Abstract
JUST as it is clear that the existing whales and porpoises are descended from quadrupeds which formerly lived on land, it is gradually being recognised that the marine reptiles which occupied their place during the Secondary Period of geological time also had land-ancestors. Many of the connecting links can now be traced among the fossils discovered during recent years, and so much progress has been made in interpreting them that it is interesting to pause and survey the result. The original papers are scattered through special journals, some of them not easily accessible, and it is necessary to collect the essential facts from numerous sources. We therefore welcome the small book by Prof. Samuel W. Williston, who has devoted many years to the successful study of these reptiles and now reviews the subject exhaustively with first-hand knowledge.
Water Reptiles of the Past and Present.
By Prof. S. W. Williston. Pp. vii + 251. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press; London: Cambridge University Press, n.d.) Price 12s. net.
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W., A. Water Reptiles of the Past and Present . Nature 95, 3 (1915). https://doi.org/10.1038/095003a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/095003a0