Animals of the Past

Written when 'dinosaur' was still a new word in most homes: the American Museum's own guide to sea-serpents of Kansas, birds with teeth, and why great creatures vanish — with Charles R. Knight's famous restorations.

Feathered Giants

4 pages in this part of Animals of the Past.

Feathered Giants

"There were giants in the earth in those days."

Feathered Giants: Zealand

The best known among these, as well as the most recent in point of time, are the Moas of New Zealand, first Zealand, first brought to…

Feathered Giants: Madagascar

It is a far cry from New Zealand to Madagascar, but thither must we go, for that island was, pity we cannot say is, inhabited by a race of…

Feathered Giants: Diatryma

The lapse of time has brought to us knowledge or rather information of another "feathered giant" whose existence was hinted at in 1876 by…

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of Animals of the Past (1901) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored plates, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.