TIIK OLICOCENE SKI: IKS 



557 



among these are Palceotherium and Anoplotherium, the former allied 

 both to tapirs and rhinoceroses, the latter an ungulate of compre- 

 luMi-iv.- t\]M, combining characters now found in the tapir, pig, 

 and horse. There were several species of Anoplotherium, the largest 

 Wing about the size of a donkey and having a long, thick, and 

 strong tail which may have assisted him in swimming. Anchi- 

 thi-rium, regarded as an ancestor of the horse, was no larger than a 

 sheep, and had three hoofs on each foot. Hyopotamus (see p. 529) 

 was a common hog-like animal, and Chwropotamus is supposed to 

 have been a river hog. Dichodon, Xiphodon, and Ccenotherium were 

 hornless forms of antelopes, and Hy&nodon one of the early car- 



Fig. 190. RESTORATION OF PALuGOTHERIl'M MACNUM. 



nivores resembling the marsupial wolf of Tasmania. In Southern 

 France the jaw of a lemur (Adapts) has been found. 



In higher Oligocene deposits corresponding to our Bembridge 

 and Hampstead Beds other genera have been discovered, such as 

 Anthracotheriuniy an ungulate remarkable for its strong canine 

 teeth, and presenting several species which vary from the size of a 

 hog to that of a hippopotamus. This beast and species of 

 Hyopotamus are very abundant in the higher Oligocene. Other 

 genera now appearing are Dacrytherium, Dremotherium, Elotherium 

 (Entelodori), all ruminants ; the small carnivore Plesictis, and toward 

 the close of the period the genus Protapirus with Rhinoceroses. 

 Proboscidea are represented by Palwomattodon and other genera ; 

 and the Sirenia by Halitherium. 



The following are some of the fossils which are characteristic of 

 the British Oligocene Beds, and many of them also occur in France 

 and Belgium. Species restricted to or most abundant in one of 



