298 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



vertebrates new to science, about two hundred of which have 

 ah'eady been described. 



Many remarkable forms of animals liitherto unknown have 

 been revealed by Professor Marsh's researches, chief amonc^ 

 which may be mentioned a group of birds having well-defined 

 teeth, and constituting a new suh-clasSj Odo7itoimithes, of two 

 orders one in which the teeth are in grooves, and the other 

 in which the teeth have each a distinct socket. The former 

 were swimmers of gigantic size, with rudimentary wings, 

 and the vertebrae as in modern birds. The second order em- 

 braces small birds with powerful wings and biconcave ver- 

 tebrae, as in Ichthyoryiis. 



Another group of fossil vertebrates is that of the Ptero- 

 dactyls^ or flying reptiles, Avhich, however, constitute a dis- 

 tinct order from the European. In one of these the spread 

 of the wings amounted to twenty five feet. The class of the 

 reptiles proved to be rich in new species, some of them liz- 

 ards of sixty or more feet in length. These forms were ob- 

 tained in the cretaceous formation. 



The mammalia of the tertiary formation were especially 

 interesting, among them a gigantic group of the order Dmo- 

 cerata^ nearly equal to the elephant in size, but with shorter 

 limbs. The skull was armed with two or more pairs of horn 

 cores, and with enormous canine tusks like those of the wal- 

 rus. The brain was proportionally smaller than that of any 

 other land mammal. 



The Tillodontia, another new order of mammals found in 

 the eocene deposits, possessed affinities to the carnivores, 

 rodents, and ungulates. The remains of quadrumana were 

 also found, related both to the lemurs of the Old World and 

 to some of the South American monkeys. Among the eocene 

 mammals a small hoofed animal was found, supposed to be 

 the oldest probable ancestor of the horse. It was about 

 as large as a fox, with four toes before and three behind. 

 Among other mammals was a group allied to the modern 

 rhinoceros. 



BelouQ-inc^ to the Br ont other idm is a wonderful beast, as 

 large as the Dinocerata, having an elevated pair of horn 

 cores on the maxillary bones; it was found among the mam- 

 mals of the miocene. A small equine animal, as large as a 

 sheep, and having three toes on each foot, with an additional 



