232 



LAND MAMMALS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 



foreodonts in the altogether exceptional form of the skull. Graz- 

 ing foreodonts {\Merychyus), of moderate and small size with 

 high-crowned teeth, were evidently quite common on the upper 

 Miocene plains. The fhornless deer and f" deer-antelopes" 



Fig. 126. — ^Procamelus elrodi, a large camel from the upper Miocene. Restored from 

 specimens in the Carnegie Museum. 



differed but little from those of the lower Pliocene. Peccaries 

 were fairly abundant. 



The upper Miocene fauna was especially characterized by 

 the large number of mammals, belonging to several different 

 orders, which had acquired the high-crowned, persistently 

 growing pattern of grinding teeth. Many of the horses, 

 camels, ruminants and rodents displayed this structure, and, 



