28 EXTINCT PIG-LIKE ANIMALS CHAP. 
Go 
has a slight naked strip above the nostrils, as in the Sheep, but 
there is no fissure of the upper lip. 
Extinct Families of Artiodactyla. 
The origin of the Artiodactyla is placed by Cope in the family 
Pantolestidae,! allied to the genus Protogonodon of the Condy- 
larthra. As, however, this family is represented by but a few 
back teeth and a fragment of the hind-foot, it seems premature to 
regard it as the necessary starting-point of the Bunodont and 
tuminant groups. 
Fam. Anthracotheriidae. — This well-known and ancient 
family consists of creatures of for the most part a Pig-like form, 
with teeth approaching the selenodont shape, and a complete 
dentition. The carpals, tarsals, metacarpals, and metatarsals are 
all free. The toes are four (or five) to each foot, with the outer- 
most beginning to be reduced. These of course are all generalised 
and primitive characters, pointing nowhere in particular, except, of 
course, to an Artiodactyle stock, on account of the teeth and the 
two predominating toes. 
The type genus of the family, Anthracotheriwm, is not, as its 
name might seem to denote, a relic of the Carboniferous period ; 
its remains were found in lenite, which may also show that it 
was at least semi-aquatic in habit. Its form, however, must 
have been Pig-like, so at least one would presume from the 
elongated skull and shortish legs. There were species as great 
as a Rhinoceros, and smaller forms. The genus began in the 
Oligocene and continued down to the Pliocene. It is known 
from Europe, Asia, and America. 
The skull is long with a prominent sagittal crest. The 
facial part is also very long, and the orbits are not closed by a 
bony ring. The premolars are simple teeth; the molars dis- 
tinctly bunodont with a tendency in one or two to the seleno- 
dont condition. The canines are powerful, as are also the 
incisors. The scapula has been specially compared with that 
of the Camel. It has no acromion, which is usually though 
not always absent in Ungulates. An ally of the present animal, 
for instance, the Hippopotamus, has the acromion developed. 
The radius and ulna, the tibia and fibula, are all fully developed. 
1 The name Z7’rigonolestes has to be substituted for Pantolestes. 
