304 HISTORICAL PALZVONTOLOGY. 
sheath. The nose was not prolonged into a proboscis or 
“trunk,” as in the existing Elephants ; and the tail was short 
Fig. 232.—Skull of Dizoceras mirabilis, greatly reduced. Eocene, North America. 
(After Marsh.) 
and slender. Many forms of the Dinocerata are known ; but all 
these singular and gigantic quadrupeds appear to have been 
confined to the North American continent, and to be restricted 
to the Eocene period. 
The important order of the Elephants (Prodoscidea) is also 
not known to have come into existence during the Eocene 
period. On the other hand, the great order of the Beasts of 
Prey (Carnivora) is represented in Eocene strata by several 
forms belonging to different types. ‘Thus the A7cfocyon pre- 
sents us with an Eocene Carnivore more or less closely allied 
to the existing Racoons; the Pa/gonyctis appears to be related 
to the recent Civet-cats; the genus Ayenodon is in some 
respects comparable to the living Hyzenas; and the Camzs 
Parisiensis of the gypsum-bearing beds of Montmartre may 
perhaps be allied to the Foxes. 
The order of the Bats (Chetroptera) is represented in Eocene 
strata of the Paris basin (Gypseous series of Montmartre) by 
the Vespertilid Parisiensis (fig. 233), an insect-eating Bat very 
similar to some of the existing European forms. Lastly, the 
Eocene deposits have yielded more or less satisfactory evi- 
