We do not know the reason. Perhaps
it was due to a sudden change in climate. Perhaps they
had grown so large that they could neither swim nor walk nor
crawl, and they starved to death within sight but not within
reach of the big ferns and trees. Whatever the cause, the
million year old world-empire of the big reptiles was over.
The world now began to be occupied by very different
creatures. They were the descendants of the reptiles but they
were quite unlike these because they fed their young from the
``mammae'' or the breasts of the mother. Wherefore modern
science calls these animals ``mammals.'' They had shed the
scales of the fish. They did not adopt the feathers of the bird,
but they covered their bodies with hair. The mammals however
developed other habits which gave their race a great advantage
over the other animals. The female of the species
carried the eggs of the young inside her body until they were
hatched and while all other living beings, up to that time, had
left their children exposed to the dangers of cold and heat,
and the attacks of wild beasts, the mammals kept their young
with them for a long time and sheltered them while they were
still too weak to fight their enemies. In this way the young
mammals were given a much better chance to survive, because
they learned many things from their mothers, as you will know
if you have ever watched a cat teaching her kittens to take
care of themselves and how to wash their faces and how to
catch mice.
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