CHAP, in.] APES IN THE MID MEIOCENE FORESTS. 57 



their antlers and horns being very small, were to be seen 

 in the plains. One species of deer (Dicroceros elegans) 

 was closely allied to the Muntjak 1 (Fig. 8) 2 of eastern 

 Asia, and in some others the antlers were persistent 

 throughout life. In the rivers beavers made their dams, 

 and otters pursued their finny prey. Among the more 

 important extinct genera (Fig. 8) then living, were 

 two large animals resembling in habits and general 

 appearance the elephants. One, the Deinotherium, was 

 remarkable for two large tusks curving downwards in 

 the lower jaw ; while the other, the Mastodon, possessed 

 tusks in both upper and lower jaws, and teeth of a much 

 coarser pattern than those of the elephants. Ehinoceroses 

 also, one with a very feeble horn, and the other hornless, 

 fed on the luxuriant vegetation ; and an extinct kind of 

 gigantic ant-eater, Macrotherium, allied to the Oryctero- 

 pus of southern Africa (Fig. 8), dug into the ant-hills 

 with his powerful claws, and preyed upon the Termites. 

 We meet also with Anchitheres for the last time. 

 These herbivores were kept in check by numerous carni- 

 vores, of which the most important was the great sabre- 

 toothed lion, Machairodus. 



Apes in the Mid Meiocene Forests. 



The most important animals to be noted in the 

 mid Eocene forests of France, Switzerland, Germany, 

 and Italy, are certain large apes, identified by Dr. Ktiti- 

 meyer with the genus Hylobates, one of the more highly 



1 Procervulus Aurelianensis, Gaudry (Les Enchainements, 87, from 

 Thenay (Loir-et-Cher). The antlers are without a burr. 



2 The Gibbon, the Muntjak, and the Orycteropus are taken to 

 represent the apes, the deer, and the edentates in Fig. 8. 



