174 



THE CHAIN OF LIFE. 



enjoyed in earth and water ; and its failure was immediately 

 succeeded in the Eocene by the appearance of a cloud of 

 true birds, representing all the existing orders of the class. 



We may close our notice of the winged reptiles of the Meso- 

 zoic by quoting from Phillips his summary of the characters of 

 Rhaidphorhyticus (Fig. 147) i :— " Gifted with ample means of 

 flight, able at least to perch on rocks and scuffle along the 

 shore, perhaps competent to dive, though not so well as a 

 palmiped bird, many fishes must have yielded to the cruel 

 beak and sharp teeth of the Rhamphorhyncus. If we ask to 



Fig. 150.— Jaw of Bathygnathus ^'rm/w (Leidy). A Triassic Dinosaur from Prince 



Edward Island. 



a. Cross section of second tooth, natural size, b. Fifth tooth, natural size. 



which of the many families of birds the analogy of structure 

 and probable way of life would lead us to assimilate Rham- 

 phorhyncus, the answer must point to the swimming races, with 

 long wings, clawed feet, hooked beak, and habits of violence 

 and voracity ; and for preference, the shortness of the legs and 

 other circumstances may be held to claim for the Stonesfield 

 fossil a more than fanciful similitude to the groups of Cormor- 

 ants and other marine divers which constitute an effective part 

 of the picturesque army of robbers of the sea." 



1 Geology of Oxford, p. 227. 



