332 



OEDERS OF MAMMALIA. 



the same time so closely related to the Pcdceotheridcc, that, in 

 the present state of our knowledge, they might be included 

 with equal propriety in eitlier family. The chief genus in 

 this group is Pala:osyo2}s, in which the teeth form an ahnost 

 continuous series, and the dental formula was — 



O O i 1 



4—4 



3- 



1—1 ^ 4- 



; m — 

 -4 3- 



= 44. 



The molars are of the Palaeotheroid type ; but the 

 canines were very large and pointed, and resembled those 

 of the Carnivora. Limnoliyus, also from the Eocene, dif- 

 fers from the preceding only in the pattern of the molar 

 teeth. The Eocene Diplacodon, lastly, resembles the pre- 

 ceding in many points, but, though hornless, shows points 

 of relationship to the Brontothcridce. 



Fam. 4. BrontothcridcB. — We may provisionally place 

 here the large fossil Mammals from the Miocene of North 

 America, wliich Professor Marsh has described under the 

 name of Brontothcridce. In these, the fore-feet have four 



Fig. 633. — Skull ot Brontotherium ingens. (After Mavsli.) 



nearly equal toes, and the hind-feet three, thus numerically 

 resembling the feet of the Tapirs, but the third digit of the 

 fore-foot has not the pre-eminent development that it has in 

 the latter. In size and in the conformation of the skeleton, 

 the Brontotheridcc resemble the Elephants, but the limbs 

 are much shorter, and the tail seems to have been long ; and 

 though the nose was probably long and flexible, there does 

 not appear to have been any true proboscis. The skull 



