The Age of Early Mammals (Part Forty-Two)

Fifty million years ago, Earth became an eventful and active age on land and under water. Sea urchins increased while corals and crinoids decreased. Also, the ammonites rapidly declined. On land the fern forests were largely replaced by pine and other modern trees, including gigantic redwoods. This biological stage was ready to introduce the placental type of mammals which suddenly appeared in North America. Previous orders of placental mammals had existed, but this new type sprang directly from a pre-existent reptilian ancestor. The father of the placental mammals was a small, highly active, carnivorous, springing type of dinosaur.

Basic mammalian instincts began to be manifested in these primitive mammalian types. Mammals possess an immense survival advantage over all other forms of animal life in that they can:

• Bring forth relatively mature and well-developed offspring.
• Nourish, nurture, and protect their offspring with affectionate regard.
• Employ their superior brain power in self-perpetuation.
• Utilize increased agility in escaping from enemies.
• Apply superior intelligence to environmental adjustment and adaptation.

Forty-five million years ago, mammalian life was evolving rapidly. The small, reptilian, egg-laying type of mammal flourished, and the ancestors of the later kangaroos roamed Australia. Soon there were small horses, fleet-footed rhinoceroses, tapirs with proboscises, primitive pigs, squirrels, lemurs, opossums, and several tribes of monkeylike animals. They were all small, primitive, and best suited to living among the forests of the mountain regions. A large ostrich-like land bird developed to a height of ten feet and laid an egg nine by thirteen inches. These were the ancestors of the later gigantic passenger birds that were so highly intelligent, and that onetime transported human beings through the air.

IMAGINE! Riding on a gigantic bird! Maybe, the movie from the Jurassic Park series, got it right when it came to the size of flying dinosaurs and being able to ride on the back of one!

Also, maybe the ancient astronaut theorists got it wrong when reading cave drawing showing aircraft. Maybe, it was the passenger birds the cave dwellers drew pictures of. Anyway, it’s worth a thought or two.

The mammals of this era lived on land, under the water, in the air, and among the treetops. They had from one to eleven pairs of mammary glands, and all were covered with considerable hair. In common with the later appearing orders, they developed two successive sets of teeth and possessed large brains in comparison to body size. But among them all no modern forms existed.

The evolution of mammalian and other related forms of life continued with little or no interruption. North America was then connected by land with every continent except Australia, and the world was gradually overrun by primitive mammalian fauna of various types.

(In Memory of Dad)
Quote: Often it is the lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much. Marcel Proust
Check out Ms. Oberne’s work, “The Birth of Jesus and Beyond.” FREE to READ available at these markets: https://books2read.com/u/31YAgr