Animals of the Past

by Frederic A. Lucas

Published November, 1901.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTORY AND EXPLANATORY

Use of scientific names,[xvi]; estimates of age of earth,[xvii]; restorations by Mr. Knight,[xviii]; Works of Reference,[xix].

I. FOSSILS, AND HOW THEY ARE FORMED

Definition of fossils,[1]; fossils may be indications of animals or plants, 2; casts and impressions,[3]; why fossils are not more abundant,[4]; conditions under which fossils are formed,[5]; enemies of bones,[6]; Dinosaurs engulfed in quicksand,[8]; formation of fossils,[9]; petrified bodies frauds,[10]; natural casts,[10]; leaves,[13]; incrustations,[14]; destruction of fossils, 15; references,[17].

II. THE EARLIEST KNOWN VERTEBRATES

Methods of interrogating Nature,[18]; thickness of sedimentary rocks,[20]; earliest traces of life,[21]; early vertebrates difficult of preservation,[22]; armored fishes,[23]; abundance of early fishes,[25]; destruction of fish,[26]; carboniferous sharks,[29]; known mostly from teeth and spines,[30]; references, 32.