8o THE LESSON OF EVOLUTION 



spread as far as Tasmania. Many kinds have been 

 described, ranging in size from a few inches to seven 

 or eight feet in length. In shape, too, they were very 

 varied, some representing lizards, others snakes, and 

 others were very like crocodiles. The larger ones had 

 bony plates on the head, chest, and abdomen ; and 

 some of the smaller ones had armour over the whole 

 body. In many the hind feet were larger than the 

 fore feet, and all had five toes. Probably they lived 

 either on the sea-shore or in rivers. 



In the Permian period we find reptiles belonging 

 to two different orders the Anomodontia and the 

 Ehynchocephalia. The former are thought to be the 

 parent stock of all other reptiles, as well as of 

 mammals and birds ; for while the lower forms 

 (Pariasaurus) are closely connected with the Laby- 

 rinthodonts, others (Thcriodontia) resemble mammals. 

 They are quite extinct, and it will be more convenient 

 to postpone any further remarks about them for the 

 present. The Rhynchocephalia shew a very general- 

 ised type of reptile, connecting the lizards with 

 crocodiles, turtles, and Sauropterygians. In the 

 Permian they were rare, but became common in the 

 Triassic period, and are represented at the present 

 day by the Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) of New 

 Zealand. According to Professor H. Gr. Seeley they 

 appear to be connected with the Anomodonts through 

 Proterosaurus, of the middle Permian of Thuringia ; 

 and, according to Mr R. Lydekker, the Anomodont 

 Procolophon, from the Triassic of South Africa, shews 

 marked signs of affinity with the Rhynchocephalia. 



