. The story of the earth and man [microform]. Geology; Paleontology; Man; Géologie; Paléontologie; Homme. 172 THE STORY OF THE EARTH AND MAN. Still the Permian has some life features of its own, and we must now tu n to these. The first is the oc- currei'3e here, not only of tbe representatives of the great Batrachians of the coal period, but of true rep- tiles, acknowledged to be such by all naturalists. The animals of the genus Protorosaurus, found in rocks of this age both in England and Germany, were highly- organised lizards, having socketed teeth like those of crocodiles, and well-develop
. The story of the earth and man [microform]. Geology; Paleontology; Man; Géologie; Paléontologie; Homme. 172 THE STORY OF THE EARTH AND MAN. Still the Permian has some life features of its own, and we must now tu n to these. The first is the oc- currei'3e here, not only of tbe representatives of the great Batrachians of the coal period, but of true rep- tiles, acknowledged to be such by all naturalists. The animals of the genus Protorosaurus, found in rocks of this age both in England and Germany, were highly- organised lizards, having socketed teeth like those of crocodiles, and well-developed limbs, with long tails, perhaps adapted for swimming. They have, however, biconcave vertebrae like the lizard-like animals of the coal already mentioned, which, indeed, in their general form and appearanc3, they must have very closely resembled. The Protorosaurs were not of great size; but they must have been creatures of more stately gait than their Carboniferous predecessors, and they serve to connect them with the new and greater reptiles of the next period. Another interesting feature of the Permian is its flora, which, in so far as known, is closely related to that of the coal period, though the species are regarded as different; some of the forms, however, being so similar as to be possibly identical. In a picture of the Permian flora we should perhaps place in the fore- ground the tree-ferns, which seem to have been very abundant, and furnished with dense clusters of aerial roots to enable them to withstand the storms of this boisterous age. The tree-ferns, now so plentiful in the southern hemisphere, should be regarded as one of the permanent vegetable institutions of our world—those. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Dawson, J. W. (John William), Sir, 1820-1899. Toronto : Copp C
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