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ANIMALS OF THE PAST

_Science for Everybody_

ANIMALS OF THE PAST

BY FREDERIC A. LUCAS

_Curator of the Division of Comparative Anatomy, United States National Museum_

FULLY ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 1901

COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY S. S. MCCLURE CO. 1901, BY MCCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO.

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER, 1901.

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.

X. THE MAMMOTH

The story of the killing of the Mammoth, 177; derivation of the word "mammoth," 178; mistaken ideas as to size of the Mammoth, 179; size of Mammoth and modern elephants, 180; finding of an entire Mammoth, 182; birthplace of the Mammoth, 184; beliefs concerning its bones, 185; the range of the animal, 186; theories concerning the extinction of the Mammoth, 188; Man and Mammoth, 189; origin of the Alaskan Live Mammoth Story, 190; traits of the Innuits, 192; an entire Mammoth recently found, 194; references, 195.

XI. THE MASTODON

Differences between Mastodon and Mammoth, 198; affinities of the Mastodon, 200; vestigial structures, 201; distribution of American Mastodon, 203; first noticed in North America, 204; thought to be carnivorous, 206; Koch's Missourium, 208; former abundance of Mastodons, 209; appearance of the animal, 210; its size, 211; was man contemporary with Mastodon? 213; the Lenape stone, 215; legend of the big buffalo, 216; references, 218.

XII. WHY DO ANIMALS BECOME EXTINCT?

Extinction sometimes evolution, 221; over-specialization as a cause for extinction, 222; extinction sometimes unaccountable, 223; man's capability for harm small in the past, 224; old theories of great convulsions, 226; changes in nature slow, 227; the case of Lingula, 228; local extermination, 229; the Moas and the Great Auk, 232; the case of large animals, 233; inter-dependence of living beings, 234; coyotes and fruit, 236; Shaler on the Miocene flora of Europe, 236; man's desire for knowledge, 238.

INDEX, 243

NOTE ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS

The original drawings, made especially for this book, are by Charles R. Knight and James M. Gleeson, under the direction of Mr. Knight. The fact that the originals of these drawings have been presented to and accepted by the United States National Museum is evidence of their scientific value. Mr. Knight has been commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution, the United States National Museum, and the New York Museum of Natural History, to do their most important pictures of extinct animals. He is the one modern artist who can picture prehistoric animals with artistic charm of presentation as well as with full scientific accuracy. In this instance, the author has personally superintended the artist's work, so that it is as correct in every respect as present knowledge makes possible. Of the minor illustrations, some are by Mr. Bruce Horsfall, an artist attached to the staff of the New York Museum of Natural History, and all have been drawn with the help of and under the author's supervision.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. Page

Phororhacos, a Patagonian Giant of the Miocene _From a Drawing by Charles R. Knight_ _Frontispiece_

1. Diplomystus, an Ancient Member of the Shad Family _From the fish-bed at Green River, Wyoming. From a specimen in the United States National Museum._ 4

2. Bryozoa, from the Shore of the Devonian Sea that Covered Eastern New York _From a specimen in Yale University Museum, prepared by Dr. Beecher._ 10

3. Skeleton of a Radiolarian Very Greatly Enlarged 17

4. Cephalaspis and Loricaria, an Ancient and a Modern Armored Fish 24

5. Pterichthys, the Wing Fish 32

6. Where a Dinosaur Sat Down 38

7. Footprints of Dinosaurs on the Brownstone of the Connecticut Valley _From a slab in the museum of Amherst College._ 40

