^^^^ ZOOGENESIS ""^^^ 



These horses were all the modern type, with rela- 

 tively long limbs and with a single toe and hoof on 

 each foot. Their skulls were long-muzzled and their 

 jaws were deep in order to accommodate the long and 

 high-crowned teeth which are so characteristic of the 

 modern horse. They ranged in size from little crea- 

 tures no larger than the smallest Shetland pony to 

 some that exceeded the largest draught horses. 



As related by Dr. Gidley, these horses of the Ice 

 Age were preceded by others of a still earlier geologic 

 time. The fossils of the later portion of the so-called 

 Tertiary period, known as the Miocene and Pliocene 

 epochs, give abundant evidence of earlier groups of 

 horses which were even more varied in types and more 

 numerous in kinds than those of the Pleistocene. 



The duration of this period was very long, being 

 measured by hundreds of thousands or perhaps even 

 millions of years, and the records show that horses 

 were abundant from its beginning until its close. 

 There were no very large horses at this time, and the 

 general average size was notably smaller than that of 

 the horses of the Pleistocene. They all resembled the 

 modern horses in a general way, but most of them 

 differed in several rather inconspicuous but very im- 

 portant features. 



The limbs and feet of the horses of this period were 

 much like those of modern horses, but in addition to 

 the single rounded hoof most of them had on each 

 foot a pair of extra toes, one on either side of the main 

 toe. These extra toes varied in size from small ones, 

 resembling the so-called dew-claws of the deer or elk. 



