The oldest known bird was found in Upper [Jurassic] rocks exposed in Germany. This primitive bird, named Archaeopteryx, is little more than a reptile with feathers. Archaeopteryx was a pigeon-sized creature which had scales as well as feathers, a lizard-like tail, a toothed beak, and other definitely reptilian characteristics.
During late [Cretaceous] time the birds underwent changes that resulted in forms similar to those that are living today, and most of the present-day birds had developed by the end of the [Tertiary].
Although not commonly found, [fossil] birds have been recorded from certain of the [Cenozoic] rocks of Texas.
CLASS MAMMALIA.—
The mammals are animals that are born alive and fed with milk from the mother’s breast. They are warm-blooded, air-breathing, have a protective covering of hair, and are the most advanced of all vertebrates. The foregoing features are the more typical mammalian characteristics, but exceptions to these are found in certain mammals.
Mammals first appeared in the [Jurassic] and were probably derived from some form of mammal-like reptile. Although rare during the [Mesozoic], mammals underwent rapid development and expansion during the [Cenozoic], and during this era certain types of mammals became extremely large and assumed many bizarre shapes. The majority of these unusual forms lived but a short time but are well known from their fossils, and the remains of some of these animals which inhabited Texas during the Cenozoic may be seen in the Texas Memorial Museum at Austin.
Recent mammalian classification recognizes several subclasses and numerous orders and suborders, but the treatment of the mammals in a publication of this nature must of necessity be somewhat brief and no attempt at detailed classification is made.
Subclass Allotheria.—
The allotherians first appeared during the [Jurassic] and underwent considerable development in the late [Cretaceous] and early [Tertiary]. Included in this subclass are the multituberculates which are a group of small rodent-like animals that were probably the earliest of the herbivorous mammals. These animals were probably never very numerous, and they became extinct during the early part of [Eocene] time.