8. The Track of a Three-toed Dinosaur 47

9. A Great Sea Lizard, _Tylosaurus Dyspelor From a drawing by J. M. Gleeson._ 52

10. Jaw of a Mosasaur, Showing the Joint that Increased the Swallowing Capacity of that Reptile 54

11. Koch's Hydrarchus. Composed of Portions of the Skeletons of Several Zeuglodons 62

12. A Tooth of Zeuglodon, One of the "Yoke Teeth," from which it derives the name 69

13. Archæopteryx, the Earliest Known Bird _From the specimen in the Berlin Museum._ 70

14. Nature's Four Methods of Making a Wing: Bat, Pteryodactyl, Archæopteryx, and Modern Bird 72

15. Young Hoactzins 75

16. Hesperornis, the Great Toothed Diver _From a drawing by J. M. Gleeson._ 82

17. Archæopteryx _As Restored by Mr. Pycraft._ 89

18. Thespesius, a Common Herbivorous Dinosaur of the Cretaceous _From a drawing by Charles R. Knight._ 90

19. A Hind Leg of the Great Brontosaurus, the Largest of the Dinosaurs 96

20. A Single Vertebra of Brontosaurus 97

21. Moloch, a Modern Lizard that Surpasses the Stegosaurs in All but Size _From a drawing by J. M. Gleeson._ 100

22. Skeleton of Triceratops 103

23. The Horned Ceratosaurus, a Carnivorous Dinosaur _From a drawing by J. M. Gleeson._ 106

24. Stegosaurus, an Armored Dinosaur of the Jurassic _From a drawing by Charles R. Knight._ 108

25. Skull of Ceratosaurus _From a specimen in the United States National Museum._ 110

26. Triceratops, He of the Three-horned Face _From a statuette by Charles R. Knight._ 126

27. A Hint of Buried Treasures 137

28. Relics of the Moa 140

29. Eggs of Feathered Giants, Æpyornis, Ostrich, Moa, Compared with a Hen's Egg 148

30. Skull of Phororhacos Compared with that of the Race-horse Lexington 151

31. Leg of a Horse Compared with that of the Giant Moa 152

32. The Three Giants, Phororhacos, Moa, Ostrich 158

33. Skeleton of the Modern Horse and of His Eocene Ancestor 161

34. The Development of the Horse 168

35. The Mammoth _From a drawing by Charles R. Knight._ 176

36. Skeleton of the Mammoth in the Royal Museum of St. Petersburg 183

37. The Mammoth _As engraved by a Primitive Artist on a Piece of Mammoth-Tusk._ 196

38. Tooth of Mastodon and of Mammoth 199

39. The Missourium of Koch _From a Tracing of the Figure Illustrating Koch's Description._ 207

40. The Mastodon _From a drawing by J. M. Gleeson._ 210

41. The Lenape Stone, Reduced 219

_INTRODUCTORY AND EXPLANATORY_

_At the present time the interest in the ancient life of this earth is greater than ever before, and very considerable sums of money are being expended to dispatch carefully planned expeditions to various parts of the world systematically to gather the fossil remains of the animals of the past. That this interest is not merely confined to a few scientific men, but is shared by the general public, is shown by the numerous articles, including many telegrams, in the columns of the daily papers. The object of this book is to tell some of the interesting facts concerning a few of the better known or more remarkable of these extinct inhabitants of the ancient world; also, if possible, to ease the strain on these venerable animals, caused by stretching them so often beyond their due proportions._

_The book is admittedly somewhat on the lines of Mr. Hutchinson's "Extinct Monsters" and "Creatures of Other Days," but it is hoped that it may be considered with books as with boats, a good plan to build after a good model. The information scattered through these pages has been derived from varied sources; some has of necessity been taken from standard books, a part has been gathered in the course of museum work and official correspondence; for much, the author is indebted to his personal friends, and for a part, he is under obligations to friends he has never met, who have kindly responded to his inquiries. The endeavor has been conscientiously made to exclude all misinformation; it is, nevertheless, entirely probable that some mistakes may have crept in, and due apology for these is hereby made beforehand._

_The author expects to be taken to task for the use of scientific names, and the reader may perhaps sympathize with the old lady who said that the discovery of all these strange animals did not surprise her so much as the fact that anyone should know their names when they were found. The real trouble is that there are no common names for these animals. Then, too, people who call for easier names do not stop to reflect that, in many cases, the scientific names are no harder than others, simply less familiar, and, when domesticated, they cease to be hard: witness mammoth, elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, boa constrictor, all of which are scientific names. And if, for example, we were to call the Hyracotherium a Hyrax beast it would not be a name, but a description, and not a bit more intelligible._

_Again, it is impossible to indicate the period at which these creatures lived without using the scientific term for it--Jurassic, Eocene, Pliocene, as the case may be--because there is no other way of doing it._

_Some readers will doubtless feel disappointed because they are not told how many years ago these animals lived. The question is often asked--How long ago did this or that animal live? But when the least estimate puts the age of the earth at only 10,000,000 years, while the longest makes it 6,000,000,000, it does seem as if it were hardly worth while to name any figures. Even when we get well toward the present period we find the time that has elapsed since the beginning of the Jurassic, when the Dinosaurs held carnival, variously put at from 15,000,000 to 6,000,000 years; while from the beginning of the Eocene, when the mammals began to gain the supremacy, until now, the figures vary from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 years. So the question of age will be left for the reader to settle to his or her satisfaction._

_The restorations of extinct animals may be considered as giving as accurate representations of these creatures as it is possible to make; they were either drawn by Mr. Knight, whose name is guarantee that they are of the highest quality, or by Mr. Gleeson, with the aid of Mr. Knight's criticism. That they are infallibly correct is out of the question; for, as Dr. Woodward writes in the preface to "Extinct Monsters," "restorations are ever liable to emendation, and the present ... will certainly prove no exception to the rule." As a striking instance of this, it was found necessary at the last moment to change the figure of Hesperornis, the original life-like portrait proving to be incorrect in attitude, a fact that would have long escaped detection but for the Pan-American Exposition. The connection between the two is explained on page 76. However, the reader may rest assured that these restorations are infinitely more nearly correct than many figures of living animals that have appeared within the last twenty-five years, and are even now doing duty._

