Early Reptilian Age (Part Thirty-Seven)

Around 140,000,000 years ago, suddenly and with only the hint of the two prereptilian ancestors that developed in Africa during the preceding epoch, the reptiles appeared in full-fledged form. They developed rapidly, soon yielding crocodiles, scaled reptiles, and eventually both sea serpents and flying reptiles. Their transition ancestors speedily disappeared. rnThese rapidly evolving reptilian dinosaurs soon became the monarchs of this age. They were egg layers and are distinguished from all animals by their small brains, having brains weighing less than one pound to control bodies later weighing as much as forty tons. But earlier reptiles were smaller, carnivorous, and walked kangaroolike on their hind legs. They had hollow avian bones and subsequently developed only three toes on their hind feet, and many of their fossil footprints have been mistaken for those of giant birds. Later on, the herbivorous dinosaurs evolved. They walked on all fours, and one branch of this group developed a protective armor.rnSeveral million years later the first mammals appeared. They were nonplacental and proved a speedy failure; none survived. This was an experimental effort to improve mammalian types, but it did not succeed on Urantia. A new invasion of the sea occurred and the marine life of this period began to disappear. What became the prominent feature of the marine life was the presence of the beautiful ammonites, whose fossil remains are found all over the world. Personally, for myself, I have two ammonites and managed to pick up a trilobite to keep with my other fossil collection. Around this time period, the famous Bering Strait land bridge, which I read about as a junior high student, became known. A rich and unique marine life appeared on the Californian Pacific coast, where over one thousand species of ammonites developed from the higher types of cephalopods. (In Memory of Dad)rnQuote: He who comes to do good knocks at this gate. He who loves finds the door open. Tagore Check out Ms. Oberne’s work, “The Birth of Jesus and Beyond.” FREE to READ available on Apple…https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1550769993rn