most prolific source 

 of paleontological research during the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, for, as Zittel has said, Cuvier's famous investiga- 

 tions on the fossil bones, mentioned above, not only 

 contain the principles of comparative osteology, but also 

 show in a manner which has never been surpassed how 

 fossil vertebrates ought to be studied, and what are the 

 broad inductions which may be drawn from a series of 

 methodical observations. Such was Cuvier's influence 

 that until Darwin began to interest himself in mammalian 

 paleontology the study of these forms was conducted 

 entirely along the lines indicated by the French savant. 

 This was seen in a large work, Osteology of Recent and 

 Fossil Mammalia, by De Blainville, which, although not 

 up to the standard set by the master, is nevertheless a 

 notable contribution, as was also the Osteology prepared 

 by Pander and D 'Alton. A summary of the knowledge of 

 the fossil Mammalia up to the year 1847 is contained in 

 Giebel's Fauna der Vorwelt, and Lydekker has done for 

 the mammals in the British Museum what Smith Wood- 

 ward did for the fishes, producing vastly more than the 

 mere catalogue which the title implies. 



The first work wherein the fossil mammals were 

 treated genealogically was Gaudry 's Enchainements du 

 Monde Animal, written in 1878. Other work on the 



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