Animals Before Man 



food was to be had, and where tliey finally 

 died. 



This period, too, witnessed the continued 

 development of camels, or perhaps it would be 

 better to say llamas, for while the llama is a 

 member of the camel family, it does not fulfil 

 the popular idea of a camel. Llama-like ani- 

 mals, then, abounded, some greatly larger than 

 the Bactrian camel, some smaller than the 

 South American guanaco. The most remark- 

 able of them Avas one well termed by Dr. Mat- 

 thew Alticamelus^ the high camel, or the giraffe 

 camel ; for, while a member of the camel fam- 

 ily, as shown by its skull and feet, this animal 

 had the long slender neck and legs of a gii^affe, 

 and, like the giraffe, must have fed on the 

 leaves and branches of trees. It certainly was 

 not built for feeding off the ground. 



The horse family steadily progressed, and 

 the genus Protohijpjpus^ before the horse, con- 

 tains species of fair size, in which the middle 

 toe is so much larger and longer than the 

 others that these do not reach the ground. 



True ruminants appear, small species with 

 24i 



