[Illustration: Fig. 122.--Bird of Solenhofen (Archæopteryx).]
Some marsupial Mammals have left their remains in the Upper Oolite as in
the Lower. They belong to the genus _Sphalacotherium_. Besides the
Plesiosauri and Teleosauri, there still lived in the maritime regions a
Crocodile, the _Macrorhynchus_; and the monstrous _Pœcilopleuron_, with
sharp cutting teeth, one of the most formidable animals of this epoch;
the _Hylæosaurus_, _Cetiosaurus_, _Stenosaurus_, and _Streptospondylus_,
and among the Turtles, the _Emys_ and _Platemys_. As in the Lower
Oolite, so also in the Upper, Insects similar to those by which we are
surrounded, pursued their flight in the meadows and hovered over the
surface of the water. Of these, however, too little is known for us to
give any very precise indication on the subject of their special
organisation.
The most remarkable fact relating to this period is the appearance of
the first bird. Hitherto the Mammals, and of these only
imperfectly-organised species, namely, the Marsupials, have alone
appeared. It is interesting to witness birds appearing immediately
after. In the quarries of lithographic stone at Solenhofen, the remains
of a bird, with feet and feathers, have been found, but without the
head. These curious remains are represented in Fig. 122, in the position
in which they were discovered. The bird is usually designated the Bird
of Solenhofen.
[Illustration: Fig. 123.