FAUNA OF THE POST-PLIOCENE. 



353 



exhibiting special patterns of sculpturing in each species. The 

 tail was also defended by a similar armour, and the vertebrae 

 were mostly fused together so as to form a cylindrical bony 

 rod. In addition to the above-mentioned forms, a number 

 of other Edentate animals have been discovered by the re- 

 searches of M. Lund in the Post-Pliocene deposits of the 

 Brazilian bone-caves. Amongst these are true Ant-eaters, 

 Armadillos, and Sloths, many of them of gigantic size, and all 

 specifically or generically distinct from existing forms. 



Passing over the aquatic orders of the Sirenians and Ce- 

 taceans, we come next to the great group of the Hoofed Quad- 

 rupeds, the remains of which are very abundant in Post- 

 Pliocene deposits both in Europe and North America. 

 Amongst the Odd - toed Ungulates the most important are 

 the Rhinoceroses, of which three species are known to have 

 existed in Europe during the Post-Pliocene period. Two 

 of these are the well-known Pliocene forms, the Rhinoceros 

 Etruscus and the R. megarhinus, still surviving in diminished 

 numbers ; but the most famous is the Rhinoceros tichorhimis 

 (fig. 263), or so-called " Woolly Rhinoceros." This species 



Fig. 263. Skull of the Tichorhine Rhinoceros, the horns heing wanting. On-tenth 

 of the natural size. Post- Pliocene deposits of Europe and Asia. 



is known not only by innumerable bones, but also by a car- 

 cass, at the time of its discovery complete, which was found 

 embedded in the frozen soil of Siberia towards the close of 

 last century, and which was partly saved from destruction by 

 the exertions of the naturalist Pallas. From this, we know 

 that the Tichorhine Rhinoceros, like its associate the Mam- 

 moth, was provided with a coating of hair, and therefore was 

 enabled to endure a more severe climate than any existing 



