304 



HISTORICAL PALAEONTOLOGY. 



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 Dinoceras mirabilis, greatly reduced. Eocene, North America. 

 (After Marsh.) 



and slender. Many forms of the Dinoccrata 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 (Probosridea) 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 Arctocyon pre- 

 sents us with an Eocene Carnivore more or less closely allied 

 to the existing Racoons ; the Pal&onyctis appears to be related 

 to the recent Civet-cats ; the genus Hycenodon is in some 

 respects comparable to the living Hyaenas ; and the Canis 

 Parisiensis of the gypsum-bearing beds of Montmartre may 

 perhaps be allied to the Foxes. 



The order of the Bats ( Cheiroptera] is represented in Eocene 

 strata of the Paris basin (Gypseous series of Montmartre) by 

 the Vespertilio 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- 



