Marvels of the Universe Q71 
All kinds of speculations have been made to account for the sudden extinction of the Titanotheres, 
such as vast floods, excessive droughts, cold waves and epidemics ; but, as likely as not, a change 
in the nature of the vegetation had much to do with the matter, for the teeth of this creature were 
not of a kind that could readjust themselves to new demands in the matter of grinders. 
One can gather some idea of the vast period of time and the enormous changes which have 
taken place on the earth’s surface since Brontops roamed amid the reed-beds of the ancient lake 
which formed his haunts when one reflects that the Rocky Mountains were then only beginning to 
rise, while the lake-bed, then at the sea-level, is now raised up some four or five thousand feet ! 
In those far-off days the shores of this ancient lake harboured crowds of alligators like those of 
to-day. In spring the Judas-tree and the acacia bloomed ; in the autumn the persimmon sweetened. 
Canes and palms gave grateful shade along the alkali levels, while on the hills birch, chestnut, ash, 
hickory and sumac throve. The huge extinct otter, Patriofelis, preyed upon the alligators, and the 
last of a series of giants even, if possible, more remarkable than Brontops, probably occasionally 
put in an appearance. This was the strange Uintatherium. But, so far as the evidence goes, these 
disappeared just as the forbears of Brontops were putting in their claim to a place in the sun. 
The search for these monsters of other days is not, as we have already indicated, one for those 
who like to do their exploring in comfort ; and it would be rendered still more arduous but for 
the fact that most of such remains found in this region have become partially exposed by wind and 
rain. The skull of the specimen forming the subject of our illustration, for example, was found by 
Professor Osborn protruding from a hard sandstone cliff, and the chest and limbs were chiselled out 
by men under his direction. The position of the bones showed that the beast had wandered into 
bog and there been swallowed up ! 
ees 
Photo by) [Walter Bagshaw. 
GNAT’S WING. 
An enlarged view of part of the Gnat’s wing, showing the fringes of the nervures and of the border 
