The alligator and its allies . nce upon earth,we have one group of reptiles still living in certainparts of the earth of which the Mesozoic lords ofcreation need not feel ashamed. While most ofthe living Crocodilia are mere pigmies in size,compared to the Atlantosaurus, there are a fewrepresentatives of the living group, to be discussedlater, that are said to reach a length of thirty feet,which length makes pigmies, in turn, of most ofthe other living reptiles. Considering the extinct as well as the livingCrocodilia, Gadow says it is very difficult to sepa-rate them from the Dinosauria. In the
The alligator and its allies . nce upon earth,we have one group of reptiles still living in certainparts of the earth of which the Mesozoic lords ofcreation need not feel ashamed. While most ofthe living Crocodilia are mere pigmies in size,compared to the Atlantosaurus, there are a fewrepresentatives of the living group, to be discussedlater, that are said to reach a length of thirty feet,which length makes pigmies, in turn, of most ofthe other living reptiles. Considering the extinct as well as the livingCrocodilia, Gadow says it is very difficult to sepa-rate them from the Dinosauria. In the MesozoicCrocodilia the fore limbs were much shorter andweaker than the hind limbs, as was often the casewith the dinosaurs; they were almost entirelymarine, but gave indications of descent from ter-restrial forms. Various facts point, thinks Gadow, to someTheropodous Dinosaurian stock of which the Croc- The Biology of the CrocodiHa 5 odilia may well form an aquatic, further developedbranch {Cambridge Natural History, p. 432).. Prf- SkuU of Belodon. A, from above; B, from below. A. orbit; Bo,basi-occipital; C/i, internal nares; D, pre-orbital fossa; £*o. exocci-pital; Fr. frontal; Ju. jugal; La. lacrymal; Mx. maxilla; Na. nasal;Pa. parietal; PL palatine; Pmx. pre-maxilla; Por. post-orbital; ; Pi. pterygoid; Qu. quadrate; S, lateral temporal fossa;5, superior temporal fossa; 53. squamosal; 7o. vomer. (From Zittel.) Fig, a. a Triassic Ancestor of the Crocodilia. From Parker & Haswell, Textbook of Zoology. The direct ancestors of the Crocodilia, Gadowsays, are still unknown. The Alligator and Its Allies Geographical Distribution As will be seen by examination of the table(p. 2) from Ditmars, and of Figure i, the recent Y^^- ^V^
Size: 1405px × 1779px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1915
