. The Bible and science. Fig. Ii2.—Skeleton of Plesiosaurus. a lizard than any bird of modern days. In this forma-tion we again find the remains of mammals, but onlythose belonging to the low order of marsupials. Bothplants and mammals which then inhabited Britainappear at that time to have been more like those ofAustralia now than of any other country. The next formation is the Cretaceous or Chalk,of which the southern English coast is formed. Enor- 282 MESOZOIC FOSSILS—CHALK. mous as its cliffs are, they consist almost entirelyof shells of very minute species of foraminifera, and. Fig. 143.—
. The Bible and science. Fig. Ii2.—Skeleton of Plesiosaurus. a lizard than any bird of modern days. In this forma-tion we again find the remains of mammals, but onlythose belonging to the low order of marsupials. Bothplants and mammals which then inhabited Britainappear at that time to have been more like those ofAustralia now than of any other country. The next formation is the Cretaceous or Chalk,of which the southern English coast is formed. Enor- 282 MESOZOIC FOSSILS—CHALK. mous as its cliffs are, they consist almost entirelyof shells of very minute species of foraminifera, and. Fig. 143.—Skeleton of Pterodactyl. have been deposited at the bottom of a deep the present day the same sort of deposit is going on MESOZOIC FOSSILS—CHALK. 28.^ at the bottom of the Atlantic. The foraminifera liveupon the surface of the water, but after their deaththe shells gradually sink until they reach the bottom,and there form a thick layer. As this deposit cannotbe distinguished from that forming the cliffs of Dover,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky