A first book in organic evolution

by D. Kerfoot Shute

Tertiary Period. In reaching Tertiary time we enter upon the threshold of our modern world. The reptiles have dwindled to a few low forms, such as alligators and crocodiles, to the small lizards, to turtles and tortoises, and to those low-grade reptiles, the snakes, which now for the first time are the most numerous of the class. In these ages, as now, the Teleost fishes vastly predominate, and the Ganoid and Crossopterygian fishes are nearly extinct. In Tertiary times, as in the present, all the reptilian birds had disappeared, and only typical birds remain. In other words, the bird-class had now separated from the reptilian class, and the connecting links became extinct.

In this age for the first time the highest flowering plants are abundant, and now for the first time also the highest orders of insects are abundant, such as bees, ants, butterflies, etc. On account of the greater warmth and moisture in the Tertiary period, insect and plant life were fuller then than now. That the climate was warmer in those times is shown by the following facts: In America, during the early Tertiary period, figs, evergreens and palms grew in Dakota, showing a temperature there at that time equal to the temperature in Florida at present. In the middle Tertiary period trees like the Redwood of California, and Magnolias, were abundant in Greenland.

Although Reptilian Mammals (Multituberculata) lived in the preceding era, true or typical Mammals first came to view in the earliest Tertiary times. They soon succeeded the vanished giant reptiles as the rulers of the world; so that this and the succeeding (Quaternary) period are known as the Age of Mammals. At this period, for the first time, appear generalized primitive flesh-eating mammals (Creodonta), and primitive grass-eating ones (Condylarthra and Amblypoda); also primitive Primates (primitive Lemuroids, and, later, primitive types of Monkeys, e. g., Anaptomorphus).

The evolution of mammals, compared with that of other animal groups, has been so rapid that each stage of even the Eocene has its own mammalian fauna, differing from those of the succeeding and preceding stages. All through the Tertiary period, as through all the preceding ages, the species that are advancing in life are undergoing greater and greater specialization. Animals at first closely related finally become more and more separated from one another. This is well illustrated by a study of the hoofed animals. In the earliest Tertiary period all these animals seem to unite into one branch but now they consist of many widely separated sub-branches. As we trace the branch down to the earliest Tertiary period, we find that even in early Eocene times it divides into the even-toed and odd-toed ungulates. In the later Miocene times, each of these again separates,—the former, even-toed ones, into the hog and hippopotamus families with four toes, and the ruminant family with two toes; the latter, odd-toed ones, into the elephant family with five toes, the rhinoceros and tapir families with three toes, and the horse family with one toe.

Fig. 14.—Illustrating genesis of horse’s feet. Fore-feet (a) and hind-feet (b) of Orohippus; fore-feet (c) and hind-feet (d) of Mesohippus; fore-feet (e) and hind-feet (f) of Miohippus; fore-feet (g) and hind-feet (h) of Protohippus; fore-feet (k) and hind-feet (l) of Pliohippus; fore-feet (m) and hind-feet (n) of Equus.

It will be exceedingly instructive to trace briefly the progressive specialization of the horse family through the Tertiary period. A wonderful series representing this family has been found in the American Tertiaries. First of all, the Eohippus is found in the earliest Eocene rocks. This little animal was about the size of a fox and had four perfect toes (hoofed) and a fifth, much smaller, imperfect one (splint) on the fore-feet; the hind-feet had three perfect hoofed toes. Later on, in the middle Eocene rocks, was found the Orohippus ([Fig. 14]), with three toes behind (b), and four in front (a)—the fifth imperfect toe (splint) being lost. This animal was also about the size of a fox. Still later on were found, in the Miocene rocks, the Mesohippus (c, d) and the Miohippus (e, f), with three toes behind (d, f) and three toes and a splint in front (c, e). The splint in the Miohippus is much smaller than in the Mesohippus, and also in the former the two side toes have become smaller and farther removed from the ground. Both of these animals were about the size of sheep. Further on, in the early Pliocene rocks, appears the Protohippus (g, h), with three toes on all the feet, but the middle toe considerably larger and longer than the side toes. This animal was about the size of an ass. Then, finally, came the Pliohippus (k, l) and Equus (m, n) in the latest Pliocene rocks. Here the middle toe is greatly enlarged and the side toes are reduced to useless splints. Thus by degrees, through slight modifications not only of the feet, but also of the skull, teeth, brain, etc., and by adaptations from age to age, was formed the modern horse. In like manner, by gradual changes and adaptation to surroundings, all the early generalized mammals pass into the higher specialized ones.

Quaternary Period. The mammals of this age differ from those of the Tertiary period and from living species. Never before this period, and never since, have mammals been so large. They culminate in this period and then decline. The great mastodon, the great cave-bear, and saber-toothed tiger, the Irish elk, and gigantic sloths and armadillos lived in this age.

Most interesting of all, the remains of man now first appear associated with these extinct animals. Man must have been at first an apparently insignificant creature among the mighty mammals that surrounded him, and must for a time have contended more or less doubtfully with them for mastery. But as he increased in numbers and intelligence he became more and more the ruler of the brute creation; so that this age in which he rules may fittingly be spoken of as the Psychozoic Era, or Age of Man.