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Rh It is unnecessary to discuss here the relationships of the birdlike reptiles, but, as the most convincing argument in support of the theory of the reptilian descent of birds, I present a restoration of the Archæopteryx, the earliest known progenitor of the class Aves. This restoration is

. 1.—Restoration of the Archæopteryx, a toothed, reptilelike bird of the Jurassic period. (About $1/5$ natural size.)

based on an examination of previous restorations in connection with a study of the excellent plates which have been published of the fossils themselves. Two specimens have been discovered; one being now in the British Museum, the other in the Berlin Museum. They were both found in the lithographic slates of Solenhofen, in Bavaria, a formation of the Jurassic period, and, together, furnish the more important details of the structure of this reptilelike bird.

This restoration, therefore, while doubtless inaccurate