Show TRACES DESCENT OF BIRDS FROM FLYING REPTILES All birds descended from flying reptiles with teeth according to Dr Alexander Wetmore assistant secretary secretary secretary secre secre- tary of the Smithsonian Institution He has traced the family history of ot the birds back bacle to the grotesque and natures nature's first attempts attempt's at bird making At Atthe Atthe Atthe the top of ot the scale of ot evolution are nrc the songbirds while the most primitive primitive primi primi- tive birds living today are the ostrich ostrich os os- and the penguin The story of the Wright rIght brothers Is well known But Dut how did the first fi flying Ing reptile manage to take oft There were few airports at nt that time and those were not equipped with modern safety devices None of ot the animals or reptiles had made a n transAtlantic trans trans- Atlantic flight or a Journey to the stratosphere and there were no birds to soar Boar and glide gracefully through the air Flying existed only In the minds mind's eye dye ye of ot the lowly though imaginative Im- Im im- im reptile and while It had bad a good set of ot teeth It could not use I Ithem them In such an undertaking I This happened about years ago and we are frequently reminded reminded re re- re minded that evolution can accomplish wonders In millions of ot years But It cannot be rasped The copperheads copperheads copper copper- heads rattlesnakes water moccasins and black snakes of at the Ozarks have never sprouted wings nor has hns nn any anyone anyone one of ot them ever eyer been heard to sing like a n mocking bird Their offspring always lack both the ambition and the ability to fly But that does not mean they will always remain as ns they are unless Indeed evolution sometimes runs Into a blind bUnc alley nUey a possibility suggested by Doctor Wetmore Wetmore Wet Wet- more himself He TIe ventures the opinion that birds may have reached the end of the evolutionary evolutionary evo eyo- road because he says civilized man Is disturbing the natural conditions of the earth And If It birds will never become reptiles perhaps reptiles will never become birds St St. Louis Luls Globe Democrat |