'The Last of the Saurians.'

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 17 July 1914, Page 2

'The Last of the Saurians.'

It is not only by reason of its terrible power or for the ingenuity of Nature's handiwork that the crocodile group is interesting. , These brutes are the last of the Silurians, or, if that is too bold a statement, they are at least more* nearly ai-

lied than any living creature to those mighty extinct reptiles of the past.

To us the very thought of an alligator over twenty feet in length suggests a creature of enormous size, while add another ten feet and we have a monster indeed. Our monster is but a pigmy in comparison with those wriich have gone before, actual remains proving that reptiles three times as large at least once existed in this wonderful world of ours.

Prehistoric remains are interesting yet scarcely as interesting as the actual survivors from the MistyPast, and as one examines even a. baby alligator it is a fascinatingthought that here is something at least approaching the mysterious monsters about which there has been such endless speculation.

One scarcely expects to find paren-

tal solicitude amongst crocodiles and alligators, yet it is there. The former are said to be perhaps a trifle more devoted to their ofLspring than are the latter, yet seemingly there is little between them. Both, in common with all their kind, lay eggs, which are left to hatch "on their own," but, during the process, the crocodile shows intense anxiety, watching the eggs which she has so carefully buried, and driving away all intruders. When the youngstei-s hatch from the comparatively small, hard-shelled eggs their parent conducts them to the water, and even guards them just at first from possible foes. Her task is not for long. The youthful crocodile is nothing if not resourceful.