ANIMALS OF THE PAST
Phororhacos, a Patagonian Giant of the Miocene.From a drawing by Charles R. Knight.
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 orplants, 2; casts and impressions,3; why fossils are not moreabundant,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; naturalcasts,10; leaves,13; incrustations,14; destruction of fossils,15; references,17.
II. THE EARLIEST KNOWN VERTEBRATES
Methods of interrogating Nature,18; thickness of sedimentaryrocks,20; earliest traces of life,21; early vertebratesdifficult of preservation,22; armored fishes,23; abundanceof early fishes,25; destruction of fish,26; carboniferoussharks,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; discoveryof tracks,37; tracks of Dinosaurs,39; species namedfrom tracks,41; footprints aid in determining attitude of animals,43; tracks at Carson City,45; references,47.
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