_The Struggle for Existence Among the Dinosaurs._ Never in the whole
history of the world as we now know it have there been such remarkable
land scenes as were presented when the reign of these titanic reptiles
was at its climax. It was also the prevailing life-picture of England,
Germany, South America, and India. We can imagine herds of these
creatures from fifty to eighty feet in length, with limbs and gait
analogous to those of gigantic elephants, but with bodies extending
through the long, flexible, and tapering necks into the diminutive
heads, and reaching back into the equally long and still more tapering
tails. The four or five varieties which existed together were each
fitted to some special mode of life; some living more exclusively on
land, others for longer periods in the water.
The competition for existence was not only with the great carnivorous
dinosaurs, but with other kinds of herbivorous dinosaurs (the
iguanodonts), which had much smaller bodies to sustain and a much
superior tooth mechanism for the taking of food.
The cutting off of this giant dinosaur dynasty was nearly if not quite
simultaneous the world over. The explanation which is deducible from
similar catastrophes to other large types of animals is that a very
large frame, with a limited and specialized set of teeth fitted only
to a certain special food, is a dangerous combination of characters.
Such a monster organism is no longer adaptable; any serious change of
conditions which would tend to eliminate the special food would also
eliminate these great animals as a necessary consequence.
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