The marine beds of the formation have yielded
numerous remains of both Vertebrate and Invertebrate sea-animals;
whilst the fresh-water deposits contain the skeletons of such
shells, fishes, &c., as now inhabit rivers or lakes. Both the
marine and the lacustrine beds have been shown to contain an
enormous number of plants, the latter more particularly; whilst
the Brown Coals of the formation are made up of vegetable matter
little altered from its original condition. The remains of
air-breathing animals, such as Insects, Reptiles, Birds, and
Mammals, are also abundantly found, more especially in the
fresh-water beds.
The _plants_ of the Miocene period are extraordinarily numerous,
and only some of the general features of the vegetation of this
epoch can be indicated here. Our chief sources of information as
to the Miocene plants are the Brown Coals of Germany and Austria,
the Lower and Upper Molasse of Switzerland, and the Miocene strata
of the Arctic regions. The lignites of Austria have yielded very
numerous plants, chiefly of a tropical character--one of the
most noticeable forms being a Palm of the genus _Sabal_ (fig.
234, B), now found in America. The plants of the Lower Miocene of
Switzerland are also mostly of a tropical character, but include
several forms now found in North America, such as a Tulip-tree
(_Liriodendron_) and a Cypress (_Taxodium_).
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