Among the types
selected will be Man.
CHAPTER XVI. THE FLOWER AND THE INSECT
AS we approach the last part of the geological record we must
neglect the lower types of life, which have hitherto occupied so
much of our attention, so that we may inquire more fully into the
origin and fortunes of the higher forms which now fill the stage.
It may be noted, in general terms, that they shared the opulence
of the mid-Tertiary period, produced some gigantic specimens of
their respective families, and evolved into the genera, and often
the species, which we find living to-day. A few illustrations
will suffice to give some idea of the later development of the
lower invertebrates and vertebrates.
Monstrous oysters bear witness to the prosperity of that ancient
and interesting family of the Molluscs. In some species the
shells were commonly ten inches long; the double shell of one of
these Tertiary bivalves has been found which measured thirteen
inches in length, eight in width, and six in thickness. In the
higher branch of the Mollusc world the naked Cephalopods
(cuttle-fish, etc.) predominate over the nautiloids--the shrunken
survivors of the great coiled-shell race.
Pages:
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355