The Winners in Life’s Race; or, The Great Backboned Family
The Winners in Life’s Race; or, The Great Backboned Family
By Arabella B. Buckley.
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1, 3, and 5 Bond Street.
1883
PREFACE.
Although the present volume, as giving an account of the vertebrate animals, is a natural sequel to, and completion of, my former book, Life and her Children, which treated of invertebrates, yet it is a more independent work, both in plan and execution, than I had at first contemplated.
This arises from the nature of the subject. The structure and habits of the lower forms of life are sufficiently simple to be treated almost without reference to geological history. When, however, I began to sketch out the lives and structure of the vertebrate animals, which are so closely interlinked one with another and yet so sharply separated into groups, I soon found that I must carry my readers into the past in order to give any intelligible account of the present.
I have therefore endeavoured to describe graphically the early history of the backboned animals, so far as it is yet known to us, keeping strictly to such broad facts as ought in these days to be familiar to every child and ordinarily well-educated person, if they are to have any true conception of Natural History. At the same time I have dwelt as fully as space would allow, upon the lives of such modern animals as best illustrate the present divisions of the vertebrates upon the earth; my object being rather to follow the tide of life, and sketch in broad outline how structure and habit have gone hand-in-hand in filling every available space with living beings, than to multiply descriptions of the various species. If my younger readers will try and become familiar with the types selected, either alive in zoological gardens or preserved in good museums, they will, I hope, acquire a very fair idea of the main branches of the Backboned Family.[1]
In order to treat so vast a subject simply and within narrow limits, it has often been necessary to pass lightly over new and startling facts. I trust, however, it will not be inferred that such passages have been lightly or carelessly written, for in all cases I have sought, and most gratefully acknowledge, the assistance of some of our best authorities; and I have endeavoured that what little is said upon difficult subjects shall be a true foundation for wider knowledge in the future.
Footnote 1. Almost every animal mentioned in this book is to be found alive in the London Zoological Gardens, or stuffed in the British Museum.
Among the many friends who have rendered me valuable assistance, I cannot sufficiently express my obligations to Professor W. Kitchen Parker for his unwearying kindness in explaining obscure points of anatomical structure, and to my friends Mr. Alfred R. Wallace, Professor A. C. Haddon of Dublin, and Mr. Garnett of the British Museum, for constant suggestion and encouragement. I am also indebted to Mr. J. P. Anderson of the British Museum for aid in the arrangement of the Index.
The geological restorations given as picture-headings (some of which are here attempted, I believe, for the first time) have been most carefully considered, though the exact forms of such strange and extinct animals must necessarily be somewhat conjectural. My thanks are due to the artist, Mr. Carreras, jun., for the patience and care with which he has followed my instructions regarding them, and also to Mr. Smit for his masterly execution of the frontispiece.[2]
I have been asked why, in this and the former work, I have not given genealogical tables to help the reader to follow the relations of the various groups. My reason is, that it is impossible to construct
Footnote 2. The Figures in the text, which, with exception of about twenty, have all been drawn expressly for this book, are the work of the above-mentioned artists, together with Mr. Coombe and Miss Suft.
tables of this kind without giving a false idea of the fixity of natural divisions and of the extent of our knowledge. To men of science, who know how provisional such tables are, they have a certain value, but they would be positively harmful in a work of this kind, which will have fully accomplished its purpose if it only awakens in young minds a sense of the wonderful interweaving of life upon the earth, and a desire to trace out the ever-continuous action of the great Creator in the development of living beings.
Arabella B. Buckley.
London, September 1882.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The Threshold of Backboned Life — 1
CHAPTER II.
How the quaint old Fishes of Ancient Times have lived on into our day — 20
Picture-Heading—Ideal restoration of Pterygotus, the huge extinct sea-scorpion nine feet long; with the earliest known fish Pteraspis, Cephalaspis, and small shark-like animals swimming among Stone-lilies, Trilobites, etc. (From various sources.)
CHAPTER III.
The Bony Fish, and how they have spread over Sea, and Lake, and River — 43
Picture-Heading—Restorations of Osmeroides and Beryx, the earliest known bony fishes living in the Cretaceous Period. (From well-known figures.)
CHAPTER IV.
