4o6 



Marvels of the Universe 



means " more lizard-like," because to its discoverer the long-necked sea-reptile seemed more 



like a lizard in shape than did the contemporaneous Ichthyosaur.] 



Fifty or sixty years ago, when interest was first aroused in the mar\-els amongst extinct 



forms of life, there was no illustration more popular in works dealing with the past phases of 



the earth's history than one which depicted a fight between a Plesiosaur and an Ichthyosaur. 



Both these groups of aquatic reptiles flourished during the Secondary Epoch of the earth's 



history ; and it is possible, of course, that in their common pursiut of fish they may have 



quarrelled and fought. 



The extraordinary Plesiosaur which is here illustrated, both in Professor Fraas's picturesque 



and accurate restoration and in its skeleton form, is known scientifically as Thaumatosaurus, and 



was discovered in the Upper 

 Lias formations of Holzmaden, 

 in Wiirttemberg, by the well- 

 known German professor of 

 palfeontology at Stuttgart, by 

 whom both illustrations ha\-e 

 been kindly lent. 



This Plesiosaiu' was a large 

 animal, about fourteen feet 

 long. Its jaws were armed 

 with long, sharp fangs, but its 

 neck, in striking contrast to 

 the Ichthyosaurs, was very 

 long and slender. 



Yet in most of the Plesio- 

 saurs the neck must have been 

 stiff, almost rigid, except for 

 lateral movements — to judge 

 from the conformation of the 

 joints. In another very re- 

 markable form, also discovered 

 in the Upper Lias formations 

 nf Wiirttemberg, the end of 

 the tail spread into two broad 

 flukes. 



One of the illustrations to 

 this article is photographed 

 from the carefully-sculptured 



restoration of a Plesiosaur in Carl Hagenbeck's Animal Park, near Hamburg. It is the work 



of a German artist, Herr A. Pallenberg, who has developed, under, the guidance of Professor 



Fraas and other German naturalists, a great talent for realizing and reproducing the appearance 



of extinct reptiles, birds and mammals. 



But it is questionable, except on some seaweed-covered rock nearly on a level with the 



water, whether any Plesiosaur was able to resort to land. These marine reptiles seem to have 



spent their lives entirely in the water, and would have found it as difficult to move on a solid 



surface as a porpoise or a turtle. 



Yet apparently they did not produce their young alive, as did the Great Fish-Lizards. 



Perhaps, like the existing turtles, they laid their eggs on sandy beaches or amongst the smooth 



rocks along the margin of the sea. 



2*hoto hii] 



r.i:. 



.\Ei)l Ol THE IREE WASP. 



This nest of the Tree Wasp was built under a sloping roof. As photographed it 

 was in a some\vhat early state, but was gradually enlarged until it measured six inches 

 across the middle. The photograph is twice the actual size. 



