TIIK MIOCKNK SKIMKS 577 



It i-, however, tin- vertebrates, and especially the Mammalia, 

 wliirh form tin- most charactci istic and distinctive features of the 

 Miocene fauna. When thir- fauna is contrasted with that of the 

 Oligocene the principal changes are seen to be as follows : (1) the 

 appearance of Proboscidea in Europe, genera Dinotherium and 

 Mastodon ; (2) the replacement of the Palajotheres and Anthra- 

 cntheres by Tapirs and by true Rhinoceroses, both of the hornless 

 (Aceratherium) and horned type (Rhinoceros) ; (3) the occurrence 

 of Anchitherium, an ancestor of the horse ; (4) the appearance of 

 large cats (Mach&rodus) comparable to modern panthers and tigers ; 

 (5) the appearance of monkeys and apes ; (6) appearance of horned 

 deer, Dicroceras ( = Procervulus) (allied to the Muntjac of India) ; 

 (7) the disappearance of marsupials from Europe. 



The assemblage of animals was thus very different from that of 

 Oligocene times, AceratJierium, Anthracotherium, and Amphicyon 

 being almost the only mammals that survived from the one period 

 to the other. The pig tribe were represented by Palceochcerus, 

 which first appears in the highest Oligocene of the Allier, and 

 by Hyotheriiim, a closely allied genus. Listriodon was another two- 

 toed and pig-like beast. The carnivores include Machterodus (the 

 sabre-toothed tiger), Amphicyon (a progenitor of the dogs and bears), 

 H nmnarctos (a bear-like animal), with otters (Lutra), cats, and foxes. 

 Beavers made their dams across the streams ; a gigantic ant-eater 

 (Macrotheriuni) tore up the ant-hills with his great claws ; lastly, 

 true apes made their appearance, several forms being known (Plio- 

 pithecns, Dryopithecus), these being anthropoid apes of large size. 



The Dinotherium was remarkable for having two large tusks in 

 the lower jaw which curve downwards and are supposed to have been 

 used by the animal to moor himself to the banks of the lakes in 

 which he lived while he fed upon the herbage. The Mastodon had 

 long tusks in both jaws, and was more like an elephant in build, 

 and probably also in habits. 



C. THE MIOCENE IN ENGLAND 



The Bovey Beds rest on Devonian and Carboniferous rocks, and 

 occupy a basin-shaped dr]in-ion l>etween Dartmoor and the Haldon 

 Hills, extending for about 9 miles from Pullabrook near Bovey 

 Tracey to Kingskerswell near Newton Abbot. They consist in the 

 lower part of thick lieds of lignite and of In-own clay, and in the 

 upper part of alternating beds of sand and clay, with some layers 

 of lignite. Their total thickness has been estimated at about 600 

 feet, a boring at Heathfield having been carried to a depth of 526 

 feet without reaching their base, while west of the place it is 

 believed that higher beds come in ; where the base is exposed at 



2P 



