352 ANIMALS OE THE PAST 



era, we find a great similarity to tlie life as it now exists. 

 The great advance in this ei'a was the remarkable develop- 

 ment of mammals. The gicat reptiles disappeared and 

 mammals took tlieir places. In the ocean we find huge 

 wlialeliko creatures seventy feet long. lieiuains of the 

 Zeuglodtin have been found in great abundance in Alabama. 

 The early ancestors of the cat, panther, wolf, etc., appear in 

 this era. The elephant i'amily was rei)ie.sented by tiie 

 huge mammoth (Fig. 2o3) and mastodon, neither of which, 

 however, was much if any larger than some of the largest 

 living ek'iiliants. Insects and birds were ajjimdant in this 

 era. I\Iorikeys, horses, and ihinoceroses ajjpeared in the 

 cenozoic. Later came the buffaloes, hyenas, elks, etc. 



The coming of man marked the climax in the jjrogress 

 of life uiJon tlie glolie. Just how, or just when became, 

 we do not know, but we have sure proof that he has 

 existed upon the earth many thousands of years. 



Significant features of the liistory of animal life on the 

 earth. — It has been the attempt of the author to show that 

 the iJi'csent animals on tlie eai'th are all connected with one 

 another, from the lowest to the highest, by intermediate 

 forms, and that all life has gradually arisen from a very 

 siiii];ile, probabl)' one-celled aniinal. In examining the 

 histoiy of the a,|)p('ai'arice of animals on the earth, \\'e find 

 tfie same thing to be clearly e\'ident. The first form of life 

 we found was ^'ely simjile indeed, and lived wholly in the 

 watei'. This was succeeded in a latei' age ])y higher life 

 that finally came to Vwc on land. This, in turn, was suc- 

 ceeded by highei- and highci' and uunv ^'aried forms, until 

 it culn;in;ited in the appearance of man, the crowning feature 

 of hie. 



