Animals Before Man 



of the life of the time were the presence of 

 large dinosaurs and small mammals ; turtles, 

 many related to our soft-shelled species, v^ere 

 common, and crocodiles numerous. The' lung- 

 fishes had become reduced to one or two genera, 

 and armored fishes, relatives of our living gars, 

 had increased. Thus, while the extraordinary 

 size, remarkable appearance, and great abun- 

 dance of dinosaurs make this group of animals 

 so prominent as to overshadow all other forms 

 of Jurassic life, yet these were by no means 

 wanting. 



Differences appear between the life of our 

 continent and that of Europe, and for some 

 reason North America seems to have lagged 

 behind. These sea-lizards, ichthyosaurs and 

 plesiosaurs, were common in Europe during 

 the Jurassic, and so were the flying reptiles, 

 pterodactyls. But here plesiosaurs are lacking, 

 pterodactyls very rare, and ichthyosaurs repre- 

 sented by a toothless species. The absence of 

 birds means less, for only two have been dis- 

 covered elsewhere, and in course of time they 

 may be found here. 



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