Finally, it is interesting to notice in how many respects the
Jurassic fauna of Western Europe approached to that now inhabiting
Australia. At the present day, Australia is almost wholly tenanted
by Marsupials; upon its land-surface flourish _Araucarioe_ and
Cycadaceous plants, and in its seas swims the Port-Jackson Shark
(_Cestracion Philippi_); whilst the Molluscan genus _Trigonia_
is nowadays exclusively confined to the Australian coasts. In
England, at the time of the deposition of the Jurassic rocks,
we must have had a fauna and flora very closely resembling what
we now see in Australia. The small Marsupials, _Amphitherium,
Phascolotherium_, and others, prove that the Mammals were the same
in order; cones of Araucarian pines, with tree-ferns and fronds
of Cycads, occur throughout the Oolitic series; spine-bearing
fishes, like the Port-Jackson Shark, are abundantly represented
by genera such as _Acrodus_ and _Strophodus_; and lastly, the
genus _Trigonia_, now exclusively Australian, is represented
in the Oolites by species which differ little from those now
existing. Moreover, the discovery during recent years of the
singular Mud-fish, the _Ceratodus Fosteri_ in the rivers of
Queensland, has added another and a very striking point of
resemblance to those already mentioned; since this genus of Fishes,
though preeminently Triassic, nevertheless extended its range
into the Jurassic.
Pages:
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386