How the Backboned Animals pass from Water-Breathing to Air-Breathing, and find their Way out upon the land — 70
Picture-Heading—A Carboniferous Forest with ancient Amphibians (Labyrinthodonts). In the water Baphetes; on land Dendrerpeton, Hylonomus, and Hylerpeton. (Animals taken from Dawson’s Air-Breathers of the Coal.) CHAPTER V.
The Cold-Blooded Air Breathers of the Globe in Times both Past and Present — 89
Picture-Heading—Reptiles of the Cretaceous Period. On land Iguanodon, 20 feet high, attacked by Megalosaurus; in the air Pterodactyls, or flying lizards; in the water Ichthyosaurus, Mosasaurus, and Teleosaurus, with Plesiosaurus in the background. (From various sources.)
CHAPTER VI.
The Feathered Conquerors of the Air—Part I. Their Wanderings over Sea and Marsh, Desert and Plain — 123
Picture-Heading—Toothed Water-birds of the Cretaceous Period. Swimming and standing, Hesperornis; flying, Ichthyornis. (Restored from Marsh’s Skeletons.)
CHAPTER VII.
The Feathered Conquerors of the Air—Part II. From Running to Flying, from Mound Laying to Nest-Building, from Cry to Song — 153
Picture-Heading—Archæopteryx, the lizard-tailed land-bird with teeth. (Restored from figures of the British Museum and German specimens.)
CHAPTER VIII.
The Mammalia or Milk-givers, the Simplest Suckling Mother, the Active Pouch-Bearers, and the Imperfect-Toothed Animals — 181
Picture-Heading—Scene in the Triassic Period, with small Marsupials Microlestes, whose remains are found earlier than the toothed birds. (Restored conjecturally from the nearest living representative, Myrmecobius.) In the water large swimming reptiles.
CHAPTER IX.
From the Lower and Small Milk-Givers which find safety in concealment, to the Intelligent Apes and Monkeys — 209
Picture-Heading—Ideal forms of the early Herbivora and Carnivora. In the foreground Paleotherium, Anoplotherium, and Eohippus (this last only restored conjecturally); in the background, Xiphodon and Arctocyon (this last also only an approximation); on the tree, a small lemur; and in front, a hedgehog.
CHAPTER X.
The Large Milk-givers which have conquered the World by Strength and Intelligence — 256
Picture-Heading—Animals which lived in Europe during the warm periods before the Glacial Cold. On the right, Deinotherium, Mastodon; in background, Helladotherium, ancient giraffes; on the left, Hippopotamus, Tapir, Rhinoceros, Hyæna; in the tree, Pithecus pentelicus. All these animals, except the giraffe, were living in England in the late Tertiary Period. (From various sources.)
CHAPTER XI.
How the Backboned Animals have returned to the Water, and large Milk-Givers imitate the Fish — 299
Picture-Heading—An ideal scene of Europe in the Glacial Period with the “Hairy Mammoth” in the foreground.
CHAPTER XII.
A Bird’s-Eye View of the Rise and Progress of Backboned Life — 333
Picture-Heading—Man as he lived in caves after the Glacial Period, among animals of species many of them now extinct—the cave bear (Ursus spelæus), cave lion, cave hyæna (Hyæna spelæa), elk, musk-sheep (Ovibos moschatus), mammoth (Elephas primigenius), and the sabre-toothed tiger (Machairodus), fighting with the man.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Picture-Headings described under “Contents.”
Frontispiece. Fish of the Deep Sea—1. Chauliodus, one foot long; 2, 9, 10, 11. Harpodon or Bombay Duck, six inches; 3. Plagiodus, six feet; 4. Chiasmodus, one foot, with Scopelus in its stomach; 6. Beryx, one foot and a half; 8. Scopelus, one foot.
