Page:British Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes.djvu/20

BRITISH REPTILES jaws with teeth, and bat-like wings. Some forms of these extinct flying reptiles, however, were toothless in the same way as our present-day birds. The largest of the Pterodactyls, as these flying reptiles are called, had a wing-stretch of at least twenty feet, so that its presence in the air in those far-off times may be compared for breadth with a modern aeroplane scudding through space. It should be stated here that these flying reptiles of the bygone (their remains occur in Jurassic and cretaceous rocks), were not the ancestors of our birds. They belonged to a group of reptiles now extinct, but nevertheless scientists are agreed that the ancestor of our birds was a reptile, and the first bird of which we have any evidence is known as the Archæopteryx which means "ancient bird." It was about the size of a Rook, and the jaws contained sharp teeth.

Geology teaches us that at one long period in Earth's history all the largest animals then dominant were reptiles, and these were divided into those which were "huge dragons of the land, big bird-like reptiles in the air, and fish-like creatures in the sea." "At least four hundred fossil reptiles have been found in the British area, including those of some existing forms. But we must not be tempted to pursue this fascinating topic in this volume, its mention here being made so as to prompt the young student to prosecute enquiry on his own account, and to show what an important position these 4