444 LAND MAMMALS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 



is hardly necessary, for these strange and bizarre creatures 

 were all very much alike. From the commonest and best- 

 known genus {'\Uintatherium) they are called fuintatheres. 

 They were large and ponderous animals, the veritable giants 

 of their time, far exceeding any of their contemporaries. In 

 appearance they were among the most fantastic of the many 

 curious beasts which the fossils have revealed. 



The skull carried three pairs of bony protuberances, or 

 horn-like outgrowths ; one pair on the nasal bones suggest 

 by their shape and character that they formed the support of 

 dermal horns like those of the paired-horn rhinoceroses {^Dicer- 

 atherium) of the Oligocene and lower Miocene. (See p. 239.) 

 The second pair, which were moderately high and thick prom- 

 inences, almost cylindrical in shape and tapering but slightly 

 to their bluntly rounded ends, were chiefly outgrowths of the 

 maxillaries, or upper jaw-bones. From their shape, it is likely 

 that these were not sheathed in horn, but were merely covered 

 with skin, as were also the third pair, which arose from the 

 parietals. These were massive, club-shaped prominences, 

 eight or ten inches high and broadening to the free ends, a 

 shape which makes it impossible to suppose that these were 

 true horn-cores covered with horny sheaths. A high crest 

 of bone, representing the occipital crest, enclosed the top and 

 back of the cranium, connecting the posterior pair of ''horns" 

 and dying away in front of them. The top of the cranium 

 had thus a deep, basin-like character, such as is to be found 

 in no mammal outside of this suborder and was one of the 

 most peculiar features of this extraordinary skull. The brain- 

 cavity was absurdly small, the growth of the brain not having 

 kept pace with that of the body ; the cavity is hidden away in 

 the postero-inferior portion of the skull, the immense thickness 

 of the cranial walls being somewhat lightened by the formation 

 of sinuses, but these were much less extensive and pervasive 

 than in other very large, horned or tusk-bearing mammals, 

 such as elephants, rhinoceroses, etc. Probably, as in the case of 