The Lancelet, Amphioxus lanceolatus — 11
Sea-Squirt or Ascidian — 14
Lamprey and Ammocœtes — 16
Structure of Minnow and Living Fish — 23
The Blue Shark — 29
The Sturgeon, Acipenser sturio — 31
The Sturgeon’s Head and Feelers — 32
The Ceratodus of Queensland — 34
Remoras clinging to a Shark — 51
Flying-Fish pursued by the Dorado — 54
The Fishing Frog, Lophius piscatorius — 59
The common Sole, Solea vulgaris — 61
The Hippocampus or Sea-Horse — 63
Sticklebacks and their Nest, Gasterosteus aculeatus — 65
Metamorphosis of the Frog — 72
The common smooth Newt, Lissotriton punctatus — 78
Proteus of the Carniola Caverns — 79
The Axolotl and Amblystoma — 80
The Flying Tree-Frog of New Guinea, Rhacophorus Rheinhardti — 86
The Tortoise — 96 Carapace of the Tortoise — 98
Back of a young Tortoise — 99
Skeleton of a Lizard — 103
Gecko and Chamæleon — 105
The Nile Crocodile — 108
Skeleton of a Snake — 111
Common Ringed Snake — 113
The Boa Constrictor — 115
The Cobra di Capello — 118
Jaw of a Rattlesnake — 119
Common English Viper, Pelias berus — 121
The Sparrow — 125
Skeleton of a Sparrow — 126
The Adjutant Bird — 128
The Ostrich at full Speed — 137
The Giant Moa and Tiny Apteryx — 140
A Group of Sea-Birds — 144
Albatrosses and Penguins — 147
A Group of Wading Birds — 149
The Flamingo — 150
Brush Turkeys and their Egg Mounds — 158
Wood-pigeon on her Nest — 160
The great green Woodpecker, Gecinus viridis — 163
The Kingfisher, Alcedo ispida — 166
Nest of the Common Wren, Troglodytes parvulus — 171
Nest of the Tailor-Bird — 173
Eagle bringing Food to its Young — 175
Jaw of Dromatherium, and Tooth of Microlestes — 183
The Duck-billed Platypus and the Echidna — 188
Head and Feet of Ornithorhynchus — 189
Australian Marsupials — 193
Tasmanian Marsupials — 197
South American Marsupials and imperfect-toothed Animals — 200
African imperfect-toothed Animals — 202
Skulls of an Insect-Eater and a Rodent — 217 A Group of Insect-Eaters — 220
A Group of Rodents — 221
The Pyrenean Desman — 226
The Beaver — 227
The Taguan and the Colugo — 231
Skeleton of a Bat — 233
A Bat Walking — 235
Fruit-Bats hanging in a Mauritius Cave — 238
Aye-aye and Lemur — 244
Woolly Monkey and Child — 247
The Gorilla at Home — 254
The Babirusa, a double-tusked Hog — 262
Skeleton of a Wild Ass — 266
The Camel — 270
The Red-deer with branching Antlers — 272
A Buffalo Cow defending her Calf — 274
The Elephant — 277
The Weasel — 280
The Ichneumon — 281
The Wolf — 283
The Tiger — 287
The Claw of the Cat or Tiger — 289
The Polar Bear and Walrus — 294
The Sea Otter — 302
Skeleton of the Sea Lion — 304
Sea Lion and Seal — 306
Sea Lions on the Watch for Wives — 311
The Manatee — 314
Skeleton of a Whale and Mouth — 318
Whale suckling her Young — 319
The Porpoise — 324
The Sperm Whale — 327
--- THE GREAT BACKBONED FAMILY
CHAPTER I. THE THRESHOLD OF BACKBONED LIFE.
Life, life, everywhere life! This was the cry with which we began our history of the lowest forms of Life’s children, and although we did not then pass on to the higher animals, is it not true that before we reached the end we were overwhelmed with the
<!-- pandi-media-anchor:figure-p23-o9-1996be44e481230b -->innumerable forms of living beings? The microscopic lime and flint builders, the spreading sponges, the hydras, anemones, corals, and jelly-fish filled the waters; the star-fish, sea-urchins, crabs, and lobsters crowded the shores; the oysters, whelks, and periwinkles, with their hundreds of companions, struggled for their existence between the tides; while in the open sea thousands of crustaceans and molluscs, with cuttle-fish and terribly-armed calamaries, roamed in search of food. Upon the land the snails and slugs devoured the green foliage, while the vast army of insects filled every nook and cranny in the water, on the land, or in the air. Yes! even among these lower forms we found creatures enough to stock the world over and over again with abundant life, so that even if the octopus had remained the monarch of the sea, and the tiny ant the most intelligent ruler on the land, there would have been no barren space, no uninhabited tracts, except those burning deserts and frozen peaks where life can scarcely exist.