76 



FOSSIL MAMMAL GALLERY. 



the Glyptodon, a huge extinct Armadillo, enclosed in a 

 solid barrel-like bony case. As these animals far surpassed in 

 size their diminutive existing representatives, so the gigantic 

 Marsupials of the corresponding period in Australia (Pleistocene, 

 or latest Tertiary), the Diprotodon and Nototherium, remains 

 of which are shown in this room, greatly exceeded any 

 of the species now existing on that continent. On the other 

 hand, all the Mammals of the earlier geological periods 

 of which remains are known, are of diminutive size, as seen 

 in the very interesting series, mostly from the Purbeck (Upper 

 Oolite) beds of Dorset and the Stonesfield Slate (Great Oolite) 



Fig. 47. — Skull op Tragoceros, or Samotherium, hoissieri, an extinct 

 Okapi-like Euminant from the Pliocene strata of Samoa. 



of Oxfordshire, exhibited in the centre window-case on the 

 east side of the room. 

 Extinct Birds. The south side of this room (right on entering) is chiefly 

 devoted to the remains of extinct Birds, including the famous 

 Lizard-tailed Bird (Archceopteryx) of the Solenhofen beds of 

 Bavaria (fig. 48), the oldest known member of the class, presenting 

 many reptile-like characters, but with well-developed feathers 

 on the wings and tail, the impressions of which are beautifully 

 preserved in the specimen. A series of skeletons of the " Moas," 

 or Dinornithidce, of New Zealand, birds in which no trace of a 

 wing has been discovered, shows the diversity in size of different 

 members of the group, some far exceeding any existing Ostrich, 



