Crustacea were numerous,--those of the Shrimp and Lobster kinds
prevailing, though in some of the Lobsters we have the first advance
towards the highest class of Crustacea in the expansion of the
transverse diameter now so characteristic of the Crabs. Among Mollusks
we have a host of gigantic Ammonites; and the naked Cephalopods, which
were in later times to become the prominent representatives of that
class, already begin to make their appearance. Among Radiates, some of
the higher kinds of Echinoderms, the Ophiurans and Echinolds, take the
place of the Crinoids, and the Acalephian Corals give way to the Astraean
and Meandrina-like types, resembling the Reef-Builders of the present
time.
* * * * *
I have spoken especially of the inhabitants of the Jurassic sea lying
between England and France, because it was there that were first found
the remains of some of the most remarkable and largest Jurassic animals.
But wherever these deposits have been investigated, the remains
contained in them reveal the same organic character, though, of course,
we find the land Reptiles only where there happen to have been marshes,
the aquatic Saurians wherever large estuaries or bays gave them an
opportunity of coming in near shore, so that their bones were preserved
in the accumulations of mud or clay constantly collecting in such
localities,--the Crustacea, Shells, or Sea-Urchins on the old
sea-beaches, the Corals in the neighborhood of coral reefs, and so on.
Pages:
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253