We cannot be
content, however, merely to throw on the screen, as it were, a
few of the more quaint and monstrous types out of the teeming
Mesozoic population, and describe their proportions and
peculiarities. They fall into natural and intelligible groups or
orders, and their features are closely related to the differing
regions of the Jurassic world. While, therefore, we must abstain
from drawing up settled genealogical trees, we may, as we review
in succession the monsters of the land, the waters, and the air,
glance at the most recent and substantial conjectures of
scientific men as to their origin and connections.
The Deinosaurs (or "terrible reptiles"), the monarchs of the land
and the swamps, are the central and outstanding family of the
Mesozoic reptiles. As the name implies, this group includes most
of the colossal animals, such as the Diplodocus, which the
illustrated magazine has made familiar to most people.
Fortunately the assiduous research of American geologists and
their great skill and patience in restoring the dead forms enable
us to form a very fair picture of this family of medieval giants
and its remarkable ramifications.
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