. Water reptiles of the past and present . Fig. 122.—Desmatochelys lowii: skull from above and below of the most extraordinary turtles that is known even yet. By anerror somewhat natural for those times, when the theory of evolu-tion was just beginning to attain acceptance by naturalists, he CHELONIA 233 thought that the specimen, notwithstanding its monstrous size,represented a very primitive kind of turtle, and gave to it the nameProtostega gigas, meaning gigantic first roof! The late ProfessorGeorge Baur, to whom paleontology owes so much, showed that,far from being a primitive turtle, Prot
. Water reptiles of the past and present . Fig. 122.—Desmatochelys lowii: skull from above and below of the most extraordinary turtles that is known even yet. By anerror somewhat natural for those times, when the theory of evolu-tion was just beginning to attain acceptance by naturalists, he CHELONIA 233 thought that the specimen, notwithstanding its monstrous size,represented a very primitive kind of turtle, and gave to it the nameProtostega gigas, meaning gigantic first roof! The late ProfessorGeorge Baur, to whom paleontology owes so much, showed that,far from being a primitive turtle, Protostega was really one ofthe most specialized types of the order. Professor Copes accountof the discovery of the specimen is of so much interest that itmay be quoted here: In the very young tortoise or turtle the ribs are separate, asin other animals. As they grow older they begin to expand at theupper side of the upper end, and with increased age the expansionextends throughout the length. The ribs first come in contactwhere the process
Size: 1258px × 1987px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidwaterreptilesofp1914will
