318 



PALEONTOLOGY. 



Zeuylodon, at first described as a reptile under the 

 name Basilosaurus, was shown, from' the miscroscopic 

 structure and mode of implantation of the teeth, to be a 

 cetacean. "We know one species from the eocene stage of 

 Alabama, U. S. 



Dinotlierium had a large head, with a flat occipital bone, 

 and large nasal fossa, opening upwards ; arched nasal bones, 

 and large holes for the passage of the fifth pair of nerves ; 

 hence it is inferred that the animal possessed a proboscis. 



The lower jaw had two enormous 

 teeth that curved downwards 

 (fig. 220). The molars are f, 

 and are allied to the tapirs and 

 the lamantins (fig. 219). This 

 singular animal was supposed to 

 be a quadruped, and was restored 

 by Kaup, as shown in the annexed 

 figure (fig. 220). The true rela- 

 tion of this extinct genus is not 

 yet determined. The flatness of 

 the occiput, the high position of 

 the condyles,the absence of crests 

 for the attachment of ligaments 

 to carry so large and so massive 

 a skull, the down-curved tusks 

 of the lower jaw, like those of the young lamantin, together 

 with the form of the ocular and temporal fossa3, and the 

 form of the molars, led De Blainville to the supposition 

 that it was a cetacean, whilst Kaup and Owen consider 



FIG. 217. 

 Tooth of Dinotherium. 



FIG. 220. The Dinothcriiun. 



