334 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



caves in association with the remains of Hyaenas, having undoubtedly been a staple article of food 

 for these animals. In England remains have been found in the caves at Creswell, Nottinghamshire ; 

 in the Brixham Cave ; in Kent's Hole, near Torquay, Devonshire ; and in Wookey Hole, near 

 Wells, Somerset, as well as in the caves of Wales and Derbyshire. 



As an example of the second group, we have Rhinoceros megarhinus of the Pliocene and Pleistocene 

 strata. This animal possessed two horns. Its remains are found in France and Italy, and in the 

 pre-glacial forest bed of Cromer, and in the lower brick earths of the Thames valley. Rhinoceros 

 incisivus represents the third group in Miocene times. It had no bony septum between the nostrils, 

 the incisors are large, and there are four toes on the fore-foot. Of the fourth group the best examples 

 are R. etruscus and R. leptorhinus. The former of these possessed two horns, and the nostrils were 



separated by an imperfect 

 bony septum. Its remains 

 are found in various Pliocene 

 and Pleistocene deposits. 

 The latter also possessed two 

 horns, and its nostrils were 

 divided by a thin and deli- 

 cate bony partition, which 

 can only be termed imper- 

 fect in compaiison with the 

 massive partition in the 

 Woolly Rhinoceros. It is 

 devoid of incisors. This 

 species is found in Pleisto- 

 cene deposits in Britain, 

 Prance, and Italy, in caverns, 

 and in river-beds, the most 



SKULL OF FOSSIL RHINOCEROS [R. LEPTOKHIXVS]. 



perfect remains being met with in the valley of the Thames near Ilford. These were collected by 

 Sir Antonio Brady, and are now to be seen in the British Museum. In the figure the fragile nose 

 septum is 1'epresented as broken. 



The genus Aceratherium, of Kaup, is a hornless Rhinoceros, found in the same Miocene strata 

 as the R. incisivus. Like the latter, it possesses incisors, and, not improperly, may be considered as 

 a female of the latter species, if the horn be viewed as a sexual characteristic : first of all in the 

 possession of the male, and afterwards transferred by descent, in the case of all the Post-Miocene 

 Rhinoceroses, to the female. 



THE EXTINCT FAMILY PALJEOTHERIDJE. 



The Palseotheridse, or fourth family to be considered under the head of the Perissodactyla, is that 

 which is found only in the fossil state in the Eocene strata of Europe and North America. They are 

 allied, on the one hand, to the Horses, and on the other to the Tapirs. The type of the family, the 

 Palaeotherium, was originally discovered by Cuvier in the quarries of Montrnartre, near Paris. The 

 grinding teeth closely resemble, in the pattern of their grinding surfaces, those of the Rhinoceros. 

 The full complement, however, of incisors and canines, as well as of grinders, is present in each jaw, 

 namely Incisors, 3 ; canines, 1 ; premolars, 4 ; molars, 3. These animals varied in size from that of 

 a Roedeer to that of a Tapir, and were possessed of three well-developed hoof-bearing toes. 



The genus Macrauchenia is also an extinct form, constituting a separate family, Macraucheniadse, 

 peculiar to the later Tertiaries of South America. Its skull is, on the whole, like that of the 

 Horse, but the nasal bones are short and like those of the Tapir. It possessed a long neck, like the 

 Llamas, and a full complement of teeth, partly equine, partly resembling those of Rhinoceros. Both 

 fore and hind feet were furnished with three toes. 



W. BOYD DAWKINS. 

 H. W. OAKLEY. 



