THE TERTIARY PERIOD 313 



191), Laurels, Oaks, Willows, Chestnuts, etc., with the addition of 

 Magnolias, Figs, Poplars, Ferns, etc., in the western interior of the 

 United States and southern Canada. As far north as Greenland 

 and Spitzbergen, there were forests with Maples, Camphor trees, 

 Figs, Laurels, Cypresses, Poplars, and Sequoias. The Sequoias, 

 which are of special interest, began in the late Jurassic; attained 

 their culmination in numbers and species in the Tertiary ; and are 

 now represented by only two species, — the so-called Big Trees 

 and the Redwoods, — which are wholly confined to California. 

 During the Tertiary they ranged from Greenland on the north to 

 New Zealand on the south, often in great forests. 



In the later Tertiary the distinctly cooler climate in the higher 

 latitudes caused a disappearance of the warm climate plants such 

 as the Palms from Europe, and the Palms, 

 Figs, Magnolias, etc., from the western interior 

 of North America. 



So far as known, the Cereals had not yet ap- 

 peared in the Tertiary, but the Grasses became 

 abundant and must have had an important 

 influence in the development of the principal 

 groups of herbivorous Mammals. fST~192 



An Eocene Fora- 

 ANIMALS minifer, Nummu- 



lina levigata. 



Since the Tertiary invertebrates were in (From Le Conte's 

 nearly every way so similar to those of today, "Geology," cour- 

 we shall give special attention to only a few t ^J ° and * Com- 

 features of interest. pany.) 



Among Protozoans, the Foraminifers were 

 exceedingly abundant and often remarkable for their great size. 

 Of these the Nummulites, so called because coin-shaped, have al- 

 ready been referred to as making up great limestone deposits in 

 the Old World Eocene. They attained a diameter as great as 

 half an inch to an inch (Fig. 192). 



Porifers, Coelenterates, Echinoderms, and Molluscoids were 

 almost wholly modern in character, with Crinoids and Brachiopods 

 both rare. 



Among Mollusks both Pelecypods (Figs. 193, 194) and Gastro- 

 pods (Fig. 195) were exceedingly common, perhaps more so than 

 ever before, and of very modern aspect. Oysters appear to have 