_The endeavor has been made to indicate, at the end of each chapter, the museums in which the best examples of the animals described may be seen, and also some book or article in which further information may be obtained. As this book is intended for the general reader, references to purely technical articles have, so far as possible, been avoided, and none in foreign languages mentioned._

_For important works of reference on the subject of paleontology, the reader may consult "A Manual of Paleontology," by Alleyne Nicholson and R. Lydekker, a work in two volumes dealing with invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants, or "A Text-Book of Paleontology," by Karl von Zittel, English edition, only the first volume of which has so far been published. An admirable book on the vertebrates is "Outlines of Vertebrate Paleontology," by Arthur Smith Woodward. It is to be understood that these are not at all "popular" in their scope, but intended for students who are already well advanced in the study of zoölogy._

ANIMALS OF THE PAST I

FOSSILS, AND HOW THEY ARE FORMED

"_How of a thousand snakes each one Was changed into a coil of stone._"

Fossils are the remains, or even the indications, of animals and plants that have, through natural agencies, been buried in the earth and preserved for long periods of time. This may seem a rather meagre definition, but it is a difficult matter to frame one that will be at once brief, exact, and comprehensive; fossils are not necessarily the remains of extinct animals or plants, neither are they, of necessity, objects that have become petrified or turned into stone.

Bones of the Great Auk and Rytina, which are quite extinct, would hardly be considered as fossils; while the bones of many species of animals, still living, would properly come in that category, having long ago been buried by natural causes and often been changed into stone. And yet it is not essential for a specimen to have had its animal matter replaced by some mineral in order that it may be classed as a fossil, for the Siberian Mammoths, found entombed in ice, are very properly spoken of as fossils, although the flesh of at least one of these animals was so fresh that it was eaten. Likewise the mammoth tusks brought to market are termed fossil-ivory, although differing but little from the tusks of modern elephants.

Many fossils indeed merit their popular appellation of petrifactions, because they have been changed into stone by the slow removal of the animal or vegetable matter present and its replacement by some mineral, usually silica or some form of lime. But it is necessary to include 'indications of plants or animals' in the above definition because some of the best fossils may be merely impressions of plants or animals and no portion of the objects themselves, and yet, as we shall see, some of our most important information has been gathered from these same imprints.

Nearly all our knowledge of the plants that flourished in the past is based on the impressions of their leaves left on the soft mud or smooth sand that later on hardened into enduring stone. Such, too, are the trails of creeping and crawling things, casts of the burrows of worms and the many footprints of the reptiles, great and small, that crept along the shore or stalked beside the waters of the ancient seas. The creatures themselves have passed away, their massive bones even are lost, but the prints of their feet are as plain to-day as when they were first made.

Many a crustacean, too, is known solely or mostly by the cast of its shell, the hard parts having completely vanished, and the existence of birds in some formations is revealed merely by the casts of their eggs; and these natural casts must be included in the category of fossils.

Impressions of vertebrates may, indeed, be almost as good as actual skeletons, as in the case of some fishes, where the fine mud in which they were buried has become changed to a rock, rivalling porcelain in texture; the bones have either dissolved away or shattered into dust at the splitting of the rock, but the imprint of each little fin-ray and every threadlike bone is as clearly defined as it would have been in a freshly prepared skeleton. So fine, indeed, may have been the mud, and so quiet for the time being the waters of the ancient sea or lake, that not only have prints of bones and leaves been found, but those of feathers and of the skin of some reptiles, and even of such soft and delicate objects as jelly fishes. But for these we should have little positive knowledge of the outward appearance of the creatures of the past, and to them we are occasionally indebted for the solution of some moot point in their anatomy.

The reader may possibly wonder why it is that fossils are not more abundant; why, of the vast majority of animals that have dwelt upon the earth since it became fit for the habitation of living beings, not a trace remains. This, too, when some objects--the tusks of the Mammoth, for example--have been sufficiently well preserved to form staple articles of commerce at the present time, so that the carved handle of my lady's parasol may have formed part of some animal that flourished at the very dawn of the human race, and been gazed upon by her grandfather a thousand times removed. The answer to this query is that, unless the conditions were such as to preserve at least the hard parts of any creature from immediate decay, there was small probability of its becoming fossilized. These conditions are that the objects must be protected from the air, and, practically, the only way that this happens in nature is by having them covered with water, or at least buried in wet ground.

If an animal dies on dry land, where its bones lie exposed to the summer's sun and rain and the winter's frost and snow, it does not take these destructive agencies long to reduce the bones to powder; in the rare event of a climate devoid of rain, mere changes of temperature, by producing expansion and contraction, will sooner or later cause a bone to crack and crumble.