Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo13amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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Skull of Bauria cynops Broom, about one-half natiu-al size. This is the most primitive of the very mammal-like reptiles belong- ing to the group of Cynodonts. The dentition, it will be observed, is like that of the mammal except in that the grinding teeth are simply little pegs not unlike those found in the armadillo
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South African fossil forms is that it was probably the devel- opment of the active Cynodonts that led to the development of the active reptiles such as Euparkeria. For possibly two million years the carnivorous mam- mal-like reptiles had an abundant supply of food in the form of the small Anomo- donts. In lower Tri- assic times the small- er Anomodonts seem to have become ex- tinct for some rea- son and the carnivo- rous forms had to obtain a new diet which was probably a little lizard-like animal called Pro- colophon, and pos- sibly other small reptiles of a similar type. It was possi- bly this new activity that gave rise to the Cynodonts. In upper Triassic times the Procolophons be- came extinct and the small Cynodonts were driven to at- tacking the more active types like Euparkeria. The rivalry between these forms resulted in the greatly increased activity of both, the active four-footed forms becoming the primitive mammals and those which run on their hind legs gave rise to the theropodous dinosaurs and the ancestral birds. The further evolution of the bird was doubtless the result of its taking to an arboreal habit and developing feathers. 346 Skull of Nythosaurus larvatus Owen, slightly reduced. This is one of the most mammal-like of the reptiles belonging to the Cynodonts. Were it not for the composite character of the lower jaw it might readily be regarded as a mammal

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