ANIMALS OF THE PAST

TABLE OF CONTENTS


INTRODUCTORY AND EXPLANATORY

Use of scientific names, xvi; estimates of age of earth, xvii;
restorations by Mr. Knight, xviii; Works of Reference, xix.


I. FOSSILS, AND HOW THEY ARE FORMED

Definition of fossils, 1; fossils may be indications of animals
or plants, 2; casts and impressions, 3; why fossils are not more
abundant, 4; conditions under which fossils are formed, 5;
enemies of bones, 6; Dinosaurs engulfed in quicksand, 8;
formation of fossils, 9; petrified bodies frauds, 10; natural
casts, 10; leaves, 13; incrustations, 14; destruction of
fossils, 15; references, 17.


II. THE EARLIEST KNOWN VERTEBRATES

Methods of interrogating Nature, 18; thickness of sedimentary
rocks, 20; earliest traces of life, 21; early vertebrates
difficult of preservation, 22; armored fishes, 23; abundance of
early fishes, 25; destruction of fish, 26; carboniferous sharks,
29; known mostly from teeth and spines, 30; references, 32.


III. IMPRESSIONS OF THE PAST

Records of extinct animals, 33; earliest traces of animal life,
34; formation of tracks, 35; tracks in all strata, 36; discovery
of tracks, 37; tracks of Dinosaurs, 39; species named from
tracks, 41; footprints aid in determining attitude of animals,
43; tracks at Carson City, 45; references, 47.


IV. RULERS OF THE ANCIENT SEAS

The Mosasaurs, 49; history of the first known Mosasaur, 50; jaws
of reptiles, 53; extinction of Mosasaurs, 55; the sea-serpent,
56; Zeuglodon, 58; its habits, 59; Koch's Hydrarchus, 61; bones
collected by Mr. Schuchert, 63; abundance of sharks, 64; the
great Carcharodon, 65; arrangement of sharks' teeth, 67;
references, 68.


V. BIRDS OF OLD

Earliest birds, 70; wings, 71; study of young animals, 73; the
curious Hoactzin, 74; first intimation of birds, 76;
Archæopteryx, 77; birds with teeth, 78; cretaceous birds, 79;
Hesperornis, 80; loss of power of flight, 81; covering of
Hesperornis, 82; attitude of Hesperornis, 83; curious position
of legs, 84; toothed birds disappointing, 85; early development
of birds, 86; eggs of early birds, 87; references, 88.


VI. THE DINOSAURS

Discovery of Dinosaur remains, 90; nearest relatives of
Dinosaurs, 91; relation of birds to reptiles, 92; brain of
Dinosaurs, 93; parallel between Dinosaurs and Marsupials, 95;
the great Brontosaurus, 96; food of Dinosaurs, 97; habits of
Diplodocus, 99; the strange Australian Moloch, 100; combats of
Triceratops, 101; skeleton of Triceratops, 102; Thespesius and
his kin, 104; the carnivorous Ceratosaurus, 106; Stegosaurus,
the plated lizard, 106; preferences, 109.


VII. READING THE RIDDLES OF THE ROCKS

Fossils regarded as sports of nature, 111; qualifications of a
successful collector, 112; chances of collecting, 114;
excavation of fossils, 115; strengthening fossils for shipment,
117; great size of some specimens, 118; the preparation of
fossils, 119; mistakes of anatomists, 120; reconstruction of
Triceratops, 121; distinguishing characters of bones, 122; the
skeleton a problem in mechanics, 124; clothing the bones with
flesh, 127; the covering of animals, 127; outside ornamentation,
129; probabilities in the covering of animals, 130; impressions
of extinct animals, 131; mistaken inferences from bones of
Mammoth, 133; coloring of large land animals, 134; color
markings of young animals, 136; references, 137.


VIII. FEATHERED GIANTS

Legend of the Moa, 139; our knowledge of the Moas, 141; some
Moas wingless, 142; deposits of Moa bones, 143; legend of the
Roc, 144; discovery of Æpyornis, 145; large-sounding names, 146;
eggs of great birds, 147; the Patagonian Phororhacos, 149; the
huge Brontornis, 150; development of giant birds, 153;
distribution of flightless birds, 154; relation between
flightlessness and size, 156; references, 156.


IX. THE ANCESTRY OF THE HORSE

North America in the Eocene age, 160; appearance of early
horses, 163; early domestication of the horse, 165; the toes of
horses, 166; Miocene horses small, 167; evidence of genealogy of
the horse, 170; meaning of abnormalities, 170; changes in the
climate and animals of the West, 174; references, 176.