_Dinosaurs._ The land reptiles were chiefly Dinosaurs, a group which
flourished throughout the Age of Reptiles and became extinct at its
close. "Dinosaur" is a general term which covers as wide a variety in
size and appearance as "Quadruped" among modern animals. And the
Dinosaurs in the Age of Reptiles occupied about the same place in
nature as the larger quadrupeds do today. They have been called the
Giant Reptiles, for those we know most about were gigantic in size,
but there were also numerous smaller kinds, the smallest no larger
than a cat. All of them had short, compact bodies, long tails, and
long legs for a reptile, and instead of crawling, they walked or ran,
sometimes upon all fours, more generally upon the hind limbs, like
ostriches, the long tail balancing the weight of the body. Some modern
lizards run this way on occasion, especially if they are in a hurry.
But the bodies of lizards are too long and their limbs too small and
slender for this to be the usual mode of progress, as it seems to have
been among the Dinosaurs.
ANIMALS OF THE AGE OF REPTILES.
LAND REPTILES.
DINOSAURS corresponding to the larger quadrupeds or land
mammals of today.
CROCODILES, LIZARDS AND TURTLES still surviving.
SEA REPTILES.
PLESIOSAURS } corresponding to whales, dolphins, seals,
ICHTHYOSAURS } etc., or sea-mammals of today.
MOSASAURS }
FLYING REPTILES OR PTEROSAURS.
BIRDS WITH TEETH (scarce and little known).
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